AQA A-level History · 1C

The Tudors: England, 1485–1603

50 exam-style questions with answers for 1C The Tudors: England, 1485–1603 in AQA A-level History (spec 7042). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 1C, Part one
How did Henry VII win the throne in 1485? [1 mark]
Answer:
He defeated and killed Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth.
Question 2 · Spec 1C, Part one
Explain how Henry VII’s marriage strengthened his position. [2 marks]
Answer:
He married Elizabeth of York in 1486 (1); this united the houses of Lancaster and York and weakened Yorkist claims (1).
Question 3 · Spec 1C, Part one
Who were Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck? [2 marks]
Answer:
Simnel claimed to be the Earl of Warwick and was defeated at Stoke (1487) (1); Warbeck claimed to be Richard of York and was executed in 1499 (1).
Question 4 · Spec 1C, Part one
How did Henry VII control the nobility? [2 marks]
Answer:
He used bonds and recognisances to impose financial penalties for disloyalty (1); he enforced laws against retaining (1).
Question 5 · Spec 1C, Part one
State two ways Henry VII increased royal income. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: crown lands (1); customs duties (1); feudal dues (1); bonds and recognisances (1); French pension from the Treaty of Étaples (1).
Question 6 · Spec 1C, Part one
What was the Council Learned in Law? [1 mark]
Answer:
A council that pursued the king’s financial rights and enforced bonds, run by Empson and Dudley.
Question 7 · Spec 1C, Part one
State two marriage alliances made by Henry VII. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Arthur to Catherine of Aragon (1); Margaret to James IV of Scotland (1); Henry to Catherine after Arthur’s death (1).
Question 8 · Spec 1C, Part one
What was the Treaty of Medina del Campo (1489)? [1 mark]
Answer:
An alliance with Spain agreeing the marriage of Arthur and Catherine of Aragon.
Question 9 · Spec 1C, Part one
State two rebellions against Henry VII. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Yorkshire rebellion (1489) (1); Cornish rebellion (1497) (1); Simnel (1487) (1); Warbeck (1491–1497) (1).
Question 10 · Spec 1C, Part one
State one economic development under Henry VII. [1 mark]
Answer:
Any one from: the Magnus Intercursus trade agreement (1496) (1); Cabot’s voyages (1497) (1); growth of the cloth trade (1).
Question 11 · Spec 1C, Part one
What was Henry VIII’s first action against his father’s ministers? [1 mark]
Answer:
He had Empson and Dudley arrested and executed.
Question 12 · Spec 1C, Part one
Explain why Henry VIII wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. [2 marks]
Answer:
He had no male heir (1); he believed the marriage was against God’s law (Leviticus) and wanted to marry Anne Boleyn (1).
Question 13 · Spec 1C, Part one
What was the Act of Supremacy (1534)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It declared Henry VIII Supreme Head of the Church in England.
Question 14 · Spec 1C, Part one
What was the Act in Restraint of Appeals (1533)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It stopped appeals to Rome, so the annulment could be decided in England.
Question 15 · Spec 1C, Part one
Who was Thomas Wolsey? [2 marks]
Answer:
Henry’s chief minister, Lord Chancellor and cardinal (1); he fell in 1529 after failing to secure the annulment (1).
Question 16 · Spec 1C, Part one
Who was Thomas Cromwell? [2 marks]
Answer:
Henry’s chief minister in the 1530s (1); he drafted the Reformation statutes and organised the dissolution of the monasteries (1).
Question 17 · Spec 1C, Part one
When were the monasteries dissolved? [1 mark]
Answer:
Smaller houses from 1536 and larger ones by 1540.
Question 18 · Spec 1C, Part one
What was the Pilgrimage of Grace (1536)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A major northern rising against religious change and the dissolution of the monasteries.
Question 19 · Spec 1C, Part one
What was the Act of Six Articles (1539)? [1 mark]
Answer:
An act affirming Catholic doctrines such as transubstantiation, showing limits to reform.
Question 20 · Spec 1C, Part one
How did Henry VIII secure the succession? [2 marks]
Answer:
His son Edward was born in 1537 (1); the Third Succession Act (1543) named Edward, then Mary, then Elizabeth (1).
Question 21 · Spec 1C, Part one
State two foreign policy events under Henry VIII. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520) (1); Flodden (1513) (1); the capture of Boulogne (1544) (1); the Treaty of Greenwich (1543) (1).
Question 22 · Spec 1C, Part one
What was the Great Debasement? [1 mark]
Answer:
Reducing the silver content of coins from 1544 to raise money, which caused inflation.
Question 23 · Spec 1C, Part one
What was the Star Chamber under Henry VII? [1 mark]
Answer:
The King’s Council sitting as a court to deal with powerful offenders.
Question 24 · Spec 1C, Part one
State two features of Henry VII’s government. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: small council of trusted advisers (1); infrequent parliaments (1); careful management of finance through the Chamber (1); use of JPs (1).
Question 25 · Spec 1C, Part one
What was the Treaty of Étaples (1492)? [1 mark]
Answer:
France agreed to pay Henry VII a pension and stop supporting Warbeck.
Question 26 · Spec 1C, Part one
What was the Truce of Ayton (1497)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A truce with Scotland that led to the Treaty of Perpetual Peace (1502).
Question 27 · Spec 1C, Part one
What were the Amicable Grant (1525) and its outcome? [2 marks]
Answer:
Wolsey’s demand for a non-parliamentary tax for war with France (1); resistance and riots forced Henry to abandon it (1).
Question 28 · Spec 1C, Part one
State two humanists active in England under the early Tudors. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Erasmus (1); Thomas More (1); John Colet (1); Thomas Linacre (1).
Question 29 · Spec 1C, Part one
What was the Act of Ten Articles (1536)? [1 mark]
Answer:
The first statement of doctrine of the Church of England, moderately Protestant in tone.
Question 30 · Spec 1C, Part one
State two consequences of the dissolution of the monasteries. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: large crown income from land sales (1); gentry gained land and a stake in the Reformation (1); loss of charity and education (1); the Pilgrimage of Grace (1).
Question 31 · Spec 1C, Part two
Who was Protector Somerset? [1 mark]
Answer:
Edward Seymour, Edward VI’s uncle, who governed from 1547 until his fall in 1549.
Question 32 · Spec 1C, Part two
State two rebellions of 1549. [2 marks]
Answer:
Kett’s Rebellion in Norfolk (1); the Western (Prayer Book) Rebellion (1).
Question 33 · Spec 1C, Part two
What were the Books of Common Prayer of 1549 and 1552? [2 marks]
Answer:
English-language services replacing the Latin Mass (1); the 1552 book was more Protestant (1).
Question 34 · Spec 1C, Part two
What was Northumberland’s Devise? [1 mark]
Answer:
The plan to make Lady Jane Grey queen, bypassing Mary.
Question 35 · Spec 1C, Part two
What happened in Wyatt’s Rebellion (1554)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A rising against Mary’s marriage to Philip of Spain, which reached London but failed.
Question 36 · Spec 1C, Part two
State two religious changes under Mary I. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: restored the Mass (1); reunion with Rome (1554) (1); heresy laws revived (1); about 280 Protestants burned (1).
Question 37 · Spec 1C, Part two
What did England lose in 1558? [1 mark]
Answer:
Calais, its last possession in France.
Question 38 · Spec 1C, Part two
What was the Elizabethan Settlement (1559)? [2 marks]
Answer:
The Act of Supremacy made Elizabeth Supreme Governor (1); the Act of Uniformity restored a Protestant Prayer Book with some traditional features (1).
Question 39 · Spec 1C, Part two
Explain why faction mattered in Elizabethan government. [2 marks]
Answer:
Rival groups, eg Leicester and Cecil, competed for patronage and influence (1); in the 1590s the Cecil-Essex rivalry destabilised government (1).
Question 40 · Spec 1C, Part two
Why was Mary, Queen of Scots, executed in 1587? [1 mark]
Answer:
She was implicated in the Babington Plot to kill Elizabeth.
Question 41 · Spec 1C, Part two
What was the Northern Rebellion (1569)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A Catholic rising by the earls of Northumberland and Westmorland, which was crushed.
Question 42 · Spec 1C, Part two
State two developments in trade and exploration under Elizabeth. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Drake’s circumnavigation (1577–1580) (1); the Levant Company (1581) (1); the East India Company (1600) (1); Roanoke colony (1585) (1).
Question 43 · Spec 1C, Part two
What was Tyrone’s Rebellion? [1 mark]
Answer:
An Irish rebellion (1594–1603) led by Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone.
Question 44 · Spec 1C, Part two
State two features of the English Renaissance under Elizabeth. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: drama, eg Shakespeare and Marlowe (1); poetry, eg Spenser (1); music, eg Byrd (1); portraiture, eg Hilliard (1).
Question 45 · Spec 1C, Part two
State two problems in England by 1603. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: debt from war with Spain and Ireland (1); the poor harvests of the 1590s (1); the monopolies dispute (1); an uncertain succession (1).
Question 46 · Spec 1C, Part two
What was the Chantries Act (1547)? [1 mark]
Answer:
An act under Edward VI that dissolved chantries, which prayed for the souls of the dead.
Question 47 · Spec 1C, Part two
What was the Act of Uniformity (1559)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It required everyone to attend Church of England services using the 1559 Prayer Book.
Question 48 · Spec 1C, Part two
What was the 39 Articles (1563)? [1 mark]
Answer:
The statement of the doctrine of the Church of England.
Question 49 · Spec 1C, Part two
Explain the significance of the Spanish Armada’s defeat (1588). [2 marks]
Answer:
It ended the immediate threat of invasion (1); it boosted Elizabeth’s prestige and Protestant identity (1).
Question 50 · Spec 1C, Part two
What was the 1601 Poor Law? [1 mark]
Answer:
It made each parish raise a poor rate to support the deserving poor and set the able-bodied to work.

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The Tudors: England, 1485–1603

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