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The Stanleys, Lords Stanley and Earls of Derby, 1385-1672: The Origins, Wealth, and Power of a Landowning Family (Remains Historical and Literary ... of Lancaster and Chester, 3rd Ser., V. 30)

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The author is concerned with the economic of fortunes of the great British landowning families of the 16th and 17th centuries and the social power and political influence that resulted. The Stanleys of Knowsley and Lathom make an excellent case study in this regard, having been thoroughly unprincipled in their double-dealing accumulation of land in the northwest part of the country - plus the classic devise of marriage to a series of wealthy heiresses beginning in 1385. This, in turn, made them "kings" of the Isle of Man after 1406 and earls of Derby from 1485. It has been argued that a power-shift occurred in Tudor times from the old peerage to a rising gentry class, and that this shift was in large part responsible for the English Civil War. The disputes among historians over peers vs. gentry have died down since the 1970s, but the discovery of new source materials and a new view of old materials which have been transferred from the Isle of Man to the Lancashire Record Office. Unfortunately, much other material on the family was apparently destroyed from Lathom House was demolished in 1929. Coward shows a strong narrative style to balance his thoroughly academic intentions, with numerous quotations and anecdotal examples of the points he makes, as well as several appendices detailing land purchases, sales, and grants. A very instructive study.