Closing ranks

Oligarchy and government at Rye, 1570–1640

Bibliographic Data

ID12276367
AuthorsStephen Hipkin (corresponding author)
Year1995
Volume22
Issue3
Pages319-340
Publication date1995-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueUrban History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0963-9268 • E-ISSN: 1469-8706
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0963926800016631
OpenAlexW2003896699
LanguageEN
References cited10

During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries the development of oligarchic government was accomplished in many English corporate towns by the introduction of a common council, the exclusion of the commonalty of freemen from participation in decision-making processes, and often their removal from the municipal and/or parliamentary franchise. Resistance to such changes among rank-and-file freemen frequently gave rise to civic strife, factionalism and oligarchic dependence on outside support. But analysis of developments at the town of Rye in Sussex suggests that an alternative (or subsidiary) route to oligarchy, less prone to fostering factionalism and dependency on crown agents, may have existed in towns where it was possible strictly to control freeman admissions and promote rule by exclusive commonalty

Business · Business administration · Closing (real estate · Combinatorics · Franchise · Government (linguistics · Oligarchy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Rank (graph theory · Sociology · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Historical Studies of British Isles · Law · Mathematics · Scottish History and National Identity

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