Restoration England, 1660-1685 | AQA GCSE History (8145)
Restoration England, 1660-1685
- 117 questions
- 9 subtopics
- Paper 2
- Paper 2
Restoration England, 1660–1685 is examined in Paper 2, Shaping the nation.
It covers crown and Parliament, the Catholic question, Charles II’s court, crisis: the Great Plague of 1665 and the Fire of London, restoration culture, land: the East India Company and overseas possessions, trade: mercantilism, the Navigation Acts and the slave trade, war: sea power and conflict with the Dutch and the historic environment of Restoration England.
Sample questions from Restoration England, 1660-1685
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
-
Crown and Parliament
Why did the succession worry so many people during the reign?
Show the answer
Charles II's marriage to Catherine of Braganza produced no surviving children, so the crown would pass to his brother James, who was a Catholic. -
The Catholic question
What did the panic mean for English Catholics?
Show the answer
Innocent men, among them Jesuit priests and Viscount Stafford, were convicted on false evidence and executed, and Catholics were shut out of Parliament. -
Charles II’s court
Which sports and pastimes did Charles II make fashionable?
Show the answer
Horse racing at Newmarket, real tennis, sailing and yacht racing, and walking in St James's Park with his spaniels. -
Crisis: the Great Plague of 1665 and the Fire of London
Name three other measures taken against the plague.
Show the answer
Bonfires were kept burning in the streets, tobacco was smoked as a preventive, and the sick were sent to pest houses while arriving ships were held in quarantine. -
Restoration culture
Why is Aphra Behn important?
Show the answer
She was the first Englishwoman to earn her living by writing, with successful plays such as The Rover. -
Land: the East India Company and overseas possessions
What did Charles II do with Bombay?
Show the answer
He leased it to the East India Company in 1668 for £10 a year, and its deep, sheltered harbour made it the Company's base on the western coast. -
Trade: mercantilism, the Navigation Acts and the slave trade
What did the Staple Act of 1663 add?
Show the answer
European goods bound for the colonies had first to be landed in England and pay duty there before going on. -
War: sea power and conflict with the Dutch
What happened at the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665?
Show the answer
The English fleet won its clearest victory of the war, but failed to pursue the Dutch and destroy them.
The 9 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Crown and Parliament | Charles I's execution and the republic, the return of the king, the Declaration of Breda, the Catholic succession, the Clarendon Code, the Hearth Tax, the Test Act, Whigs and Tories, and rule without Parliament. | 15 |
| The Catholic question | Titus Oates and the Popish Plot, the death of Godfrey and Coleman's letters, the persecution of Catholics and Oates's downfall, the Exclusion Bill and Shaftesbury's Whigs, how Charles II defeated exclusion, the Duke of Monmouth, the Rye House Plot and its results, and James's open Catholicism. | 13 |
| Charles II’s court | The Merry Monarch, Charles II's strengths and weaknesses, his sports, his mistresses, his illegitimate children, Whitehall Palace, periwigs and the vest, why people wanted a place at court, and the court wits. | 11 |
| Crisis: the Great Plague of 1665 and the Fire of London | The real and supposed causes of the Great Plague of 1665, the shutting up of houses and other measures, the Bills of Mortality and Pepys, the death toll, the Fire of London of 1666, why it spread and who was blamed, what it destroyed, the Rebuilding Act and Wren's unbuilt plan. | 13 |
| Restoration culture | The reopened theatres, Restoration comedy and the first actresses, Aphra Behn, the legal and social position of women, the coffee houses, the Royal Society with Boyle and Hooke, Samuel Pepys's diary and naval work, and Christopher Wren's churches and St Paul's Cathedral. | 15 |
| Land: the East India Company and overseas possessions | The East India Company's charter powers, its factories and cargoes, Bombay from Catherine of Braganza's dowry, the Hudson's Bay Company and the fur trade, Tangier and why it was abandoned, Jamaica, and Henry Morgan. | 12 |
| Trade: mercantilism, the Navigation Acts and the slave trade | Mercantilism and the value of colonies, the Navigation Act of 1660, enumerated goods and the Staple Act, who gained and who lost from the Acts, and the Royal African Company, the triangular trade and the Middle Passage that carried enslaved Africans to the plantations. | 12 |
| War: sea power and conflict with the Dutch | The Restoration navy and its dockyards, the line of battle and broadside guns, the Second Dutch War from New York to Lowestoft, the raid on the Medway and the Treaty of Breda, the Third Dutch War and the Treaty of Dover, and England's changing relations with France and Spain. | 12 |
| The historic environment of Restoration England | A site's position, function and use, its fabric and the materials of the reign, the people behind it, Restoration design features and interiors, what they say about values and religion, and links to the reign. | 14 |
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.
Nearby topics
AQA GCSE History Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 1,889 questions with their answers.