Curriculum Overview

Government and administration, 1485–1603, including

changes made to structure and function of the household,

changes in the role of Secretary, establishing the post of

lord lieutenant (key development: reform of the Privy

Council 1540).

2 Gaining the

cooperation of

the localities

● Crown, church and parliament, 1485–1603: church-state

relations, including the impact of the Reformation (key

developments: the Acts of Supremacy of 1534 and 1559,

the Elizabethan religious settlement); development of the

concepts of sovereignty of statute and parliamentary

privilege; the extent of change in the relationship between

crown and parliament.

Involving the localities in governance, 1485–1603: relations

with localities (key developments: re-establishing the

Council of the North 1537, the Law in Wales Acts 1535 and

1542); increasing borough representation in the Commons

over the period; impact of increasing literacy in the yeoman

class; the changing role of justices of the peace (key

developments: the Tudor subsidy of 1513, the Statute of

Artificers 1563, the Act for the Relief of the Poor 1598).

● The crown and the country, 1485–1603: the development

of a network of personal relationships by patronage, the

granting of lands, titles and positions at court; the

increasing use of royal progresses beyond London and the

Home Counties.

Henry Tudor’s hold on the throne, 1485–87: the impact of

Bosworth 1485; measures to secure his throne; the roles of

the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions.

● The nature and extent of the challenges of Lambert Simnel,

1486–87, and Perkin Warbeck, 1491–99, and how they

were overcome.

● The significance of support for the challengers from

Burgundy, France, Scotland and Ireland.

The impact of Henrician religious changes, 1533–37: the

break with Rome and the dissolution of the monasteries.

● The causes and impact of the Lincolnshire Rising and the

Pilgrimage of Grace: aims, methods, nature of support and

extent of threat.

● The role of leaders in challenge and suppression: Robert

Aske and Francis Bigod; Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII and

the Duke of Norfolk; the extent of repression in 1537.

The social and economic reasons for rebellion: the impact of

enclosures; rural discontent; the impact of the Duke of

Somerset’s commission on enclosures.

● The challenge posed by Kett’s rebellion: its demands;

extent of the threat posed.

● The role of leaders in challenge and suppression: Kett;

Somerset and the Earl of Warwick; the extent of repression.

The causes of and development of the challenge: problem

posed by Mary, Queen of Scots; court politics and faction;

the role of the Duke of Norfolk; economic and religious

insecurities of the northern nobility; Mary’s arrival in 1568.

● The main events of the revolt: the significance of the

capture of Durham and the siege of Barnard Castle; the role

of the northern earls; the extent of the threat to Elizabeth.

● Failure and its impact: reasons for failure; repression;

implications for Catholicism and Protestantism in England.

The reasons for the Nine Years’ War (Tyrone’s rebellion)

and the significance of the support for Hugh O’Neill and Hue

Roe O’Donnell from within Ireland and from Spain.

● The significance of events and individuals: the Battles of

Clontibret 1595, Yellow Ford 1598, Curlew Pass 1599, and

the collapse of the Munster Plantation; the roles of Henry

Bagenal, Florence MacCarthy, the Earl of Essex and Lord

Mountjoy.

● Reasons for the war’s duration and England’s eventual

success, including the battle of Kinsale 1601, the late

arrival of Spanish support and the siege of Dunboy; costs to

the English government.