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The Court in England, 1714–1760: A Declining Political Institution?
Author(s) -
SMITH HANNAH
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.12
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1468-229X
pISSN - 0018-2648
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-229x.2005.00321.x
Subject(s) - politics , institution , law , negotiation , political question , political science , sociology
Although recent studies of eighteenth‐century English politics have moved beyond viewing political activity solely in parliamentary terms and consider the extra‐parliamentary dimensions to political life, the royal court has not been included in this development. This article seeks to reassess the political purpose of the court of George I, and particularly that of George II, by analysing how the court functioned both as an institution and as a venue. Although the court was losing ground as an institution, with the royal household declining in political importance, the article argues that the household should not be the only means of measuring the court's political role. Through analysing the court's function as a venue for political brokerage and as a type of political theatre, it is argued that the court retained a political significance throughout the period from 1714 to 1760. The article examines the importance of the court as a place where certain forms of patronage might be obtained, and as a location for political negotiation by ministers and lower‐ranking politicians. Moreover, it also analyses how the court was employed as a stage for signalling political opinion through attendance, ceremony, gesture, and costume.