Y108: the Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603-1660 | OCR A-Level History A (H505)

Y108: the Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603-1660

115 questions
10 subtopics
British period study and enquiry, one of thirteen
Y101 to Y113

The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660 is unit Y108 of OCR History A, one of the thirteen options in unit group 1, the British period study and enquiry; a student sits one of them.

Its seven key topics are James I and Parliament, James I and religion, Charles I 1625–1640, Charles I and the victory of Parliament 1640–1646, the failure to achieve a settlement 1646–1649, Commonwealth and Protectorate, the Restoration of Charles II. 100 recall questions across 10 subtopics.

Sample questions from Y108: the Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603-1660

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

James I and Parliament: James I and Divine Right, James I and his financial problems

How did James's own conduct worsen the crown's finances?

Show the answer
He kept a far more lavish court than Elizabeth, gave generous grants, pensions and offices to Scottish favourites, and by 1608 had run the debt up to around £600,000.
James I and Parliament: foreign policy and quarrels with Parliament 1614–1624

How did the Thirty Years War create difficulties for James?

Show the answer
His son-in-law Frederick accepted the crown of Bohemia in 1619, was defeated at the White Mountain and lost the Palatinate, so English Protestants demanded intervention while James still sought a negotiated restoration.
James I and religion: the religious situation in 1603, Puritans and Arminianism

State what Bancroft's Canons of 1604 required.

Show the answer
That every clergyman subscribe to the royal supremacy, the Prayer Book and the Thirty-Nine Articles; around eighty to ninety ministers refused and were deprived of their livings.
James I and religion: Gunpowder Plot and impact of Catholicism on policies

What did the Oath of Allegiance of 1606 require, and why was it divisive?

Show the answer
It required Catholics to deny the Pope's power to depose kings; many English Catholics were willing to swear it as a test of civil loyalty, but the Pope condemned it, so it split the Catholic community.
Charles I 1625–1640: Charles’ aims and problems in 1625, dissolution of parliament in 1629

What happened to the Cadiz expedition of 1625?

Show the answer
Buckingham's badly supplied force failed to take the town or the treasure fleet, and the ill-disciplined troops returned in disgrace, discrediting the war effort and its organiser.
Charles I 1625–1640: the Personal Rule, Laud and the Bishops’ Wars

Explain the significance of Hampden's Case.

Show the answer
John Hampden's refusal to pay led the judges in 1638 to find for the crown by only seven votes to five, a narrow victory that publicised the constitutional objection and encouraged widespread refusal, so that collection had collapsed by 1639.
Charles I and the victory of Parliament 1640–1646: Short and Long Parliaments, crises of 1640–1642

Why was Strafford executed by attainder?

Show the answer
The impeachment charge of treason could not be proved in law, so the Commons passed an act of attainder declaring him guilty; with London crowds at Whitehall and the Queen's safety in question, Charles signed it in May 1641, a betrayal he never forgave himself.
Charles I and the victory of Parliament 1640–1646: Royalists and Parliamentarians

Why did neither side win in 1642 and 1643?

Show the answer
Edgehill was indecisive and the advance on London was blocked at Turnham Green, while both sides relied on local forces reluctant to campaign far from home and lacked the money to keep armies in the field.

The 10 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
James I and Parliament: James I and Divine Right, James I and his financial problems	Recall questions on James I and Divine Right, James I and his financial problems.	9
James I and Parliament: foreign policy and quarrels with Parliament 1614–1624	Recall questions on the Addled Parliament, James’s foreign policy aims, the Treaty of London, the Thirty Years War, the clashes and Protestation of 1621, impeachment, the Spanish Match and the Parliament of 1624.	11
James I and religion: the religious situation in 1603, Puritans and Arminianism	Recall questions on the Church James inherited, the Millenary Petition, Hampton Court, Bancroft’s Canons, his two archbishops, the growth of Arminianism, the Book of Sports, Puritan opposition and James’s attitude to Catholics.	11
James I and religion: Gunpowder Plot and impact of Catholicism on policies	Recall questions on the Gunpowder Plot and the impact of Catholicism on policies.	9
Charles I 1625–1640: Charles’ aims and problems in 1625, dissolution of parliament in 1629	Recall questions on Charles’ aims and problems in 1625, financial problems, Buckingham, the dissolution of parliament in 1629.	10
Charles I 1625–1640: the Personal Rule, Laud and the Bishops’ Wars	Recall questions on why Charles embarked on Personal Rule, its fiscal devices and Ship Money, Hampden’s Case, Laud’s religious policy, Thorough, Wentworth in Ireland, and the Scottish crisis and Bishops’ Wars.	10
Charles I and the victory of Parliament 1640–1646: Short and Long Parliaments, crises of 1640–1642	Recall questions on the Short and Long Parliaments, the aims and policies of Charles and the opposition, the crises of 1640–1642.	11
Charles I and the victory of Parliament 1640–1646: Royalists and Parliamentarians	Recall questions on Royalists and Parliamentarians, the course and outcome of the First Civil War, the formation of the New Model Army, the development of neutralism.	9
Enquiry: The failure to achieve a settlement 1646–1649 — Negotiations with Charles I	Recall questions on negotiations with Charles I, the role of Oliver Cromwell, the Scots and the army, the emergence and growth of radicalism, the Leveller debate and the reaction to them, the Second Civil War, religious issues, Pride’s Purge.	17
Enquiry: Commonwealth and Protectorate, The Restoration of Charles II — Religious and political issues	Recall questions on religious and political issues, the Parliament of the Saints, the Instrument of Government, Cromwell as Lord Protector, the rule of the Major Generals, Cromwell in Ireland, death of Oliver Cromwell, Richard Cromwell.	18

Y108: the Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603-1660 is 115 of the 6,240 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

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.