England, 1509-1603: Authority, Nation and Religion | Edexcel A-Level History (9HI0)

England, 1509-1603: Authority, Nation and Religion

160 questions
16 subtopics
Paper 1: the breadth study, one route of eight
Paper 1

A Paper 1 breadth study of Tudor England from Henry VIII's accession to Elizabeth's death, covering how the monarchy governed, how religion changed four times in fifty years, how the crown held the localities, and how society and the economy shifted.

The historical interpretations section asks how successfully Elizabeth handled the crises of her final years.

Sample questions from England, 1509-1603: Authority, Nation and Religion

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

The Tudor monarchs

How did Henry VII's reputation differ from his son's?

Show the answer
He was respected rather than loved, remembered for financial rigour and suspicion of the nobility, where Henry VIII cultivated display and chivalric splendour.
The principal servants of the crown

Which formal advisory body did Cromwell help develop as the centre of Tudor government?

Show the answer
The Privy Council.
Catholicism and its survival

How Catholic was England in 1529?

Show the answer
Overwhelmingly. Parish life, guilds, wills and church building all show strong traditional devotion, with heresy confined to small Lollard groups.
Tudor control of the country

What was the Council in the Marches of Wales?

Show the answer
A similar body at Ludlow governing Wales and the border counties, given statutory footing in the 1530s as part of the union of Wales with England.
Resistance to Tudor rule

Why did taxation provoke resistance under the Tudors?

Show the answer
Direct taxation was expected only for genuine emergencies, so demands for money in peacetime or for unpopular wars were seen as breaches of custom.
The changing structure of society

What were the effects of population growth?

Show the answer
Rising food prices, falling real wages, land hunger, more subdivision of holdings, growing poverty and rapid urban growth, especially in London.
Threats to national security from Spain and Ireland

Why did Philip II launch the Armada in 1588?

Show the answer
To end English support for the Dutch revolt and attacks on his shipping, and to restore Catholicism, with the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1587 removing the last restraint.
Conflicts with parliament and the session of 1601

What financial method did Elizabeth use that stored up problems, avoiding tax reform?

Show the answer
Selling crown lands and monopolies rather than reforming taxation.

The 16 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
The Tudor monarchs	Recall questions on the personal qualities of each ruler, popular attitudes to the dynasty, the disputed successions, and what a female ruler was thought to mean.	12
The changing role of parliament	Recall questions on Henry VIII's early parliaments, the Reformation Parliament and sovereignty through statute, and how far members grew bolder under Elizabeth.	10
The principal servants of the crown	Recall questions on Wolsey, Cromwell and Burghley, the powers a leading minister actually held, the rise of the Privy Council, and why ministers fell.	13
Tudor monarchs and religious change	Recall questions on the break with Rome, the dissolution, the Protestant advance under Edward, the Marian restoration, and the settlement of 1558 to 1563.	8
Catholicism and its survival	Recall questions on how Catholic England was in 1529, where the old faith held out, recusancy fines, the Jesuit mission, and the effect of the papal bull of 1570.	11
Protestantism and puritanism	Recall questions on early evangelical influences and Anne Boleyn, the Edwardian reforms, and the vestiarian and presbyterian disputes under Elizabeth.	12
Tudor control of the country	Recall questions on the Councils of the North and of Wales, the nobility's local role, the growing work of the justices of the peace, and the lords lieutenant.	10
The state and the poor	Recall questions on why poverty grew, the loss of monastic charity, the treatment of vagrants, and the rate-funded parish system settled in 1601.	11
Resistance to Tudor rule	Recall questions on the Amicable Grant, the Pilgrimage of Grace, the risings of 1549 and 1569, and why popular protest faded after 1570.	9
Patterns of domestic and foreign trade	Recall questions on the cloth export through Antwerp, the new draperies and the refugee weavers, London's dominance, and the chartered companies.	9
The changing structure of society	Recall questions on population growth and rising prices, the transfer of monastic land, enclosure, urban growth, and the expanding professions.	10
Cultural change	Recall questions on grammar schools and the universities, the printing press, the loss of religious art and drama, patronage, and the flowering of the theatre.	9
Threats to national security from Spain and Ireland	Recall questions on the drift to war with Spain, the Armada and why it failed, the Nine Years' War, and what the Irish campaign cost.	9
Faction at court and the succession issue	Recall questions on the rivalry of Essex and the Cecils, why patronage grew scarcer, the Essex rebellion, and why the succession could not be settled openly.	9
Conflicts with parliament and the session of 1601	Recall questions on the anger over monopolies, the Golden Speech, the strained state of crown finance, and what precedents the session left behind.	10
Harvest failures and social distress in the 1590s	Recall questions on the four failed harvests, famine mortality, the Book of Orders, the Oxfordshire rising, and how this complicates the Golden Age.	8

England, 1509-1603: Authority, Nation and Religion is 160 of the 6,832 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £9

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.