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"Counsel and Command in Early Modern English Thought" by Joanne Paul explores the intersection of political thought and political history in early modern England. The book examines the paradox of political counsel and the varying sources of authority that counsellors relied on. It also discusses the challenges faced by historians in studying political counsel, such as the lack of written records. The author suggests that there is something distinctively English about the focus on counsel and explores the impact of the English Reformation on this topic. The book concludes with an analysis of Thomas Hobbes and his rejection of counsel in favor of absolute sovereign authority. While the book focuses more on political thought than political history, it encourages scholars to further explore the relationship between theory and practice in politics. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the translation of the Book of Common Prayer into Italian and the efforts of English evangelism in Italy from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. The author, Stefano Villani, argues that despite the ultimate failure of these efforts, they are still significant and worthy of historical attention. Villani's research draws on a wide range of sources and introduces previously overlooked translators and cultural brokers. The article highlights the innovative and comprehensive nature of Villani's work, making it valuable for historians of Anglican evangelism. [Extracted from the article]

Catherine of Siena (1347‐1380) is well known as a saint and mystic with a colourful biography. Recent scholarship has begun to recognise Catherine's substantial political contributions. She wrote letters to notable political figures including Bernabò Visconti and Pope Gregory XI, and also brought her influence to bear in person, visiting numerous Tuscan cities as well as Avignon and Rome. There has been little investigation, however, into the relationship between Catherine's writings and major political discourses of the period. This article offers evidence that Catherine should be viewed within the bonum commune tradition of high medieval political thought. Like other Dominican political thinkers of the period, Catherine was particularly interested in the concept of caritas, which she used to justify her involvement in political disputes such as the War of the Eight Saints (1375–8) between the papacy and Florence, and the disputed papal elections of 1378. Recognising that the content of Catherine's writings was political as well as spiritual provides an important counterpoint to accounts of late fourteenth‐century Italian political thought which give excessive prominence to 'secularising' humanists. This study also challenges lingering assumptions that the political thought of the early Renaissance must be studied through a narrow (and male) canon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]