AQA A-LEVEL HISTORY 7042/1C [Component 1C The Tudors: England, 1485– 1603] ||QUESTIONS & MARKING SCHEME MERGED|| GRADED A+

Section A Answer Question 01. Extract A Henry VIII not only reigned over England but led the nation. He held back men who went too fast, dragged forward men who lagged behind. The conservatives in religion trusted him because he shared their conservatism. The King believed in the traditions in which he had been trained. Nevertheless, during his reign, the constitution of England was transformed. Henry brought Ireland within the reach of English civilisation. He absorbed Wales into the general English system. He alone raised the House of Commons from its narrow duty of granting taxes and made the Commons into the first power in the state under the Crown. He brought the Commons to life in 1529, and they became his right hand, enabling him to subdue the resistance of the House of Lords. He forced upon the Lords a course of legislation which they whole-heartedly detested. King Henry VIII not only broke through the ancient practices of government, he was the architect and saviour of the English nation. Adapted from JA Froude, History of England, 1856 5 10 Extract B The view of Henry VIII as a virtuous and worthy king is little more than a myth. One only has to look at his portrait by Holbein with its ruthless pig-like face to see the real Henry. While Henry lived, men rightly feared his anger. They were terrorised by his arbitrary executions. Hanging without trial was one of the major causes of death in Henry’s reign. Men dared not speak freely about his loathsome character. There was an almost complete absence of any major rebellion by the people in general during Henry’s reign. His ruthlessness can only be partly explained by the Tudors’ shaky claim to the throne. Henry VIII was a disaster to his country, impoverishing its resources and stunting its growth for the sake of futile wars. He left it both an empty treasury and its government in the hands of an unprincipled gang of political adventurers. Adapted from WG Hoskins, The Age of Plunder: The England of Henry VIII, 1500–1547, 1976 5 10 3 IB/M/Jun23/7042/1C Turn over ► Extract C Henry VIII failed to fulfil many of his most personal ambitions. He failed to achieve any substantial victories or conquests in France. He failed to secure the succession, leaving Edward, a child, to inherit a wealth of complications which surrounded Mary and Elizabeth’s illegitimacy. He failed to secure his vision of a reformed, yet still Catholic, Church. He failed to win support for the royal supremacy which he sought from his subjects. In even more personal terms, he failed to secure the loyal marriage which he idealised. He felt himself betrayed by a succession of those closest to him. Yet, if Henry’s life was a failure in personal terms, he still achieved an extraordinary amount by 1547. It was Henry VIII who had laid the foundations of the English nation; he had separated England from the rest of Christendom. That England was neither Catholic nor straightforwardly Protestant, was a consequence of Henry’s extraordinary reign. Adapted from L Wooding, Henry VIII, 2009 5 10 0 1 Using your understanding of the historical context, assess how convincing the arguments in these three extracts are in relation to Henry VIII as ruler. [30 marks] Turn over for Section B