Court and Character of King James whereunto Is Now Added the Court of King Charles: Continued unto the Beginning of These Unhappy Times: with Some Observations upon Him Instead of a Character

Gossipy exposés of shenanigans at the heart of government are nothing new. The author, Sir Anthony Weldon (1583–1648), was a courtier of years of experience and standing; his account of court intrigues around the Stuart Kings James I (1603-1625) and Charles I (1625-1649) was written seemingly in the tense period leading up to the English Civil War in the 1640s, and for a private readership (the printed text was not published until several years into the Commonwealth period, when the monarchy had