The consolidation of the state under the aegis of monarchy was one of the salient features of the English, as well as the Continental experience in the sixteenth century. In England the cultivation of royal power presaged that of Parliament and the common law. Such growth was due largely to the respect for authority that was instilled in society by the Tudor monarchs and the governing class. Confidence in the Crown and its policies had become a trait of the English political personality in the sixteenth century; a trait that endured until the waning years of Queen Elizabeth and the coming of the Stuarts.

There is little doubt, however, that by the turn of the century English society was witnessing a growth of tension in the relations between the members of the governing class, and between society and the State. Divisive social and economic problems, religious controversy, corruption in the governing process, conflicts in the courts, and confusion in the law were factors which contributed to this growth of tension. The institutions of society and the State were approaching a crossroads where either their reform or collapse would become inevitable. Thus crucial questions of State that involved the prerogatives of the Crown, the powers of Parliament, the responsibilities of the courts of law, and the rights and obligations of the citizen remained unresolved, and became the subject of increasing public discussion. They also began to appear in the prose and poetry, and the political and religious writings of the age.