One of the 'Great Twelve' livery companies of the City of London, the Merchant Taylors' Company has been in existence for some seven hundred years. This new history will chart the remarkable story of the Company and its members from its origins until the 1950s, encompassing the lives and achievements of men such as Sir Thomas White (founder of St John's College, Oxford) and the celebrated chronicler, John Stow, as well as the roles played by the Company in the City and beyond in different periods. As well as looking in detail at the internal life of the Company, the book will also focus on a number of important themes in the wider history of London. These include trade and industry, apprenticeship, the impact of religious change, the foundation of schools and other charities, and the government and politics of the City. In doing so, the book will contribute to an understanding of the aims and activities of the livery companies over the centuries, their ability to adapt to changing circumstances and their relevance in a modern world far removed from that in which they were first established. The History of the Merchant Taylors' Company will appeal to a wide range of people interested in the history of London. It is fully illustrated with more than seventy-five black and white and thirty colour illustrations.

Offering a broad overview of memorialization practices across Europe and the Mediterranean, this book examines local customs through particular case studies. These essays explore complementary themes through the lens of commemorative art, including social status; personal and corporate identities; the intersections of mercantile, intellectual, and religious attitudes; upward (and downward) mobility; and the cross-cultural exchange.

Sir James Whitelocke (1570-1632) was one of the most distinguished and politically intriguing figures of his age. His Liber Famelicus, compiled over the course of a long and controversial career as parliamentarian and judge, offers extraordinary insights into religion and politics in an age not noted for its political candour. Whitelocke's early political theories on the king-in-parliament, and later judicial pronouncements on Crown legal rights, presage constitutional issues facing parliament and the Crown in 1642. A study of Whitelocke's life sheds valuable light on the character and causes of constitutional disagreement before the Civil Wars. This book explains Whitelocke's political views, exploring the place of law in seventeenth-century political thought. It questions his dual formation in English and civil law, his colourful and controversial years in the parliament and the courts of law, and his professional connections with such powerful figures as Archbishop William Laud. The result is a much-needed case study of a figure whose views defy simple explanations, illuminating the salient questions facing the English political nation in the early Stuart era.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1881.