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Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660

  • 10 subtopics
  • 24 things to know
  • Unit group 1
  • British period study and enquiry, one unit of thirteen

What Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660 covers

The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660 is unit Y108 of OCR History A, one of the thirteen options in unit group 1, the British period study and enquiry; a student sits one of them. Its seven key topics are James I and Parliament, James I and religion, Charles I 1625–1640, Charles I and the victory of Parliament 1640–1646, the failure to achieve a settlement 1646–1649, Commonwealth and Protectorate, the Restoration of Charles II. 309 recall questions across 10 subtopics.

Where it is assessed

Unit group 1

British period study and enquiry, one unit of thirteen.

Check the OCR specification ↗

The 10 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Why did Charles I embark on the Personal Rule?

Key term

Why is the Parliament of 1614 known as the Addled Parliament?

Process

Why was royal finance the root of the constitutional quarrels of James's reign?

Numbers

What caused Puritan opposition to grow in the last years of James's reign?

Who and when

Why did the Spanish Match alarm Protestant opinion so deeply?

Key term

Why was the Long Parliament in a far stronger position?

Key term

Why was the Irish Rebellion of October 1641 the decisive crisis?

Evaluation

Why did neither side win in 1642 and 1643?

Numbers

Who were the Levellers and what did they want?

Numbers

What did Charles II promise in the Declaration of Breda, and what did the Convention Parliament decide?

Numbers

How was the Restoration received?

Evaluation

Why did the Great Contract fail?

Numbers

Contrast James's two archbishops of Canterbury.

Key term

Distinguish a recusant from a church papist.

Numbers

Describe the Great Contract.

Key term

What happened to the Cadiz expedition of 1625?

Numbers

Describe the Forced Loan and the resistance to it.

Numbers

Describe the importance of Marston Moor.

Numbers

Which non-parliamentary devices did James use to raise money?

Key term

What was the Spanish Match?

Key term

What were the Bye and Main Plots of 1603?

Who and when

Why did the Petition of Right fail to settle the quarrel?

Numbers

Describe the Grand Remonstrance.

Numbers

Describe the Self-Denying Ordinance.

Take Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660 further

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Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

  • Arminianism vs Thorough

    Arminianism: the anti-Calvinist strand in the English Church emphasising ceremony, sacraments and free will. Thorough: the name given to the drive for efficient and uncompromising royal administration under Wentworth and Laud.

  • Bye and Main Plots vs Gunpowder Plot

    Bye and Main Plots: the two conspiracies of 1603, one to seize the king and one to replace him. Gunpowder Plot: the conspiracy of 1605 to destroy king and parliament by explosion at Westminster.

  • Pride's Purge vs Barebone's Parliament

    Pride's Purge: the exclusion by force in December 1648 of members who still wanted a treaty with the king. Barebone's Parliament: the nominated assembly of 1653, chosen from the congregations, which dissolved itself within months.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What did James I mean by the Divine Right of Kings?

    Model answer

    That kings were appointed by God, were accountable to God alone, and that to question their authority was both rebellion and blasphemy; he set the theory out in The Trew Law of Free Monarchies before coming to England.

  2. 2

    Did James's belief in Divine Right make him an absolute ruler in practice?

    Model answer

    No; he accepted that he ruled through the law and needed Parliament for supply, but his readiness to lecture members on his theoretical powers made them fear that theory would one day become practice.

  3. 3

    What financial problems did James inherit in 1603?

    Model answer

    Debts left by the Elizabethan wars, an ordinary revenue based on crown lands and customs that had not kept pace with fifty years of inflation, and a subsidy system that under-assessed the wealthy.

  4. 4

    How did James's own conduct worsen the crown's finances?

    Model answer

    He kept a far more lavish court than Elizabeth, gave generous grants, pensions and offices to Scottish favourites, and by 1608 had run the debt up to around £600,000.

  5. 5

    What was decided in Bate's Case, and why did it matter?

    Model answer

    The Exchequer judges ruled in 1606 that the king could levy an imposition on currants as a matter of trade regulation within his prerogative, which allowed Salisbury to issue a new Book of Rates in 1608 and raise customs without consent.

  6. 6

    Describe the Great Contract.

    Model answer

    Salisbury's scheme of 1610 by which James would surrender wardship and purveyance in return for a fixed annual income of £200,000 and a lump sum to clear his debts.

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Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660 revision questions

What does Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660 cover in OCR A-Level History A?
10 subtopics: james i and parliament: james i and divine right, james i and his financial problems, james i and parliament: foreign policy and quarrels with parliament 1614–1624, james i and religion: the religious situation in 1603, puritans and arminianism, james i and religion: gunpowder plot and impact of catholicism on policies, charles i 1625–1640: charles’ aims and problems in 1625, dissolution of parliament in 1629, charles i 1625–1640: the personal rule, laud and the bishops’ wars, charles i and the victory of parliament 1640–1646: short and long parliaments, crises of 1640–1642, charles i and the victory of parliament 1640–1646: royalists and parliamentarians, enquiry: the failure to achieve a settlement 1646–1649 — negotiations with charles i and enquiry: commonwealth and protectorate, the restoration of charles ii — religious and political issues. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660 organised?
By the OCR H505 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

Every question in Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660, 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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