Henry VIII and His Ministers, 1509-40 | Edexcel GCSE History (1HI0)

Henry VIII and His Ministers, 1509-40

126 questions
12 subtopics
Paper 2
Paper 2

Henry VIII and His Ministers, 1509–40 is examined in Paper 2, Period study and British depth study.

It covers Henry VIII, Renaissance Prince, the rise of Wolsey and his policies, Wolsey’s foreign policy, 1509–29, Wolsey, Catherine, the succession and annulment, Cromwell’s rise to power, 1529–34, the king’s marriages, 1529–40, Cromwell and government, 1534–40, the fall of Cromwell, the break with Rome, opposition to, and impact of, Reformation, 1534–40, the dissolution of the monasteries and the Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536.

Sample questions from Henry VIII and His Ministers, 1509-40

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

Henry VIII, Renaissance Prince

Through which bodies did a Tudor king rule the country in 1509?

Show the answer
Through a royal council of trusted advisers, with parliament summoned only for taxes and new laws, and justices of the peace keeping order in each county.
The rise of Wolsey and his policies

What were the Eltham Ordinances of 1526 meant to do?

Show the answer
Cut the cost and size of the royal household, which also let Wolsey remove gentlemen of the privy chamber who were rivals for the king’s ear.
Wolsey, Catherine, the succession and annulment

Which passage of scripture did Henry use to argue his marriage had never been valid?

Show the answer
A verse in Leviticus warning that a man who takes his brother’s wife will be childless.
Cromwell’s rise to power, 1529–34

Which court finally declared Henry’s first marriage void, and when?

Show the answer
Archbishop Cranmer’s court at Dunstable, in May 1533.
Cromwell and government, 1534–40

What was First Fruits and Tenths, introduced in 1534?

Show the answer
A tax handing the crown a churchman’s first year of income from a post and a tenth of it every year after, money that had once gone to Rome.
The fall of Cromwell

How was Cromwell condemned?

Show the answer
By an act of attainder, which let parliament declare him guilty without any trial, the very method he had used on others.
Opposition to, and impact of, Reformation, 1534–40

What sealed John Fisher’s fate in 1535?

Show the answer
The pope made him a cardinal while he was imprisoned, which so enraged Henry that he was executed within weeks.
The dissolution of the monasteries

Who gained from the closures?

Show the answer
The crown, whose income rose sharply, and the gentry and merchants who bought the lands and so became committed to the changes.

The 12 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Henry VIII, Renaissance Prince	Henry's accession in 1509 at seventeen and why he was not raised as heir, the order of society, how a Tudor king ruled, Henry's belief in his God-given authority, his way of ruling, his Renaissance accomplishments and ambitions, and his weaknesses and greatest strength as a ruler.	10
The rise of Wolsey and his policies	How Wolsey won favour in 1513, the offices he held, Hampton Court, noble resentment, the enclosure inquiry of 1517, the subsidy, Chancery and Star Chamber, the Eltham Ordinances and the Amicable Grant.	10
Wolsey’s foreign policy, 1509–29	Wolsey's aims abroad, the balance between France and the Empire, his hope of the papacy, the Treaty of London, the Field of the Cloth of Gold, Charles V, Pavia and the sack of Rome.	10
Wolsey, Catherine, the succession and annulment	Catherine of Aragon and the dispensation, Princess Mary, the fear of a female heir, Leviticus, Anne Boleyn, annulment rather than divorce, Clement VII's refusal, Catherine's case, Blackfriars, and Wolsey's fall and death.	13
Cromwell’s rise to power, 1529–34	Cromwell's origins and early career, his work for Wolsey, his survival in 1529, entry to the council in 1531, his qualities, his solution to the annulment, Cranmer's court at Dunstable and his offices.	10
The king’s marriages, 1529–40	Anne Boleyn's marriage and Elizabeth's birth, why Henry turned against her, Cromwell's part, the charges and execution of 1536, Jane Seymour and Prince Edward, and the Anne of Cleves match and its annulment.	10
Cromwell and government, 1534–40	The privy council, the Court of Augmentations, the Principal Secretary, First Fruits and Tenths, the survey of 1535, Wales and the north, statute and the Reformation Parliament, managing the Commons and the Act of Proclamations.	10
The fall of Cromwell	Cromwell's arrest and execution in 1540, Norfolk's hatred, the Anne of Cleves marriage, Catherine Howard, the change in foreign affairs, the heresy charge, attainder, his last honours and Henry's regret.	10
The break with Rome	Defender of the Faith, Henry's motives after 1529, praemunire and the surrender of the clergy, the Acts in Restraint of Appeals, of Succession and of Supremacy, the oath, the treason law and Cromwell's enforcement.	13
Opposition to, and impact of, Reformation, 1534–40	Elizabeth Barton and her visions, John Fisher, Thomas More's silence and execution, Cranmer's reforms, Cromwell's injunctions on the English Bible and images, and how little worship had changed by 1540.	10
The dissolution of the monasteries	What monasteries did for their neighbours, the crown's need for money, the political danger, the 1535 reports, the closures of 1536 and 1538–40, who gained, who lost and the fate of the buildings.	10
The Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536	The religious, economic and political grievances behind the rising, Louth and the Lincolnshire rising, Robert Aske, the Yorkshire march on York, Hull and Pontefract, Norfolk's truce and the executions of 1537.	10

Henry VIII and His Ministers, 1509-40 is 126 of the 2,881 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £7

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.