This book examines the theory and practice of the English monarchical succession from the end of Elizabeth's reign to the accession of George I. Tracing the transition from an uncertain rule to a crown in the disposal of parliament, Nenner focuses on the major routes to the throne over the long seventeenth century: hereditary right, conquest, and election. It is a study of the competing principles of parliamentary sovereignty and fundamental law, and the ways in which tension between dynastic expectations and national needs were addressed and resolved.

Inhalt

Preface - Acknowledgements - Introduction: The Succession in History and Theory - The Late Elizabethan Succession Question - God's Providence and Man's Presumption - Kings by Law, Lineal Succession, and Undoubted Right - A Settlement with Something of Monarchy in it - The Need for a Certainty in the Succession - The Unsettling Prospect of an Elective Crown - The Survival of Hereditary Monarchy and the End of Indefeasible Right - The Problem of Allegiance - A Rightful and Lawful King and Queen - The Persistence of Fiction - Abbreviations - Bibliography - Index