AQA_2024: A-level History - Component 2C
The Reformation in Europe, c1500–1564
(Merged Question Paper and Marking Scheme)
A-level
HISTORY
Component 2C The Reformation in Europe, c1500–1564
Friday 7 June 2024 Afternoon Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
Materials
For this paper you must have:
an AQA 16-page answer book.
Instructions
Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is
7042/2C.
Answer three questions.
In Section A answer Question 01.
In Section B answer two questions.
Information
The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
The maximum mark for this paper is 80.
You will be marked on your ability to:
– use good English
– organise information clearly
– use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.
Advice
You are advised to spend about:
– 1 hour on Question 01 from Section A
– 45 minutes on each of the two questions answered from Section B.
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Key areas:
1. Background to the Reformation (Pre-1500):
Church Corruption: Widespread corruption, such as the sale of indulgences and clerical abuses,
created discontent within the Catholic Church.
Humanism: The Renaissance humanists, like Erasmus, criticized church practices, promoting a
return to early Christian texts and individual interpretation of the Bible.
2. Martin Luther and the German Reformation (1517–1525):
Luther’s 95 Theses (1517): Martin Luther’s objections to the sale of indulgences, which he nailed to
the church door in Wittenberg, sparked the Reformation.
Luther’s Beliefs: Luther rejected papal authority, advocating for justification by faith alone, the
authority of Scripture over the Church, and the priesthood of all believers.
Excommunication and the Diet of Worms (1521): Luther was excommunicated and declared an
outlaw by the Holy Roman Emperor at the Diet of Worms for refusing to recant his writings.
Luther’s Impact: His ideas spread rapidly due to the printing press, leading to the establishment of
Lutheranism, especially in northern Germany and Scandinavia.
3. The Swiss Reformation (1520s):
Zwingli in Zurich: Ulrich Zwingli led the Reformation in Switzerland, rejecting Catholic rituals, and
aligning more with Luther’s ideas, but differing on the nature of the Eucharist.
Radical Reformers: Groups like the Anabaptists rejected infant baptism and advocated for a more
radical separation from the state.
4. The English Reformation (1530s):
Henry VIII’s Break from Rome: The English Reformation was largely political. Henry VIII’s desire
for a divorce from Catherine of Aragon led to the Act of Supremacy (1534), which made Henry the
Supreme Head of the Church of England.
Doctrinal Changes: While England retained many Catholic practices, the break from Rome marked
the beginning of religious reforms, though it didn’t fully embrace Protestantism.
5. The Catholic Reformation (1545–1564):
Council of Trent (1545–1563): The Catholic Church responded to Protestantism by reforming many
of its practices (e.g., addressing clerical corruption), but reaffirmed Catholic doctrines like the
authority of the Pope and the importance of tradition.
Jesuit Order: Founded by Ignatius of Loyola, the Society of Jesus played a key role in spreading
Catholicism, establishing schools, and combating Protestantism.
6. Impact of the Reformation (c1500–1564):
Religious Wars: The Reformation led to decades of religious conflict, notably the German
Peasants' War (1524–1525), the French Wars of Religion (1562–1598), and the Thirty Years’
War (1618–1648).
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Section A
Answer Question 01.
Source A
From an official record by the Consistory of Geneva concerning Madame Perrin, 1546.
The Perrin family was powerful and strongly opposed to Calvin.
The wife of Monsieur Perrin appeared and was accused of having danced at Belle Rive
and at the house of Antoine Let. She denied it, although she admitted that she had seen
others dancing. She further acknowledged that she herself enjoyed dancing.
She accused the court of victimising her father, her brother and her brother-in-law and
said that furthermore there was a vendetta against her family. She was reprimanded for 5
this accusation. She said that she wished to help her father and added that he should
only be investigated in private and not in public. She was told that he would be treated in
the same way as anyone else in the city would be treated.
She was again asked to name those who had been dancing. She replied twice that she
would prefer to be corrected by the city magistrates and therefore face civil justice rather 10
than by the Consistory Court as she did not think this a matter for the Consistory.
Source B
From the published minutes of a public meeting in Geneva, ‘Records of Pastors who
Observed a Lecture by Jerome Bolsec’, 1551. Bolsec was a former Catholic priest.
Bolsec has been a doctor of medicine in Paris, but he has come to live in Geneva.
Although he initially supported Calvin, he has now become opposed to his theology.
Bolsec declared:
- that there was a wicked, new opinion, contrary to the Word of God and Holy Scripture,
that before the creation of the world, God had predestined those who were to be saved 5
and those who were to be damned, before he had seen who would be believers
- that he condemned the doctrine of God that we follow, saying that it portrayed God as a
tyrant
- that in saying God had predestined us to life or death, we made God into the author of
evil and injustice 10
- that we provided grounds for the wicked to criticise God, by saying that they could do
nothing about it if they were damned and that their actions were therefore no fault of
their own.
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