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At the beginning of the 16th century, parliaments were already important events, an opportunity for the king to assemble the key people in the country and try to get them to agree to what he wanted (even if he did not always get his way). When they were used to make radical changes to the country’s religion, they—and the laws they made—became central to the country’s constitution. They also became central to the argument over the most divisive of issues—people’s beliefs and religious practices.
Contributors— Paul Cavill Ben Coates Simon Healy Paul Hunneyball Andrew Thrush