Preface

Papers collected in this volume are delivered first at a conference:International Symposium on Political and Cultural Changes in Late Medieval and Early Modern Britain in 2009,held at Wuhan University and coorganized by the Institute of 15-18th Century World Historical Studies,Wuhan University and the Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies(CREMS)of University of Birmingham.Revised through great effort of their contributors,papers here focus on the historical changes mainly in British politics and culture from fifteenth to eighteenth century.Some most important events during this period,such as English Reformation,British Civil Wars,British Monarchies,and Modernization of Economy and Society etc.,are discussed.This collection is an important contribution to the historical studies on Late Medieval and Early Modern Britain both in China and UK.Furthermore,the conference and the publication of its proceedings will constitute a model in improving the academic cooperation and exchange between China and UK in historical research.

We would like to express our gratitude to all institutions,contributors and individuals that helped make the conference an enjoyable event and the collection finally published.They are the Institute of 15-18th Century World Historical Studies,Institute of World Historical Studies,School of History in Wuhan University,and the Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies(CREMS)in University of Birmingham.Meanwhile,we are grateful for the effort and patience of the contributors and individuals from home and abroad for attending the conference and revising their papers.We also send our thanks to Dr.Mark J.CROWLEY and Dr.ZHANG Ying for their help on the revision of the collection,and to Mr.HUANG Jintao and Wuhan University Press for supporting the publication of this collection.

Chief Editors

Wuhan

October 2019