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- Title
William Cecil, Lord Burghley, and Managing with the Men-of-Business.
- Authors
Jones, Norman
- Abstract
Michael Graves taught us to think of parliamentary management done through the parliamentary 'men-of-business', gentlemen with close ties to powerful men in the privy council. This article asks how 'men-of-business' were managed by Elizabeth's head manager, Lord Burghley. Choosing justices of the peace was a complex, fraught activity, and one which Lord Burghley did with a great deal of care. However, despite his best efforts to have only men of probity and proper religious inclinations, he was hampered by local concerns. Managing the men-of-business meant careful awareness of their places, their connections, and their independence. Burghley was managing shared governance, each magistrate within his degree, for common causes, which is what made it a common weal. It was a system that required management, rather than fiats, but it had to be managed with a gentle touch. What Burghley and the men-of-business were running was a semi-bureaucratised late feudal monarchy, taking the form of a 'monarchical commonwealth'. Mutual need kept the local elites working with the crown's managers.
- Subjects
UNITED Kingdom; EXETER, David George Brownlow Cecil, Marquess of, 1905-1981; BRITISH monarchy; GREAT Britain. Parliament; BUREAUCRACY; JUSTICES of the peace; BISHOPS; EMPLOYEES; HISTORY
- Publication
Parliamentary History, 2015, Vol 34, Issue 1, p45
- ISSN
0264-2824
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/1750-0206.12124