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AQA A2 HISTORY HIS3B: The Triumph of Elizabeth, 1547-1603. 10th June 2016

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Original post by Saffron_G
I feel the exact same! I think a Q on Elizabeth's govt would be good, it could be across the whole period or just 1588-1603 looking at her decline.

Any thoughts on potential Puritan/Catholic threat Q's?


I would love for their to be a Puritan question because it's one of my fave topics! They could give us a question like 'The Puritan challenge to Elizabeth was neither serious nor coherent' - I think that was the title of a practice essay my teacher set our class. I think the only Puritan qs we could get are ones on the movement as a whole challenging Elizabeth because it's quite a small topic, but then again they have specified Jesuits before for the Catholic threat which was super narrow

Or they could do a comparison between the Catholic/Puritan threat but that's unlikely because the challenge to the religious settlement question came up last year.
Original post by thehollowcrown
I would love for their to be a Puritan question because it's one of my fave topics! They could give us a question like 'The Puritan challenge to Elizabeth was neither serious nor coherent' - I think that was the title of a practice essay my teacher set our class. I think the only Puritan qs we could get are ones on the movement as a whole challenging Elizabeth because it's quite a small topic, but then again they have specified Jesuits before for the Catholic threat which was super narrow

Or they could do a comparison between the Catholic/Puritan threat but that's unlikely because the challenge to the religious settlement question came up last year.


Hi how would you structure a Puritan essay? T
Could you guys tell me if we are supposed to know the majority of the dates in the book, along with all the minor characters and what not?

I suppose that as long as one's argument is strong enough when debating in the essay, it should not really matter too much if the essay itself is drowning in dates and facts about minor characters or not, right?

Any opinions would be much appreciated. Lost my history teacher half a year ago so I've no one to ask.
Original post by harrietw1
Hi how would you structure a Puritan essay? T


I would do it in themes of the different Puritan groups:

1. Conformists
2. Parliamentary threat
3. Separatist threat
Original post by Caius Filimon
Could you guys tell me if we are supposed to know the majority of the dates in the book, along with all the minor characters and what not?


We were told to have 20-25 facts throughout the essay which support our argument.
Original post by Aydin7
We were told to have 20-25 facts throughout the essay which support our argument.


Holy Jesus... that sure is a very hefty amount of facts.

Could I ask if you've done coursework for your A level history? What % of the total A level grade was the coursework?
Original post by thehollowcrown
I would love for their to be a Puritan question because it's one of my fave topics! They could give us a question like 'The Puritan challenge to Elizabeth was neither serious nor coherent' - I think that was the title of a practice essay my teacher set our class. I think the only Puritan qs we could get are ones on the movement as a whole challenging Elizabeth because it's quite a small topic, but then again they have specified Jesuits before for the Catholic threat which was super narrow

Or they could do a comparison between the Catholic/Puritan threat but that's unlikely because the challenge to the religious settlement question came up last year.


Yeah I spent today revising it and it's more straight forward than I originally thought. I wrote a plan & essay to "Elizabeth never faced a severe puritan threat throughout her reign", and I split it into the 3 parts of her reign & it was quite a succinct essay to write. :-) Tackling Catholics tomorrow!!
Original post by CatherineAnne97
There's loads of historians quotes about how the Privy Council influenced and managed parliament. If a question about effective parliament management came up would these be relevant then?


Certainly, also relevant if the question asked how much control Elizabeth had over her Parliaments (2012) as it shows control was often, and indirectly, diverted away from Elizabeth's hand. Ministers like Cecil and Leicester often used Parliament as a political pawn for their owns means, rather than Elizabeth's.
Original post by a_bit_of_a_noob
Certainly, also relevant if the question asked how much control Elizabeth had over her Parliaments (2012) as it shows control was often, and indirectly, diverted away from Elizabeth's hand. Ministers like Cecil and Leicester often used Parliament as a political pawn for their owns means, rather than Elizabeth's.


Were you told to use historians' interpretations at all, or are they only to be used as a little 'extra'?
Original post by Caius Filimon
Holy Jesus... that sure is a very hefty amount of facts.

Could I ask if you've done coursework for your A level history? What % of the total A level grade was the coursework?


Yes I have, it counts for 20%. You can see weighting here.
Original post by Aydin7
Yes I have, it counts for 20%. You can see weighting here.


Thank you; for some reason I've been told that our coursework would be 40% of the end grade... would you say that's due to imbecilic teachers, or just perhaps something else?

Have you studied things very in depth such as Jewel's 1562 apology, by the way? I'm trying to gauge how in depth I should go with things.
Original post by harrietw1
Hi how would you structure a Puritan essay? T


How I would do it is start off by showing one of the historians views, use this throughout.

Then, break it down into time periods (or at least I would)

1. Synthesis of the movement (1563 - 1575)
2 . Appearance of the separatist movements such as the classicals (1575 - 1588)
3. Post armada

The whole idea that of the armada significantly strengthening the protestant cause is extremely important.
Hey, I have a bunch of different quizzes for this exact exam on sporcle if you want to practice. Some of the questions that are a phrase are quite difficult to answer since its an exact set phrase, but beyond that it should be ok.

Edward VI : http://www.sporcle.com/games/gigaraptorama/somerset-and-northumberland-megaquiz
Mary : http://www.sporcle.com/games/gigaraptorama/mary-tudor-megaquiz
Early Elizabeth : http://www.sporcle.com/games/gigaraptorama/elizabeth-tudor-1558-1572-mega-quiz
Mid Elizabeth : http://www.sporcle.com/games/gigaraptorama/elizabeth-1572-85-mega-quiz
Late Elizabeth : http://www.sporcle.com/games/gigaraptorama/elizabeth-1585-1603-megaquiz

The late elizabeth one is a little bit lacking, but beyond that they should be ok.
Original post by harrietw1
Hi how would you structure a Puritan essay? T


Sorry for the long post in advance!! If it was 'To what extent were the Puritans to Elizabeth I' I would structure it with the different threats they posed, so perhaps three factors per argument. For example:

They were a threat:
1) Attempts to change religious settlement through parliament - It was very dangerous to Elizabeth that the Presbyterians tried to push for a more radical settlement through parliament. This is evident through the number of bills attempted to be passed such as the 1572 admonition to parliament, with the Presbyterians Thomas Wilcox, Thomas Cartwright and John Field asking for a reform the Book of Common Prayer in line with more Genevan teachings.They called for all bishops to be abolished so that there could be an egalitarian Church (all people deserve equal rights and opportunities) where no hierarchy existed. This threatened Elizabeth's position as the monarch because if this was put in place, she would no longer have been 'Supreme Governor', and therefore not in control of state or church. Other examples of attempts to change the religious settlement through parliament include:
-1571 Bill by Walter Strickland to reform Book of Common Prayer.
-1571/72 Alphabet Bills.
1576 Attack on clerical abuses by Peter Wentworth.

2) Attempts to change settlement through local movements (prophesying and classical presbyterianism) - Prophesying was a threat as secret meetings were used to say prayers and sermons at first, but after 1570's mainly involved discussing extreme Puritan viewpoints. This was dangerous as they influenced other initial loyal followers of Elizabeth's church, which made the puritan movement greater and stronger, and undermined her Church of England. The Classical Movement in the 1580s, coordinated by John Field, also involved members of the Puritan movement discussing common problems found within the Elizabethan settlement, which also threatened her position as it had the potential to make Puritanism grow. These movements all affected the localities, something that was not necessarily evident to the national government, which made it even harder to tackle the problem.

3) Separatists/Brownists - Arguably the most dangerous strand of Puritanism as the followers of Robert Browne wanted to completely break away from the Church of England and create their own reformed beliefs. Browne was arrested for Heresy in 1581, but despite being let off continued to publish his extremist work in the Netherlands, which was a threat as it was evident in England. The threat from the Brownists was high as when he returned to England in 1583, he had to be imprisoned along with an Act in 1583 which made it illegal to distribute Puritan works by Browne or Harrison, with the death penalty put in place for such crimes. This shows Puritanism as an evidential threat as Elizabeth had to go to such extremes in an attempt to abolish the movement.

Also dangerous were the Puritan patrons within Elizabeth's privy council such as Robert Dudley, Ambrose Dudley, Henry Hastings, Francis Russel and Walsingham who all appointed Puritan ministers to the churches on their land. I would talk about the influence they had in court somewhere as people tended to follow the faith of their faction group.

Not a threat:
1) Elizabeth's power in vetoing all bills - Elizabeth completely disregards most bills put in place by Puritan followers and uses acts to protect her religious settlement. All MPs had to swear an oath of loyalty to Elizabeth in 1583 along with the Act which banned published works by Browne and Harrison. The Act against Seditious Sectaries in 1593 made Puritanism a punishable offence, protecting Elizabeth further. She also imprisoned anyone in Parliament who was a potential threat to her which lessened the danger of the puritan movement.
2) Unorganised - The Puritan movement seemed to be unorganised within its three strands. The conformist strand was not a threat as they reluctantly accepted the Church of England, with the separatists also being a small movement who had opposition for being too radical across the country. The puritans are said to have bickered a lot, with Robert Browne in the end even giving in and conforming to the Church of England showing their fluctuating and disorganised nature.
3) Patrons die out by 1590's - By 1591 most of the Puritan patrons who were influential had died. This meant the Puritans had hardly any support from people in high and respectable positions, lessening their influence overall. Moreover, Puritanism was highly rejected internationally by Catholic countries such as France and Spain which suppressed the movement further. Additionally unlike some apparent intentions from the Catholics(seen in their plots), the Puritans actually posed no direct threat to Elizabeths' life. The Martin Marprelate Tracts in 1588 also led to the loss of huge puritan support, with a whole generation being adapt to Elizabeth's church and settlement by now, diminishing the chance of a puritan revolution in England.

Collinson for example states that “Presbyterians' were only a minority and their organisation was broken by 1590", which therefore supports the view against Puritanism being a threat. Hope this helps a little!!
Original post by Caius Filimon
Thank you; for some reason I've been told that our coursework would be 40% of the end grade... would you say that's due to imbecilic teachers, or just perhaps something else?

Have you studied things very in depth such as Jewel's 1562 apology, by the way? I'm trying to gauge how in depth I should go with things.


Maybe they were just talking about the 2nd year since it would represent 40% in that case.

I'm just trying to learn the events and what implications they have. The mark scheme seems to focus mostly on your argument and that you use a wide range of 'carefully chosen' evidence. You don't want waste time writing about details that don't add anything to your argument.
For example, Elizabeth's settlement was supported(by the Bishops) as shown by Jewel's Apology 1562 which defended the CofE stating it was returning to the true position abandoned by the Roman Catholic Church.
In some cases you might not even bother with the additional details at the end.
Original post by Aydin7
Maybe they were just talking about the 2nd year since it would represent 40% in that case.

I'm just trying to learn the events and what implications they have. The mark scheme seems to focus mostly on your argument and that you use a wide range of 'carefully chosen' evidence. You don't want waste time writing about details that don't add anything to your argument.
For example, Elizabeth's settlement was supported(by the Bishops) as shown by Jewel's Apology 1562 which defended the CofE stating it was returning to the true position abandoned by the Roman Catholic Church.
In some cases you might not even bother with the additional details at the end.


Ah I see. Very nicely woven as well. I suppose I should look for the sort of details that would help with that; thanks!

Last year I managed to scrape by an A simply by making up arguments on the spot, and using mostly anecdotal 'facts'. I suppose that this being an A level, and most people who have done badly having dropped History, it won't work so well this time around.
Hey, somebody on this thread requested I post a few essays. I managed to get 2, 1 graded as a decent B, the other one scraped an A.

B grade Somerset and Northumberland : http://imgur.com/a/BlNiT
A grade Tudor rebellions : http://imgur.com/a/SmCjW

I also thought I had an A grade religion breadth essay, I will upload it later if I can find it, but I couldn't quickly so this is what I have.

They are also attached here, but I am not certain in what order so I would recommend going to the Imgur links.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by katinthehat
Hey,

Just cause you mentioned French FP, my teacher drafted this for me as an example of the type of question they'd ask about it:

"How important were relations with France in helping Elizabeth achieve her foreign policy aims?"

What would you have to include in that question?
Original post by Caius Filimon
Could you guys tell me if we are supposed to know the majority of the dates in the book, along with all the minor characters and what not?

I suppose that as long as one's argument is strong enough when debating in the essay, it should not really matter too much if the essay itself is drowning in dates and facts about minor characters or not, right?

Any opinions would be much appreciated. Lost my history teacher half a year ago so I've no one to ask.


I would say clear line of argument is more important, 4 dates/figures per paragraph (perhaps a bit on the sparse side) if you're doing 3 large paragraphgs should be enough.
Reply 99
How would everyone structure their essays? I was thinking intro and conclusion and 3 main paragraphs. I don't think I'd have enough time to write much more than that.

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