Tudor England was an intensely political society, in which political actors from many levels of society interacted in a wide variety of political networks and forums, from the court and parliament to the counties and parishes. These transactions concerned both high level decisions such as the Reformation of religion, war, and changes of regime, as well as much more mundane issues of day-to-day existence, such as the need for justice, social order, food supply and trade. This course explores the political world of sixteenth-century England from many angles, paying attention to a wide variety of vertical and horizontal links between and within different levels of society, yet with the ultimate aim of understanding that society as a single political nation. Crucially, it will examine how these political worlds changed over the period, paying particular attention to the impact of the religious changes of the sixteenth century and to the processes of change on the ground which began to lead to the creation of a modern British state.