In the thirteenth century the face of Europe changed with the emergence of parliaments across the continent. The focus of "Parliaments in Early Modern Europe "is from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, when Europe was transformed by the Renaissance, the Reformation and the growth of monarchies which brought together many territories under their rule. European Parliaments experienced a variety of challenges, fortunes and fates: some survived, even flourished, but others succumbed to these powerful monarchies. Ranging ambitiously across diverse and contrasting parliaments, the book provides a series of case studies of particular assemblies. It also contains both a chronologically structured history of the European Parliaments and a section on their institutional characteristics. It gives attention to the Scottish and Irish as well as English assemblies and to the parliaments of Scandinavian, Polish, Hungarian and other peripheral states, as well as those of France, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. This period of great change, as Europe moved towards fairer representation and democracy, is introduced and explored with flair and clarity. "The Parliaments of Early Modern Europe "is crucial to any understanding of our modern constitution. Michael Graves is Professor of History, University of Auckland. He is the author of many books on English and European parliaments.