Few families have contributed as much to English history and literature-indeed, to the arts generally-as the Sidney family. This two-volume Ashgate Research Companion assesses the current state of scholarship on family members and their impact, as historical and literary figures, in the period 1500-1700. Volume 1: Lives, begins with an overview of the Sidneys and politics, providing some links to court events, entertainments, literature, and patronage. The volume gives biographies to prominent high-profile Sidney women and men, as well as sections assessing the influence of the family in the areas of the English court, international politics, patronage, religion, public entertainment, the visual arts, and music. The focus of the second volume is the literary contributions of Sir Philip Sidney; Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke; Lady Mary Wroth; Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester; and William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke.

Exploring a year in the life of Stuart Britain

Reprint of the original, first published in 1843.

An enthralling and vivid portrait of Queen Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II, that reveals her forgotten place in history. A long-overlooked figure in history, Catherine has a crucial place in the history of the British Empire: she may have failed to produce an heir to the throne, but her marriage to Charles in 1662 marked a key turning point in Britain’s imperial ascendancy, for part of her dowry was Bombay, Britain’s first territory of the Indian subcontinent. Catherine also was highly influential in the worlds of fashion, Baroque art and music, and food and culture. She popularized tea drinking, bringing England’s national drink into fashion for the first time. Her life was at the nexus of Old and New worlds, war and exploration, frivolity and scientific enquiry. Noteworthy in its scope and approach to sources, The Lost Queen combines personal and political accounts, offering a lively portrait of Catherine’s life, and the wider politics and explorations of her time.

Anna Keay brings fresh insight into the daily life of Charles II and identifies how he cultivated a powerful reputation of both himself and monarchy in Britain.

Recent years have witnessed a revival of interest in the history of the Huguenots, and new research has increased our understanding of their role in shaping the early-modern world. Yet while much has been written about the Huguenots during the sixteenth-century wars of religion, much less is known about their history in the following centuries. The ten essays in this collection provide the first broad overview of Huguenot religious culture from the Restoration of Charles II to the outbreak of the French Revolution. Dealing primarily with the experiences of Huguenots in England and Ireland, the volume explores issues of conformity and nonconformity, the perceptions of 'refuge', and Huguenot attitudes towards education, social reform and religious tolerance. Taken together they offer the most comprehensive and up-to-date survey of Huguenot religious identity in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.