Pearson EDEXCEL GCSE (9-1) History Option B3

Option B3: Henry VIII and his ministers, 1509–40

Henry VIII and Wolsey, 1509–29

Henry VIII and Cromwell, 1529–40

The Reformation and its impact, 1529–40

Henry VIII, Renaissance Prince

The rise of Wolsey and his policies

Wolsey’s foreign policy

Wolsey, Catherine, the succession and annulment

Cromwell’s rise to power, 1529–34

Cromwell, and the king’s marriages

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

The Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536

England in 1509: society and government. The young Henry and his accession to the throne.

Henry’s character and views on sovereignty and monarchy. His personal style of government.

Strengths, weaknesses and aims as monarch.

Reasons for Wolsey’s rise to power. His personality, roles and wealth.

Wolsey’s reforms: enclosures, finance and justice. The Eltham Ordinances.

Reasons for and reactions to the Amicable Grant.

Aims of Wolsey’s foreign policy.

Successes and failures, including relations with France and the Holy Roman Empire, the Treaty of London (1518), the ‘Field of the Cloth of Gold’ (1520) and increasing difficulties in the 1520s.

Catherine of Aragon and the succession.

Henry’s reasons for and attempts to gain an annulment. Opposition to the annulment, including the role of Pope Clement VII.

Reasons for Wolsey’s fall from power, including the failure of the divorce proceedings in London. The influence of the Boleyns.

Personality and early career, including service to Wolsey, election as MP and eventual membership of the Royal Council.

Handling of the king’s annulment and influence over Henry. Role as the king’s Chief Minister.

Reasons for the fall of Anne Boleyn, including the role of Cromwell.

Jane Seymour: marriage, heir and death. The influence of the Seymours.

Reform of government and royal finance.

The management and use of parliament.

The significance of Henry’s marriage to Anne of Cleves

Reasons for Cromwell’s fall from power in 1540, including the influence of the Duke of Norfolk.

Henry as ‘Defender of the Faith’. Reasons for Henry’s campaign against the Pope and the Catholic Church, 1529–33.

The significance of the Act of Succession and the Act of Supremacy (1534). Cromwell’s role in their enforcement, including the use of oaths and treason laws.

Elizabeth Barton (the Nun of Kent) and John Fisher.

The significance of opposition from Thomas More

Impact of the Reformation on the English Church, including the work of Thomas Cranmer and the influence of Thomas Cromwell.

The role of religious houses in local communities.

Reasons for the dissolutions, including the findings of Cromwell’s commissions of 1535.

The impact of the dissolutions. Beneficiaries and losers

Reasons for the uprising

Key events of the uprising, including rebellions in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire and the roles of Robert Aske and the Duke of Norfolk

Reasons for the failure of the Pilgrimage of Grace and the significance of the uprising.