England and the Netherlands between 1477 and 1559 were similar in size, but very different in political structure. Both were frequently engaged in war against France and on their borders with Scotland, Gaelic Ireland and Guelders. Their rulers faced comparable but different problems in mobilising society for war. Yet the question of the interaction of war and state formation in this period has been neglected for work on religion, politics and administration.

A research project to investigate these issues was funded by the AHRB between 1999 and 2002 and directed by Dr Steven Gunn, fellow and tutor in Modern History at Merton College. Investigations in the archives of England, the Netherlands, Belgium and France by two postdoctoral research assistants, Dr David Grummitt and Dr Hans Cools, aimed to test the hypothesis that (in Professor Charles Tilly's words) 'war made the state and the state made war'. We concentrated on three main themes. The role of military command in the social and political status of great noblemen and the way in which their clientage systems mobilised different strata of society for war was investigated through studying the counts of Buren and le Roeulx in the Netherlands and the earls of Northumberland and dukes of Norfolk in England. The effect of war on towns was examined in cases that again represent the North and the South as well as both coastal and inland districts: York, Hull, Norwich, Canterbury, Rye, Salisbury and Exeter in England; Antwerp, 's-Hertogenbosch, Haarlem, Leiden, Douai, Saint Omer and Valenciennes in the Low Countries. Thirdly, the impact on individuals and their communities was considered to explore whether regional or national loyalties were fostered or subjects alienated by their rulers' demands. The work for this third section involved sifting records ranging from muster lists and tax records showing wartime damage to financial records of victory celebrations and printed propaganda.

The findings of the project are presented in a book, War, State and Society in England and the Netherlands, 1477-1559 (Oxford University Press, 2007) and in an article, 'War and the state in early modern Europe: widening the debate', forthcoming in War in History.'

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