OCR A Level History A Y103/01 England 1199–1272 June 2025 Combined
QUESTION PAPER and MARK SCHEME
Oxford Cambridge and RSA
Friday 6 June 2025 – Afternoon
A Level History A
Y103/01 England 1199–1272
Time allowed: 1 hour 30 minutes
You must have:
• the OCR 12‑page Answer Booklet
INSTRUCTIONS
• Use black ink.
• Write your answer to each question in the Answer Booklet. The question numbers must
be clearly shown.
• Fill in the boxes on the front of the Answer Booklet.
• Answer Question 1 in Section A. Answer either Question 2 or Question 3 in Section B.
INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 50.
• The marks for each question are shown in brackets [ ].
• Quality of extended response will be assessed in questions marked with an asterisk (*).
• This document has 4 pages.
ADVICE
• Read each question carefully before you start your answer.
, © OCR 2025 [F/506/4252] OCR is an exempt Charity
DC (ST) 359001/1 Turn over
*1398 387 284*
, 2
Section A
King John 1199–1216
Study the four sources and answer Question 1.
1 ‘King John did not suffer from the impact of the Interdict and his excommunication’.
Use the four sources in their historical context to assess how far they support this view. [30]
Source A: A monk of St Alban’s describes John’s reaction to the imposition of the Interdict
in 1208.
The king of England, being greatly enraged on account of the Interdict, sent his sheriffs to all quarters
of England, giving orders with dreadful threats to all priests as well as to those subject to them, to
depart from the kingdom immediately and to demand justice for him from the pope. He also gave
all the bishoprics, abbacies and priories into the charge of laymen and ordered all ecclesiastical
revenues to be confiscated. But most of the abbots refused to quit their monasteries unless expelled
by violence. When the agents of the king found this out, they would not use violence, because they
did not have a warrant from the king to that effect. But they converted all monastic property to the
king’s use, giving the monks only a scanty allowance of food and clothing out of their own property.
Roger of Wendover, History of England, written before 1236
Source B: A monk explains the impact of the Interdict in 1208.
Great sorrow and anxiety spread throughout the country. Neither Good Friday nor Easter Sunday
could be celebrated but an unheard‑of silence was imposed on the clergy and monks by laymen. The
bodies of the dead could not be buried in consecrated cemeteries, but only in vile and profane places.
The people were forced to pay at first a quarter of their money to the king, then a third and then half.
Even the rents of the cardinals were taken from them and Peter’s Pence, which the Roman Church
had received since the time of Cnut was withheld by the king.
Gervase of Canterbury, The Deeds of Kings, written before 1210
Source C: A chronicler gives an account of events in Wales.
The Welsh princes, encouraged by the pope who had absolved them from the agreement which they
had made the previous year with the English king and from the allegiance and oaths which they had
given, attacked the English king in return for the Interdict being relaxed in their lands. King John,
stirred up to violent anger, hanged the Welsh hostages and gathered an army against them from all
parts of the kingdom. And then, when he had gathered such a multitude as had never been seen
before, God put his forces to flight.
Barnwell Chronicle, 1212
© OCR 2025 Y103/01 Jun25
QUESTION PAPER and MARK SCHEME
Oxford Cambridge and RSA
Friday 6 June 2025 – Afternoon
A Level History A
Y103/01 England 1199–1272
Time allowed: 1 hour 30 minutes
You must have:
• the OCR 12‑page Answer Booklet
INSTRUCTIONS
• Use black ink.
• Write your answer to each question in the Answer Booklet. The question numbers must
be clearly shown.
• Fill in the boxes on the front of the Answer Booklet.
• Answer Question 1 in Section A. Answer either Question 2 or Question 3 in Section B.
INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 50.
• The marks for each question are shown in brackets [ ].
• Quality of extended response will be assessed in questions marked with an asterisk (*).
• This document has 4 pages.
ADVICE
• Read each question carefully before you start your answer.
, © OCR 2025 [F/506/4252] OCR is an exempt Charity
DC (ST) 359001/1 Turn over
*1398 387 284*
, 2
Section A
King John 1199–1216
Study the four sources and answer Question 1.
1 ‘King John did not suffer from the impact of the Interdict and his excommunication’.
Use the four sources in their historical context to assess how far they support this view. [30]
Source A: A monk of St Alban’s describes John’s reaction to the imposition of the Interdict
in 1208.
The king of England, being greatly enraged on account of the Interdict, sent his sheriffs to all quarters
of England, giving orders with dreadful threats to all priests as well as to those subject to them, to
depart from the kingdom immediately and to demand justice for him from the pope. He also gave
all the bishoprics, abbacies and priories into the charge of laymen and ordered all ecclesiastical
revenues to be confiscated. But most of the abbots refused to quit their monasteries unless expelled
by violence. When the agents of the king found this out, they would not use violence, because they
did not have a warrant from the king to that effect. But they converted all monastic property to the
king’s use, giving the monks only a scanty allowance of food and clothing out of their own property.
Roger of Wendover, History of England, written before 1236
Source B: A monk explains the impact of the Interdict in 1208.
Great sorrow and anxiety spread throughout the country. Neither Good Friday nor Easter Sunday
could be celebrated but an unheard‑of silence was imposed on the clergy and monks by laymen. The
bodies of the dead could not be buried in consecrated cemeteries, but only in vile and profane places.
The people were forced to pay at first a quarter of their money to the king, then a third and then half.
Even the rents of the cardinals were taken from them and Peter’s Pence, which the Roman Church
had received since the time of Cnut was withheld by the king.
Gervase of Canterbury, The Deeds of Kings, written before 1210
Source C: A chronicler gives an account of events in Wales.
The Welsh princes, encouraged by the pope who had absolved them from the agreement which they
had made the previous year with the English king and from the allegiance and oaths which they had
given, attacked the English king in return for the Interdict being relaxed in their lands. King John,
stirred up to violent anger, hanged the Welsh hostages and gathered an army against them from all
parts of the kingdom. And then, when he had gathered such a multitude as had never been seen
before, God put his forces to flight.
Barnwell Chronicle, 1212
© OCR 2025 Y103/01 Jun25
