The Queen's Wards: Wardship and Marriage under Elizabeth I

Originally published in 1958, this new impression of The Queen’s Wards from 1973 made available once more a work that remains a significant contribution to the history of society and government in Elizabethan England.

The Court of Wards was a bizarre institution with roots going back to feudal mediaeval times. Revived by Henry VII, formally instituted by Henry VIII, the concept of wardship reached its zenith in Elizabethan times, when it was used as a powerful weapon in the raising of revenu...