Welcome to the website of the ParlCulture project funded by the University of Oxford’s John Fell Fund. In this project, we adopt a novel approach to the history of political assemblies in early modern Europe and beyond. Instead of a more 'traditional' focus on high politics and the institutional characteristics of individual assemblies, we approach representative politics in the early modern world as a shared cultural phenomenon. To that end, our international team of researchers and colleagues from affiliated institutions bring together diverse, cultural source material from different countries with notable political assemblies in the period 1500-1700.
On this site, you will find information on our team members, the specific aims of our project, events we are organising or participating in, as well as detailed background information on the parliamentary culture of various assemblies. In time, you can also access our interactive map showing the locations, frequency, and certain cultural characteristics of these representative institutions.
Please feel free to contact us at parliamentaryculture@ell.ox.ac.uk.