Book excerpt: The Tudor court was at once the political and cultural focus of the state and the setting for the monarch, who there exercised his or her patronage and attracted and rewarded service of all kinds. The author has written the first general account of this important and glamorous institution, whose structure, operation, and financing are of such fundamental importance in understanding how the Tudor monarchy worked. The Tudors were personal rulers, who set great store by their honour and prestige. Henry VIII and Elizabeth were particularly adept in creating powerful images for themselves, through court display and patronage, which contributed greatly to their authority at home and status abroad. In the sphere of domestic politics the role of the court was vital in providing a channel of access to the royal person. At the same time, the court's central position in the life of the nation ensured that it set the pace, not only socially and in the arts, but in religious and educational change. Using extensive quotations from contemporary sources, the author builds up a vivid picture of this amorphous, constantly changing entity and its evolution over the period into the most stable and organised royal household in Europe after the papacy. -- from Book Jacket.