Board: AQA | Option: 1C | Component: Component 1 (Breadth Study) | Assessment Objective: AO3
This option covers England from the accession of Henry VII to the death of Elizabeth I — one of the most popular and richly debated periods in English history. Students trace the consolidation of royal power after the Wars of the Roses, the English Reformation and its reversals, the tumultuous reigns of Henry VIII’s children, and the Elizabethan settlement. The breadth of the option allows sustained engagement with questions about the nature of Tudor monarchy and the pace and causes of religious change.
What this option covers
- Henry VII: consolidating Lancastrian/Tudor power, financial reform, and foreign policy
- Henry VIII: Wolsey, the break with Rome, dissolution of the monasteries, and the Henrician Reformation
- Edward VI: Somerset, Northumberland, and the Protestant Reformation under a minor
- Mary I: the Catholic restoration, Cranmer’s execution, and the limits of reaction
- Elizabeth I: the religious settlement, the Northern Rising, Mary Queen of Scots, and the Armada
- Elizabethan government: Privy Council, patronage, and the politics of a female ruler
Key historiographical debates
- The nature of the Henrician Reformation: religious conviction, political calculation, or both?
- How ‘revolutionary’ was the Tudor Reformation? (Elton’s revolution in government thesis)
- Elizabeth I: Gloriana or political pragmatist? The debate on female rule and royal authority
- The Elizabethan religious settlement: a ‘middle way’ or an imposed compromise?
AO3 Interpretation Pack — coming soon
An AO3 Interpretation Pack for AQA 1C is in development. When complete, it will cover the major historiographical debates examined in this option, with named historians, paired comparison tasks built to AQA mark scheme logic, and provenance prompts for every debate. The first debate will be free and open to all.
