Why are the Tudors so heavily featured in AQA?

Now I know this is in part because my teachers chose these units, but why, oh why does Tudor history feature so extensively in the AQA syllabus?
I mean last year, it was Wars of the Roses, Henry VI up to Henry VII.
This year, it's 1485->1603 foreign policy, Henry-> Elizabeth.

And to be honest I'm not interested in the slightest. OK. I'm slightly interested when and why borders move. Because I like to know why borders are where they are.

But apart from that, and perhaps a bit on trade, the rest...seems totally irrelevant. Now French Revolution, Russian Revolution, that's relevant history, I mean, the ideas of the Enlightenment and the problems of it shaped the political ideology of today, and Lenin and the Bolsheviks, well that destroyed the image of socialism and the workers movement and led the way to the Cold War and the victory of corporate ideology over the workers.

But the Tudors? Feel free to tell me anything REALLY important they did, which has major effects to this day. But I haven't got anything so far. I don't really give a damn what a monarch did 400-500 years ago. I don't care in the slightest about their diplomatic marriages, their failed wars, alternative claimants they crushed.

Convince me that they're in any way important.

Reply 1

Cesare Borgia

*Cough* Split from Rome *Cough*

Reply 2

Bslforever

What are you complaining about. At least they're not fixated on shrews...

oh wait, hang on.

Reply 3

Philosopher-of-sorts

Cesare Borgia

*Cough* Split from Rome *Cough*

Pff it was going to happen at some point anyway, old Pope-e-pope was too controlling, and no monarch worth their salt lets anyone else control their people.

Reply 4

-aimz

I agree

My teacher said its because she "likes to teach it more". Oh and we like learning it more :rolleyes:

Don't care at all!

Reply 5

Jenn+

Is this A Level History?

Sounds identical to the AQA Tudor History syllabus that I did for AS (I didn't carry it on to A2) in which case surely you would have known before you signed up to it that it was all about Tudors?

EDIT: I found it really interesting and much preferred it to the idea of studying modern history - guess its just a case of whatever floats your boat..

Reply 6

Cesare Borgia

Philosopher-of-sorts

Pff it was going to happen at some point anyway, old Pope-e-pope was too controlling, and no monarch worth their salt lets anyone else control their people.

Bigger and better kings had been content with the church.

Reply 7

Philosopher-of-sorts

Jenn+

It's not Tudor History syllabus. It's just the Tudors make up alot of the options of the syllabus, and apparently my teachers are more interested in it, and for some reason believe everyone should know it.

I could never find this as interesting as modern history. It just seems irrelevant and boring. I can only take so much of battles between monarchs and rebels and diplomatic marriages before they all look the same to me...
Give me French Revolution, Russian Revolution, Spanish Civil War, American War of Independence, any of that would interest me 5000x more, even having already studied it, than Tudors :frown:

Reply 8

Philosopher-of-sorts

Cesare Borgia

Bigger and better kings had been content with the church.

Fair enough I'll give you that one.
Still, we could have studied that in three hour-long lessons to a fair degree of knowledge, then moved on to something interesting :mad:

Reply 9

trollman

im doing the same, tudors for AS and A2 its so dull :frown:

i liked russia last year!

but we do it cuz our history teacher did tudors at uni so its like her speciality :frown:

Reply 10

Cesare Borgia

Philosopher-of-sorts

Fair enough I'll give you that one.
Still, we could have studied that in three hour-long lessons to a fair degree of knowledge, then moved on to something interesting :mad:

Francis Drake?

Reply 11

username202682

Tbh it has more to do with your teachers picking those units rather than a lack of choice on what History you can do.

Reply 12

d123

I don't have to do Tudors at all :yay:

Reply 13

Languages Nutter

Philosopher-of-sorts

I agree that the Tudors can, depending on options, feature rather heavily on the AQA course (I did the Reformation in Europe and Henry VIII at AS and am doing Elizabeth at A2); however, that's not to say that they're completely irrelevant. The Break with Rome's repercussions can still be seen to this day, with the Vatican's recent offering of the opportunity for disaffected Anglicans to convert and the Queen's position of Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The story of the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the perpetuation of the "Gloriana" legend, however untrue it was in parts, was a key element of English national identity for hundreds of years (even today, we still hear talk of "Good Queen Bess"). An argument for political change can be made in discussion on the changing role of Parliament, whilst the rise of enclosure and the continued attack on feudalism can be seen to have lead to the rise of capitalism (although this does depend on which historiographical school you favour).

Whilst perhaps less immediately interesting in some respects than other, more modern history, the era's repercussions are still being felt even half a millennium later.