Y306: Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors 1485-1603 | OCR A-Level History A (H505)

Y306: Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors 1485-1603

139 questions
14 subtopics
Thematic study and historical interpretations, one of twenty-one
Y301 to Y321

Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors 1485–1603 is unit Y306 of OCR History A, one of the twenty-one options in unit group 3, the thematic study and historical interpretations; a student sits one of them.

Its four key topics and three depth studies are the main causes of rebellion and disorder, the frequency and nature of disturbances, the impact of the disturbances upon Tudor governments, the maintenance of political stability, Pilgrimage of Grace, the Western Rebellion, Tyrone’s Rebellion. 139 recall questions across 14 subtopics.

Sample questions from Y306: Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors 1485-1603

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

The main causes of rebellion and disorder: Political factions, succession and taxation

Who was Lambert Simnel and what did his rising involve?

Show the answer
Simnel was a boy impersonating the Earl of Warwick who was crowned in Dublin in 1487 and invaded England with Yorkist nobles and German mercenaries funded by Margaret of Burgundy, before defeat at Stoke Field.
The main causes of rebellion and disorder: famine and motives of the rebels

Distinguish long-term from short-term causes of Tudor unrest.

Show the answer
Long-term causes were the underlying pressures of inflation, population growth, enclosure and religious change, while short-term causes were the immediate triggers such as the arrival of a commission, a new tax demand or a new prayer book.
The frequency and nature of disturbances: support, leadership, tactics and reasons for failure

What role did the clergy play in rebellion?

Show the answer
Parish priests and dispossessed monks helped stir and organise the religious risings, carrying banners and preaching, and in the Western Rebellion priests such as Robert Welsh were among the leaders.
The impact of the disturbances upon Tudor governments: response to the threat of disorder at the time

Explain what martial law was and how it was used.

Show the answer
Martial law allowed provost marshals to try and hang suspected rebels summarily without a jury, and it was used to terrorise disturbed districts after the risings of 1536, 1549 and 1569.
The maintenance of political stability: role of local and central authorities

How did the Church support political stability?

Show the answer
The parish pulpit was the government's main channel to the population, official homilies taught that obedience to rulers was a religious duty and rebellion a sin, and the clergy reported seditious talk to the magistrates.
The maintenance of political stability: local officers and popular attitudes to authority

What were popular attitudes towards authority?

Show the answer
Most people accepted the hierarchy and revered the monarch, but they also believed they had a right to petition and to defend custom, so protest was usually framed as loyal appeal for justice rather than defiance.
Depth study: Pilgrimage of Grace — leadership, support, suppression and significance

How was the pilgrim host organised?

Show the answer
Members swore an oath binding them to the commonwealth, the Church and the king, marched under the banner of the Five Wounds of Christ, were mustered and paid through the ordinary county machinery, and were governed by a council of gentry and commons.
Depth study: The Western Rebellion — Causes, regional variations between Devon and Cornwall

What social and economic grievances lay behind the Western Rebellion?

Show the answer
There was resentment of the gentry, alarm at a new tax on sheep and cloth, and hardship from rising prices, though historians disagree over how far these mattered beside the religious cause.

The 14 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
The main causes of rebellion and disorder: Political factions, succession and taxation	Recall questions on political factions, the succession, religion and taxation.	8
The main causes of rebellion and disorder: famine and motives of the rebels	Recall questions on famine, inflation, enclosures, social issues, causes of rebellion as reflected in the demands of the rebels and in their actions, the motives of the rebels.	12
The frequency and nature of disturbances: Location and regional variations	Recall questions on location and regional variations including the importance of the peripheral regions and major towns and cities, objectives including the removal of the monarch, size, frequency and duration of the rebellions.	8
The frequency and nature of disturbances: support, leadership, tactics and reasons for failure	Recall questions on declining support after 1570, duration, the nobility, gentry and clergy, the rank and file, foreign aid, leadership, organisation, English and Irish tactics and the reasons rebellions failed.	12
The impact of the disturbances upon Tudor governments: response to the threat of disorder at the time	Recall questions on their response to the threat of disorder at the time and subsequently, the extent to which rebellions presented a serious threat to the government.	10
The impact of the disturbances upon Tudor governments: impact of rebellion on government and society	Recall questions on the impact of rebellion on government and society.	9
The maintenance of political stability: role of local and central authorities	Recall questions on the role of local and central authorities.	12
The maintenance of political stability: local officers and popular attitudes to authority	Recall questions on sheriffs and their decline, justices of the peace, parish officers, keeping order without police, popular attitudes to authority, the evil counsellors convention and social legislation.	8
Depth study: Pilgrimage of Grace — Causes and regional variations	Recall questions on causes and regional variations including Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumberland.	9
Depth study: Pilgrimage of Grace — leadership, support, suppression and significance	Recall questions on Darcy and Hussey, the size and organisation of the pilgrim host, the government’s response, why the Pilgrimage failed, Bigod’s rising, punishment, the seriousness of the threat and historians’ debates.	11
Depth study: The Western Rebellion — Causes, regional variations between Devon and Cornwall	Recall questions on causes, regional variations between Devon and Cornwall.	8
Depth study: The Western Rebellion — demands, defeat and significance	Recall questions on the western rebels’ articles and social resentment, their numbers and leaders, Exeter, the government’s response, the rebels’ defeat and punishment, why the rising failed and how historians judge it.	12
Depth study: Tyrone’s Rebellion — Causes, objectives and support	Recall questions on causes, objectives, size and support.	9
Depth study: Tyrone’s Rebellion — leadership and threat posed by the rebellion to the government	Recall questions on leadership, organisation, reasons for its limited success and/or failure, the government response to the threat of disorder at the time and subsequently, the threat posed by the rebellion to the government.	11

Y306: Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors 1485-1603 is 139 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.