Dr Jessica Sharkey - UCI Summer Session

Pembroke College, Cambridge
History 112D
England United and Disunited: from the Wars of the Roses
to Regicide, 1485 – 1649
Dr Jessica Sharkey
[email protected]
Course synopsis
The years between Henry VII’s victory over Richard 111 at Bosworth Field in 1485 and
Charles I’s execution at Whitehall, London in 1649, were a momentous period in English
history.
Dynasties were established then disestablished, the Catholic Church was
abolished and the country’s political framework faced upheaval. Henry VIII was to be
one of the most powerful kings in British history; Elizabeth I, faced with enormous
international and domestic difficulties reigned with great skill for 45 years; Charles I’s
military defeat and execution made way for a Republic (for the only time in English
History).
No corner of England escaped the force of these changes and their
consequences were wide-ranging and revolutionary.
This course will provide an
overview of the period. Topics covered will include: the foundation of the Tudor
dynasty; the Reformation; Tudor and Stuart monarchy and its critiques; rebellions and
popular protest; the Civil Wars and regicide.
This course aims to move beyond the traditional Anglo-centric history of the period and
place England within a wider British and European context. In lectures and classes, we
will make extensive use of a diverse selection of primary sources including ambassadorial
reports, religious writings, poetry, portraiture and acts of Parliament.
Introductory reading list:
Susan Bridgen, New worlds, lost worlds: the rule of the Tudors 1485 – 1603 (2000)
Barry Coward, The Stuart age: England 1603 – 1714 (1994; and subsequent editions)
Christopher Haigh, English Reformations (1993)
David Starkey, The English court from the Wars of the Roses to the Civil War (1987)
Kevin Sharpe, Selling the Tudor monarchy (2009)
Michael Braddick, God’s fury, England’s fire (2008)
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Lecture Timetable
Date
Time
Room Topic
Introduction
Henry VII: a new monarchy?
Henry VIII: ministerial rule
Henry VIII: a Renaissance prince
Henry VIII and the Break with Rome
Marketing the monarchy: trip to King’s
College Chapel and Christ’s College
Edward VI: Protectors and Protestants
Mary I and the Counter-Reformation
Mid-term examination
Elizabeth I and Tudor queenship
Elizabeth I and the religious settlement
Elizabeth I and government
James I: change or continuity?
Charles I: challenges to the monarch
Charles I and the road to regicide
New Worlds, Lost Worlds
(presentations)
Conclusions:
Disunited
England
United
Seminar Timetable
Group One:
The making of the Tudor monarchy
English Reformations
United and Disunited
Group Two:
The making of the Tudor monarchy
English Reformations
United and Disunited
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and
Seminar Programme
1 The Making of the Tudor Dynasty
In this session we will be considering the methods the Tudors used to legitimise and
glorify their rule. In particular we will be focusing on the reigns of Henry VII and Henry
VIII. We will be using a variety of primary sources to explore some of the introductory
ideas and events of the period, as covered by the lectures this week.
Essential Reading
Francis Bacon’s description of the character of Henry VII.
Giustinian’s description of the character of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.
Image of Remigius van Leemput’s Copy after Holbein’s Whitehall Mural with translation.
Image of Hans Hobein’s Edward, Prince of Wales with translation.
Sharpe, K., Selling the Tudor Monarchy (London, 2009), chapter two ‘Founding a Dynasty,
Forging an Image’, pp. 61 – 78
Guy, J.A., 'Tudor monarchy and its critiques' in J.A. Guy (ed.), The Tudor Monarchy
(London, 1997), pp. 78 – 109
Doran, Susan (ed.), Henry VIII: Man and Monarch (London, 2009) for browsing.
These readings can be supplemented with your own choice from the reading lists.
2 English Reformations
This week we will be examining the progress of the English Reformation and the growth
of Protestantism. We will be looking at some of the problems discussed in the lectures:
was the Reformation popular? Was it ‘top down’ or ‘bottom up’? Was it primarily a
political or administrative change? Was its success uniform across the country?
Essential Reading
Text of the Act in Restraint of Appeals, 1533
Extract from John Foxe, Acts and Monuments describing the martyrdom of Perotine
Cawches.
Image of the ‘Measure of Nails’ from the commonplace book of Robert Reynes.
Image of title page of The Great Bible, 1539
Image of title page of The Bishop’s Bible, 1569
MacCulloch, D., ‘Henry VIII and the Reform of the Church’ in his The Reign of Henry
VIII (Basingstoke, 1995), pp. 159 – 180
Haigh, C.,'The Reformation in England to 1603' in R Po-chia Hsia (ed.), A companion to
the reformation world (Malden, MA, 2003), pp. 135-49
Collinson, P., ‘The monarchical republic of Queen Elizabeth I’ in his Elizabethan Essays
(London, 1994), pp. 31 – 57
These readings can be supplemented with your own choice from the reading lists.
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3 United and Disunited
Our final seminar will consider what had led to the regicide of 1649. In particular we will
discuss how the Stuarts dealt with their Tudor inheritance and the similarities and
differences between the rule of the two dynasties. We will examine broad themes across
the period, from 1485 to 1649, and consider how much had changed during those 164
years.
Essential Reading
Extract from James I’s speech to Parliament, 1610
Extract from the Triennial Act, 1641
Extract from Cromwell’s speech at the Putney Debates, 1647
Report of Charles I’s speech at his execution, 1648
Image of Van Dyck’s Charles I on Horseback
Image of Titian’s Charles V on Horseback
Christianson, P., ‘The causes of the English Revolution: a reappraisal’, Journal of British
Studies, 15 (1976)
Elton, G.R., ‘A high road to civil war?’ in C.H. Carter (ed.), From the Renaissance to the
Counter Reformation (1965)
Scott, David A, 'Motives for king-killing' in Peacey, Jason (ed.), The regicides and the execution of
Charles I (Basingstoke, 2001), pp.138-60
These readings can be supplemented with your own choice from the reading lists.
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Assessment
The overall mark for this course will be made up of your essay mark (45%), your final
examination mark (45%) and a participation mark (10%), which will be based upon
seminar contributions and your presentations.
Essay List
Essays should be of between 2,000-2,500 words and should be typed.
1.
Was Henry VII a master of dynastic spin and advertising?
2.
What function did ministers have in the government of Henry VIII?
3.
How far did Henry VIII’s break from Rome transform Tudor monarchy?
4.
How successfully can Henry VIII be described as a Renaissance king?
5.
How did Edward VI’s minority influence the nature of politics during his reign?
6.
Is Mary I an underrated monarch?
7.
How did Elizabethan queenship differ from Tudor kingship?
8.
Did Catholics present a real political threat to the rule of Elizabeth I?
9.
In what ways was James I’s rule of England shaped by his Scottish experience?
10.
Was Charles I’s inheritance significantly weaker than that of his predecessors?
11.
Why were both the King executed and the monarchy abolished in 1649?
12.
Using at least three images from the course materials, describe how these images
intend to market the monarchy.
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Further reading
Please also make use of the items on the introductory reading list. I am always happy to
recommend more reading if you would like suggestions.
The Making of the Tudor Dynasty
Hoak, D. (ed.), Tudor political culture (Cambridge, 1995)
Griffiths, R. and Thomas, R, The Making of the Tudor Dynasty (Gloucester, 1985)
String, T., Art and Communication in the Reign of Henry VIII (Aldershot, 2008)
Starkey, D. (ed.), Henry VIII: A European Court in England (London, 1991)
English Reformations
Bernard, G., The King’s Reformation (London, 2005)
Haigh, C., English Reformations: religion, politics and society under the Tudors (Oxford, 1993)
MacCulloch, D., The later Reformation in England: 1547 – 1603 (Basingstoke, 2001)
Collinson, P., The birthpangs of Protestant England (Basingstoke, 1988)
United and Disunited
Wormald, J., ‘James VI and I: two kings or one?’, History, 68 (1983)
Croft, P., King James (Basingstoke, 2003)
Reeve, L.J., Charles I and the road to personal rule (Cambridge, 1989)
Russell, C., The causes of the English Civil War (Oxford, 1990)
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