Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain C.1000 to 2014 | OCR GCSE History A (J410)
Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain C.1000 to 2014
- 123 questions
- 10 subtopics
- Paper 2
- Paper 2
Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014 is examined in Paper 2, British thematic study.
It covers anglo-Saxon kingship, 1066 and the Norman monarchy, magna Carta and the emergence of Parliament, richard II’s deposition and the Wars of the Roses, tudor government, personal rule and the Civil Wars, the Restoration, 1688 and the Bill of Rights, the rise of political parties and a parliamentary monarchy, parliament and the people, c.1800–c.1918: reform and the unions, votes for women, and the state in war and peace, challenges to Parliament since 1980 and claiming, keeping and losing power.
Sample questions from Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain C.1000 to 2014
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Anglo-Saxon kingship, 1066 and the Norman monarchy
What tax did kings levy to buy off or fight Viking raiders?
Show the answer
The geld, a tax on land assessed across the shires and collected by royal officials. -
Magna Carta and the emergence of Parliament
Where and when was Magna Carta sealed?
Show the answer
At Runnymede beside the Thames in June 1215, after the rebel barons had seized London and forced John to negotiate. -
Richard II’s deposition and the Wars of the Roses
How was the change of ruler in 1399 made to look lawful?
Show the answer
Richard was made to resign the crown in front of an assembly, which then heard a list of his misdeeds and accepted Henry’s claim. -
Tudor government, personal rule and the Civil Wars
Which subjects did Elizabeth I forbid her Parliaments to debate?
Show the answer
Her marriage, the succession and the settlement of religion, which she insisted were matters for the monarch alone. -
The Restoration, 1688 and the Bill of Rights
What event in June 1688 turned discontent into an invitation to invade?
Show the answer
The birth of James’s son, which promised an unending line of Catholic rulers, so seven leading men asked William of Orange to come with an army. -
The rise of political parties and a parliamentary monarchy
How did George I’s style of ruling increase the influence of his ministers?
Show the answer
He spoke little English and left much routine business to them, so the cabinet grew used to meeting and deciding without the king in the room. -
Parliament and the people, c.1800–c.1918: reform and the unions
What pressures finally forced the first Reform Act through in 1832?
Show the answer
Rioting in Bristol, Nottingham and Derby, organised agitation by the political unions, and the king’s promise to create enough new peers to overcome the Lords. -
Votes for women, and the state in war and peace
Why were some women granted the vote in 1918?
Show the answer
Wartime work had changed opinion, the militant campaign had been suspended for the duration, and a new register was needed anyway for the returning soldiers.
The 10 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Anglo-Saxon kingship, 1066 and the Norman monarchy | The Witan, coronation and disputed successions, the fyrd, the geld and the thegns, the three claimants of 1066, William's claim and Hastings, the fate of the English aristocracy, Domesday Book, the Salisbury oath and the barons' dependence on the king by 1087. | 18 |
| Magna Carta and the emergence of Parliament | John's accession and the loss of Normandy, the barons' grievances, Runnymede, Magna Carta's promises on justice and taxation and how it was to be enforced, Simon de Montfort's parliament of 1265 and Edward I's assemblies. | 10 |
| Richard II’s deposition and the Wars of the Roses | Richard II's treatment of his critics, the seizure of the Lancastrian inheritance, Bolingbroke's takeover and its legal dressing, Richard's death, Lancaster and York, Henry VI's weaknesses, Richard of York, Bosworth and what the wars showed. | 10 |
| Tudor government, personal rule and the Civil Wars | The Act of Supremacy, Thomas Cromwell's methods, why Henry VIII used statute, Elizabeth I's forbidden subjects, Charles I's personal rule, ship money, the recall of Parliament in 1640, Naseby, the King's trial and the Commonwealth. | 10 |
| The Restoration, 1688 and the Bill of Rights | Charles II's return and the Declaration of Breda, James II's Catholicism and fall, the invitation to William, the Bill of Rights, why 1688 mattered, the Triennial Act, annual Parliaments and the Act of Settlement. | 11 |
| The rise of political parties and a parliamentary monarchy | The first Whigs and Tories and what divided them, Whig dominance under George I, the growing influence of ministers, Walpole as the first Prime Minister, parliamentary monarchy, patronage, rotten boroughs, the narrow franchise and the powers the monarch kept. | 10 |
| Parliament and the people, c.1800–c.1918: reform and the unions | The unrepresented industrial towns, Old Sarum, open voting, Peterloo, the 1832 Act, the Acts of 1867 and 1884, party organisation, new unions, the dock strike of 1889, Labour's founding and Taff Vale. | 13 |
| Votes for women, and the state in war and peace | Suffragists and suffragettes, militant action and the Cat and Mouse Act, why some women won the vote in 1918, the Defence of the Realm Act, state control in the Second World War, the Beveridge Report, the NHS and nationalisation. | 11 |
| Challenges to Parliament since 1980 | The Miners' Strike and why it failed, CND, Greenpeace, Thatcher's prime ministerial power, Blair's presidential style, devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the coalition of 2010. | 10 |
| Claiming, keeping and losing power | How rulers claimed the crown from the Witan to elections in 2014, how they kept it through castles, land, religion, display, patronage, censorship and concession, and how power was challenged from 1215 to the Chartists. | 20 |
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.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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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.
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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
OCR GCSE History A Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 1,449 questions with their answers.