The aim of The Crisis of 1614 and The Addled Parliament is to bring literary historians together with constitutional and state historians to reflect on the political and ideological up he Volz of Britain in 1614 from various perspectives. In the aftermath of new historicism and "revisionist" Stewart historiography the time seems right for the detailed study of highly specific historical moments and localities, and 1614 seemed particularly in need of renewed attention because few traditional historians have seriously addressed the constitutional crisis of the ill-fêted Parliament of that year. Literary historians, too, seemed to have failed to bring this significant political moment into focus, despite the fact that there were many literary interventions and contemporary debates of the period. The volume investigates a number of key issues of this decisive political watershed and examines not only the disastrous Parliament, but also wider problems connected to commerce and economics and the freedom of political debate. - Back cover.