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England 1603–49

  • 18 subtopics
  • 48 things to know
  • AS Unit 1
  • AS Unit 1, one option of five

What England 1603–49 covers

England 1603–49 is examined in Unit AS 1, Historical Investigations and Interpretations — the option chosen from five. It covers James I's Elizabethan inheritance, James I, the Church of England and the Puritans, James I, the Catholics and the Gunpowder Plot, the financial problems of James I, the foreign policy of James I, royal favourites and the politics of the court, Charles I, war and Parliament 1625–29, the decision to rule without Parliament, financing the Personal Rule, Laudianism and religious reform in the 1630s, the court culture of Charles I, Scotland, Ireland and the collapse of the Personal Rule, the campaigns and battles of the Civil War, why Parliament won the Civil War, the search for a settlement 1646–49, radicalism, the Levellers and the Army and the regicide and the birth of the Commonwealth.

Where it is assessed

AS Unit 1

Historical Investigations and Interpretations, one option of five.

Check the CCEA specification ↗

The 18 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What was the outcome of Hampden's Case?

Key term

Explain the constitutional objection to the fiscal expedients taken as a whole.

Numbers

What happened to Strafford?

Key term

How did the royalists finance their war?

Numbers

What were the Heads of the Proposals?

Key term

What claim brought James VI of Scotland to the English throne in 1603?

Key term

What did James mean by the phrase no bishop, no king?

Key term

What did English Catholics hope for from James?

Key term

Explain why the Crown's ordinary revenue was inadequate by 1603.

Key term

State the guiding aim of James's foreign policy.

Key term

What was a royal favourite?

Key term

What did Charles I inherit in 1625?

Numbers

When did Charles's Personal Rule begin, and how long did it last?

Numbers

Who was William Laud?

Key term

How did Charles change the atmosphere of the royal court?

Numbers

When and where did Charles raise his standard?

Key term

Why did religious radicalism flourish after 1640?

Key term

What was the Rump Parliament?

Key term

Why was James's accession greeted with relief?

Numbers

What were the Canons of 1604?

Numbers

What did James actually do about recusancy fines at the start of the reign?

Key term

Distinguish ordinary from extraordinary revenue.

Numbers

What was the Twelve Years' Truce, and what was England's interest in it?

Key term

Why did favourites matter so much in early Stuart politics?

Key term

How did Charles's personal style differ from his father's?

Key term

Give the practical reason Charles could dispense with Parliament after 1629.

Key term

Summarise what Laud meant by the beauty of holiness.

Numbers

Who was Anthony van Dyck, and what did he do for Charles?

Numbers

What was the Act of Revocation, and why did it alarm the Scots?

Numbers

What happened at Edgehill?

Key term

Which parts of the country did Parliament control, and why did that matter?

Numbers

What were the Newcastle Propositions?

Numbers

Where did the Army debate the Agreement of the People?

Key term

Why did the House of Lords not agree to the trial?

Key term

Why had Elizabeth's sale of Crown land created a long-term problem?

Key term

How many clergy were deprived for refusing to subscribe?

Key term

Who led the Gunpowder plotters?

Key term

What was purveyance?

Numbers

Why were relations with the Dutch difficult despite shared religion?

Numbers

Who was Robert Carr?

Key term

Whom did Charles marry, and why was the marriage unpopular?

Numbers

When did Charles make peace with France and Spain?

Key term

What were forest fines?

Key term

What was the altar policy?

Key term

What was significant about Charles's art collection?

Process

What reforms did the Long Parliament make in 1641?

Process

How did the Irish Rebellion of October 1641 deepen the crisis?

Process

Why was the attempt on the Five Members in January 1642 a turning point?

Take England 1603–49 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

  • Impositions vs Ship Money

    Impositions: an extra duty on imported goods upheld in 1606. Ship Money: a levy for naval defence extended inland and taken yearly in peacetime, tested in 1637.

  • The Millenary Petition vs The Petition of Right

    The Millenary Petition: a moderate list of clerical grievances presented in 1603 asking for further reform of worship. The Petition of Right: a constitutional statement of 1628 against taxation without consent, imprisonment without cause, billeting and martial law.

  • Impeachment vs Attainder

    Impeachment: a judicial process in which the Commons prosecutes before the Lords and guilt must be proved. Attainder: simply an Act declaring a man guilty, used when the proof was lacking.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What claim brought James VI of Scotland to the English throne in 1603?

    Model answer

    James was the great-great-grandson of Henry VII through Margaret Tudor, and he was the closest surviving heir once Elizabeth died childless.

  2. 2

    Why was James's accession greeted with relief?

    Model answer

    The succession had been left unsettled for decades and many had feared a disputed claim or civil war, so a peaceful transfer to an adult king with sons was welcomed.

  3. 3

    What was the state of the Crown's finances when James inherited them?

    Model answer

    Elizabeth had left a debt of about £400,000, run up by the long war with Spain and paid for partly by selling Crown land.

  4. 4

    Why had Elizabeth's sale of Crown land created a long-term problem?

    Model answer

    Selling land reduced the permanent income from rents, so the Crown became more dependent on parliamentary taxation just as prices were rising.

  5. 5

    What war was still being fought in 1603?

    Model answer

    England was still at war with Spain, a conflict that had run since 1585, and also facing the closing stages of the Nine Years War in Ireland.

  6. 6

    How did the experience of ruling Scotland shape James's expectations of England?

    Model answer

    James had governed a poorer kingdom with a weaker parliament and a Presbyterian kirk that challenged him, so he arrived expecting more money and more deference than England was willing to give.

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AImpeachment failed for want of proof.
BThe Commons passed an Act of Attainder.
CCharles signed his execution warrant in May 1641.

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Rent reduction made the tenancy bearable.
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England 1603–49 revision questions

What does England 1603–49 cover in CCEA A-Level History?
18 subtopics: james i's elizabethan inheritance, james i, the church of england and the puritans, james i, the catholics and the gunpowder plot, the financial problems of james i, the foreign policy of james i, royal favourites and the politics of the court, charles i, war and parliament 1625–29, the decision to rule without parliament, financing the personal rule, laudianism and religious reform in the 1630s, the court culture of charles i, scotland, ireland and the collapse of the personal rule, the long parliament and the outbreak of war 1640–42, the campaigns and battles of the civil war, why parliament won the civil war, the search for a settlement 1646–49, radicalism, the levellers and the army and the regicide and the birth of the commonwealth. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is England 1603–49 organised?
By the CCEA 4010 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

Every question in England 1603–49, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

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