The parliaments of Elizabeth I have traditionally been viewed as areas of conflict between a conservative Queen on the one hand and an organized Puritan opposition on the other. Historians have recently challenged this interpretation, arguing that episodes of conflict are rare and stressing that parliament's major role was primarily a legislative one. By placing the activities of the Elizabethan parliaments firmly within the English polity, this book seeks to provide a fuller picture of the politics of parliaments. Since law making is now perceived as the most important of parliament's functions, the editors' introduction offers a reassessment of notions of representation and the ideology behind the making of law, while Sir Geoffrey Elton discusses the triumph of secular over canon law. The needs of the Elizabethan government and the means it used to manage parliamentary sessions are examined by Michael Graces, while Wallace MacCaffrey investigates the role of parliament and the making of Elizabethan foreign policy and Jim Alsop analyses its role and taxation. Norman Jones assesses the interaction between religion and parliament. Two chapters focus on the place of parliament behind Westminster: David Dean examines the ways in which localities use parliament and Terry Hartley explores the history of Elizabethan elections. Together, these essays aim to contribute to our understanding of what Elizabethan parliaments did, how they did it and how its activities were perceived by contemporaries.