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Teacher Resource Bank
GCE History
Scheme of Work
HIS3A: The Angevin Kings of England:
British Monarchy, 1154–1216
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Henry’s restoration of
royal authority
Henry and Theobold:
the Church’s gains in
power and
independence
Topic
Outcomes: Skills and Concepts
Awareness of the various aspects
of the monarchy’s weakness after
the ‘anarchy’ of Stephen’s reign.
Key words: Earls, barons,
Knights, Grand Assize,
Exchequer, Justiciar, sheriff,
adulterine castles, knights
service, scutage.
New key terms: Constitutions of
Clarendon, ancient customs,
criminous clerks, benefit of clergy,
martyrdom, rights of Canterbury,
De Broc, excommunication,
canonize, appeals to Rome,
decretals, jurisdiction, legates,
free elections.
To gain knowledge and
understanding of the religious and
political factors behind the
conflict.
An appreciation of the context of
King Henry II’s policies – the
aftermath of the civil war.
Understanding of the various
elements within the Angevin
Empire and relations between
Crown, Church and baronage.
Copyright © 2008 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Examine the role of a key aristocrat such
as Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk.
Investigate Henry’s actions regarding
sheriffs, castles, the Exchequer, coinage.
Analyse Henry’s restoration of authority
over the north and west, limiting Welsh
and Scottish expansion under Stephen.
Human timeline to analyse key
developments in conflict.
Discuss and emphasise the importance
of religion and why the Church held such
influence amongst Christians. Also
highlight political factors and issues
relating to Papal authority.
Comprehension exercise using Huscroft
and Purser for students to gain
knowledge and understanding of what
forces were at work in England in 1154.
Map work to highlight the geography of
the Angevin Empire.
Begin an Angevin glossary.
Teacher led introduction to the unit and
background to the reign of King Henry II.
Henry II, 1154–1162 (approx. 12 hours)
Teaching Suggestions
Relevant Support Material
Huscroft is especially useful on
King and nobility, pp. 156-9.
Purser, Huscroft and Sayles are
good basic starting points, to be
supplemented by web research.
Video History of Britain,
Simon Schama, Episode 3 –
Dynasty.
1
Basic textbooks:
Toby Purser’s Medieval England is
a core textbook for the unit.
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE History / A2 Scheme of Work HIS3A / Version 1.0
Evaluation of the extent of
King Henry’s success/failure in
restoring royal authority – a useful
prelude to the events of 1173–
1174.
Also, analyse the role of Robert of
Leicester and Richard de Lucy.
Myth and reality in history.
Look at and account for her early roles
as heiress and Queen of France.
2
An appreciation of the limits on
medieval women and their
relative roles and influence at
different times in their lives.
Analyse Eleanor’s reputation through
history.
Eleanor of Aquitaine:
her position as wife
and mother
Copyright © 2008 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Make a timeline of her life.
Language: Angevin, Empire,
suzerainty, contumacious vassal.
Overview questions on the topic using
Elizabeth Hallam, Capetian France.
Carpenter, p. 202 could be used for
revision purposes in an exercise
contrasting relations between Henry and
his barons with King John’s relative
failure.
Case study on the building of Orford
castle.
Understanding of the
social/political structure of early
Angevin England and the skills
required in medieval kingship.
Outcomes: Skills and Concepts
Use role-play to develop understanding
of the social structure of Angevin
England and the intentions and impact of
King Henry’s policies.
Teaching Suggestions
Henry’s gains through
inheritance and
marriage
Topic
Relevant Support Material
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Useful evaluation in Tyerman,
extracts from Warren.
Read biographies: Weir, Martindale
(forthcoming).
Basic textbooks such as Clanchy
and Carpenter give useful insights
into issue of unity, Gillingham and
Hallam give more depth.
The Angevin Empire
Richard Benjamin, History Today,
volume 36, issue 2, February 1986,
pages 17-22.
Henry II
Nicholas Vincent, History Today,
December 2004, volume 54, issue
12, pages 46-51.
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE History / A2 Scheme of Work HIS3A / Version 1.0
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The crisis of Becket’s
death: Henry’s Church
policy; Becket’s
viewpoint; reason for,
and result of, the
quarrel; the aftermath
of Becket’s death
The position of the
Jews in Angevin
England
Topic
Understanding of religious context
and contemporary attitudes.
Make a spider diagram of the reasons for
hostility.
Seeing events from different
perspectives.
Constructing critical appraisals of
key figures and events.
Skills of analysis and evaluation.
An appreciation of the role of the
individual – compromise was
possible once Becket was
removed.
Analytical thinking in assessing
the relative importance of legal,
clerical and personal issues
relating to the martyrdom of
Thomas Becket.
Becket, The Church and Henry II
An understanding of causation.
Compare and contrast the
influence of personality versus
principle.
Sayles and Poole give interesting
views on the gains and losses
made by the Crown and Church.
Barber and Warren give detailed
analysis on the period and issue.
Poole, Huscroft and other
textbooks all provide useful
analysis on the causes of conflict.
Tyerman gives a useful, critical
biography of Becket.
Video – Who killed Thomas
Becket?, Channel 4
3
www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/becket_o1.shtml
A Turbulent Reputation
(Thomas Becket)
Michael Staunton, History Today,
April 2007, volume 57, issue 4,
pages 22-28.
Useful overview in Bartlett.
Timewatch – All the King’s Jews.
Relevant Support Material
Understanding the importance of
individuals in history.
Copyright © 2008 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Test students’ understanding by giving
them an exam question in timed
conditions. How far was Becket
responsible for his own death? (45
minutes) Use exam board’s mark
scheme when giving feedback.
Analyse the key events surrounding
Becket’s return and the causes of his
death.
Compare these causes with the dispute
in 1163–1164.
Students to read and make annotated
notes to find reasons why conflict
developed.
Consider the circumstances and
significance of Becket’s appointment.
Opportunity for website analysis, or roleplay as teaching activities.
Henry II: Power and Authority, 1162–1174 (approx. 12 hours)
End of section examination-style
question.
Outcomes: Skills and Concepts
Teaching Suggestions
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE History / A2 Scheme of Work HIS3A / Version 1.0
4
Begin a graph/timeline to show the rise and
fall of Eleanor’s influence/importance.
Eleanor and the
rebellion of 1173–1174
Constructing critical appraisals of
key figures and events.
Improved skills of evaluation.
Debating skills.
Knowledge and understanding on
the nature of authority in the 12th
century and the concept of empire,
also on the unity/permanence of the
Empire.
Copyright © 2008 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Research her role during the rebellion of
1173–1174.
Map work on the Angevin Empire, key
regions, cities and castles.
Student group work on the nature of the
Angevin Empire, historians’ views on the
unity of Henry’s disparate lands, Henry’s
own intentions, economic and administrative
unity, the importance of Anjou.
The ‘Angevin Empire’:
nature of the Empire;
implications and
results of their position
as vassals of the
French Kings; rivalry
with the Capetians and
its results
To identify the reasons which led to
King Henry’s victory.
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Duby and Kibler are both
worthwhile, while Wheeler
has edited some of the latest
research and evaluations in
Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord
and Lady.
Barber and Warren provide
in-depth analysis on the
rebellion of 1173–1174.
Purser provides a useful
starting point on Henry’s
reforms, the Cartae Baronum
and the Inquest of Sheriffs,
and their links to the
restoration of royal authority
and finance.
To be able to understand the
political, personal and familial
reasons behind the events of 1173–
1174 and evaluate their relative
importance.
Brainstorm ideas on why various characters
were disillusioned with the rule of King
Henry II.
Feudal authority, royal
government and the
nobility, the Cartae
Baronum and the
Inquest of Sheriffs; the
rebellion of 1173–1174
Analyse and evaluate the various causes
behind the rebellion of 1173–1174; familial
rivalry and Henry’s plans for the succession,
the role of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the impact
of Henry’s governmental reforms and the
attitude of his barons, the roles played by
King William of Scots and King Louis VII.
Relevant Support Material
Outcomes: Skills and Concepts
Teaching Suggestions
Topic
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE History / A2 Scheme of Work HIS3A / Version 1.0
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Vacancies, elections
and Henry’s control
over the episcopacy
Assess the relative importance of the Blood
libel/crusading fervour, the financial role of
the Jews, links to the Crown and their legal
position, baronial hostility and the role of the
Church. The European context and Papal
legislation.
The financial role of the
Jews in Angevin
England, and their
relationship with the
king
Understanding discrimination and
moral issues relating to the
treatment of outsiders/minorities in
Medieval Christendom.
Expanded vocabulary of key terms:
usury, xenophobia, Blood libel,
tallage, Lateran councils, Passover,
Torah, archa, starr, deicide,
pogrom.
Copyright © 2008 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Analysis of the Treaty of Avranches and
Henry’s relationship with his bishops.
Contrast the Constitutions of Clarendon with
Henry’s influence over the Church in the
1170s – did he win or lose?
The class could analyse the gains and
losses made by King Henry II in the 1170s
in the aftermath of Becket’s death and
canonisation.
5
Look at contemporary images
of Jews.
Huscroft’s, Expulsion
provides a detailed analysis
or growing intolerance
towards the Jews in medieval
England.
Understanding and evaluating
causation.
Seeing events from a different
perspective.
Relevant Support Material
Outcomes: Skills and Concepts
Henry II, 1175–1189 (approx. 12 hours)
End of section examination-style question.
Use Bartlett and Huscroft to chart the
growing prominence of Jews in royal
finance and their exploitation by the
Angevin kings.
Crossword on key terms and events.
Evaluate the motives of key individuals such
as Richard Malbis. Students could write an
obituary for William of Norwich or Aaron of
Lincoln.
Teaching Suggestions
Topic
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE History / A2 Scheme of Work HIS3A / Version 1.0
6
Richard the crusader
king; the role of
Hubert Walter,
Archbishop of
Canterbury and
Justiciar of England
Understanding of the changing
nature of royal finance and the dehumanisation of the Jews – the
bureaucracy of exploitation and the
Exchequer of the Jews.
New key terms: Justiciar, coroner,
anglocentric, absentee, medieval
kingship, tournament, carucage,
scutage, tallage.
Copyright © 2008 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Use BBC History magazine, September
2006 and December 2004 to introduce the
debate over Richard’s kingship: the contrast
between medieval and modern
expectations, issues of absence, stability of
government, financial exploitation and law
and order.
Richard I, 1189–1199 (approx. 12 hours)
End of section examination-style question.
Study changes during the reign of King
Henry II.
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Useful overviews are
provided in Huscroft and
Purser, while more traditional
texts such as Barrow and
Poole give in-depth analysis
on Richard’s reign.
Analyse Christian reasons for hostility and
the role of the crusading fervour in
provoking hostility towards the Jews.
Jews as social and
religious outsiders;
Aaron of Lincoln and
the ‘Exchequer of
Aaron’
Understanding on issues of
feudalism and lordship in the
relationship between the Angevins
and the Kings of France.
Understanding causation.
The Fall of the Angevin
Empire
John Gillingham, History
Today, volume 36, issue 4,
April 1986, pages 30-35.
To identify the key ‘turning-points’ in
the collapse of the Empire.
Construct an Angevin family tree to form a
useful introduction to familial disunity and
the succession.
Angevin family
divisions, the
succession and
Henry II’s defeat
Relevant Support Material
Sayles and Poole provide an
in-depth analysis of this
legislation and its
significance.
Outcomes: Skills and Concepts
Role-play and drama re-enactment on the
impact of the restoration of royal
government on magnates such as
Hugh Bigod and the Earls of Chester and
Leicester.
Teaching Suggestions
Knighthood in England
and the Assize of
Arms, 1181
Topic
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE History / A2 Scheme of Work HIS3A / Version 1.0
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Absentee kingship and
the government of
England; the roles of
Prince John and
William Marshal
Topic
Awareness of cultural change and
attitudes: the growth of chivalry.
Understanding on the social
structure on Angevin England and
relations between the Kings and
aristocracy.
Copyright © 2008 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Investigate the Marshal’s marriage and his
links to Eleanor of Aquitaine as aspects of
the role of women in Angevin society.
7
Tyerman and Purser provide
useful introductions to the
Marshal’s career and Crouch
gives greater depth.
William the Marshal – BBC
Timewatch
Prepare a chart outlining the rise of the
Marshal.
Skills in analysis and evaluation.
As always Tyerman’s Who’s
Who provides an excellent
starting-point.
On Hubert Walter, Huscroft
provides a useful
introduction, while Clanchy
gives more depth. Carpenter
and Poole are both worth
consulting.
Test students’ understanding by giving them
an exam question in timed conditions. How
successful a King of England was Richard
the Lionheart?, or Assess the contribution
made by Hubert Walter to the governance
of England, 1189 to 1199. (45 minutes) Use
exam board’s mark scheme when giving
feedback.
Understanding of the nature of
historical debate.
Useful video overviews on
Richard are available.
Frank McLynn is a useful
depth study while
Gillingham’s work is the
standard text on Richard.
Conceptual understanding on the
issue of medieval kingship, the
expectations of contemporaries and
the differing views of modern
historians.
Skills in group work, class
presentation and debating.
The Art of Kingship:
Richard I, 1189–1199
John Gillingham, History
Today, April 1985, volume
35, issue 4, pages 17-23.
To be able to identify the key
features of Richard’s political and
financial impact on England and
evaluate his, (and Hubert Walter’s)
success.
Use pairs work to analyse the issues
relating to medieval kingship and
expectations using articles by Gillingham
and Saul, or divide Ralph Turner’s ‘Good or
Bad Kingship?’ by issue/historian for
individual research/précis/feedback.
Evaluate the causes and extent of disorder
in the period 1189 to 1194 and Richard’s
responsibility for this. Also, the growth of the
office of Justiciar under Hubert Walter and
his reforms in government and
administration. The succession provides an
interesting issue to evaluate Richard’s
kingship.
Relevant Support Material
Outcomes: Skills and Concepts
Teaching Suggestions
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE History / A2 Scheme of Work HIS3A / Version 1.0
Overview questions from G W S Barrow,
Feudal Britain, provide a useful introduction
and opportunity for group work and class
discussion.
Richard’s war with
Philip II, the loss of
Gisors, the building of
Chateau Gaillard
8
The importance of contextual
understanding: the impact of the
crusades, or the issue of ‘Angevin
despotism’ and baronial attitudes –
the impact of these issues on Jews.
Write an eye-witness account of events in
York.
The York pogrom and
growing anti-Semitism,
its links with crusading
fervour
Copyright © 2008 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
End of section examination-style question.
Understanding contemporary
thinking on women’s roles: Eleanor
as daughter and heiress – the
importance of Aquitaine in her
political actions, wife, mother and
Queen of France, marriage
practices in 12th century Europe,
Eleanor as wife, mother, prisoner
and regent in England.
Continue the graph of Eleanor’s influence
and importance.
Assessing the importance of
personality and finance in
determining the fate of the Angevin
Empire.
Understanding of the English
aristocracy and its links with
France, Wales and Ireland.
The importance of royal patronage/
personal kingship and the
importance of individuals within
government.
Outcomes: Skills and Concepts
The role of Eleanor
during Richard’s
absence
Opportunity for class debate: ‘This House
believes the so-called Angevin Empire was
neither Angevin nor an Empire.’
Teaching Suggestions
Topic
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE History / A2 Scheme of Work HIS3A / Version 1.0
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Hugh Thomas’s article on
Richard Malbis, Tyerman on
Aaron of Lincoln, Dobson’s
Borthwick paper provides
excellent depth on the York
pogrom.
The Lion in Winter (1968)
feature film.
http://dicksonc.act.edu.au/Showcase/
ClioContents/feudalism/Eleanor.html
Eleanor of Aquitaine, a
‘Foolish Woman’?
Lackland: The Loss of
Normandy in 1214
Nick Barrat, History Today,
volume 54, issue 3, March
2004, pages 32-37.
Relevant Support Material
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John’s conflict with
the papacy; the
reasons for the
Interdict; settlement
between the King and
the Pope; the role of
Stephen Langton
Topic
Outcomes: Skills and Concepts
Key terms: interdict,
excommunication, consecration,
vacancies.
Evaluate the impact of the interdict and
John’s excommunication on the English
people.
Copyright © 2008 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Test students’ understanding by giving them
an exam question to research. To what
extent did the Angevin kings succeed in
achieving their aims, with reference to the
English Church, in the years 1154 to 1216?
Use exam board’s mark scheme when
giving feedback.
Evaluate the differing views of historians on
the outcome of 1213 a victory or defeat for
King John.
Analyse the agreement of 1213 and prepare
a chart of John’s successes and failures
after 1213.
Awareness of historical
interpretations.
Knowledge of the chronology and
course of King John’s dispute with
the papacy.
Research the careers of Langton and Pope
Innocent II – individually or in groups.
Use a textbook to draw up a survey/timeline
of the conflict between John and the Church
policies.
Understanding the limits of Papal
influence and authority.
Consider the circumstances and significance
of Langton’s appointment.
John, 1199–1216 (approx. 12 hours)
Teaching Suggestions
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE History / A2 Scheme of Work HIS3A / Version 1.0
9
Warren and Turner both give
an in-depth analysis, while
Harper-Bill gives more depth
in his article in S D Church’s
King John: New
Interpretations.
1215 by Gillingham and
Danziger has a useful
chapter on this topic.
The general textbooks on
British History (see resources
list) should provide the basic
political detail needed here.
Relevant Support Material
Knowledge and understanding on
the nature of personal kingship and
the importance of personality.
Examine growing tensions before John, i.e.
Richard and the Bishop of Lincoln – the
issue of foreign service, developments in law
and views of kingship, the impact of Angevin
despotism.
Also, John’s character and behaviour
towards his barons, the impact of military
defeat and his dispute with the Papacy, John
as a resident King, royal patronage – new
men and the regional baronage, finance and
feudal dues.
10
New key terms: relief, interdict,
excommunication, Angevin,
despotism, military service, lordship.
Analyse and evaluate the various causes of
growing hostility between King John and the
English barons.
Understanding the power of an
individual aristocrat.
To be able to evaluate the relative
importance of these factors.
Copyright © 2008 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Analyse just how typical the Marshal was as
an example of knighthood and society in
Angevin England; his background, career
and rise to power; his marriage and royal
patronage, his social code: attitudes and
faith; his loyalty to the Angevins and position
as a ‘new man’.
Analyse the Marshal’s relationship with King
John as evidence of the King’s relationship
with his barons, especially during the civil
war.
Understanding why historians may
hold differing opinions.
Barber’s The Two Cities gives a useful
evaluative source on the relative importance
of suzerainty, John’s personal culpability and
Philip II’s skill, as well as the issue of finance
in explaining the loss of the Empire.
The importance of
John’s personality
and the loss of
Normandy; John, the
barons and Magna
Carta; feudal authority
and royal finance
To be able to identify the personal,
political and economic causes of the
dispute between John and the
barons.
Outcomes: Skills and Concepts
Teaching Suggestions
Topic
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE History / A2 Scheme of Work HIS3A / Version 1.0
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J A P Jones, King John and
his Barons is out of print, but
well worth finding, as is the
Gillingham article in The
Midde Ages (ed.) L M Smith.
Tyerman is excellent on the
key individuals involved.
Purser provides an excellent
overview on this topic, while
Huscroft, Carpenter, Poole
and the other general
histories of the period cover it
in some depth.
R Turner and J Gillingham
provide detailed studies
relevant for students’ wishes
to analyse the loss of the
continental lands as a
personal study.
Relevant Support Material
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Anti-Semitism and
baronial hostility
towards the Jews
Write a critical appraisal of Eleanor’s career
and the power she was able to wield.
Eleanor and the
disputed succession
of 1199, the impact of
her death
Constructing critical appraisals of
key figures and events.
Awareness of the limits of myth and
popular history. Distinguishing fact
from opinion.
Issues of military skill and
leadership – Chateau Gaillard and
Bouvines as case studies.
An awareness of long-term social
change in attitudes between
Normandy and England.
Copyright © 2008 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Analyse the motives of participants such as
Richard Malbis. Develop on the growth of
baronial hostility and Magna Carta.
Complete the graph of Eleanor’s
influence/importance.
Test students’ understanding by giving them
an exam question in timed conditions. How
far was the personality of King John
responsible for the loss of Normandy in
1204? (45 minutes) Use exam board’s mark
scheme when giving feedback.
Examine the reasons behind the failure of
Magna Carta.
Analytical writing.
Evaluate the reasons behind Magna Carta;
as a direct response to John’s behaviour
and weakness, as a list of baronial
grievances, as a detailed programme of
governmental reform, as a wider protection
of the people’s liberties against oppressive
government.
An understanding of causation and
the issues of long-term, structural
developments versus short-term,
personal factors in promoting
political change.
Awareness of the role of
personality.
Outcomes: Skills and Concepts
Use group work or role-play to analyse the
role of personalities. The importance of key
individuals, Stephen Langton,
Robert fitz Walter, Eustace de Vesci. John’s
treatment of de Braose as case study.
Teaching Suggestions
John, French
suzerainty and the
Angouleme marriage;
John’s loss of his
continental lands, the
battle of Bouvines
Topic
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE History / A2 Scheme of Work HIS3A / Version 1.0
11
Extracts from Carpenter,
Poole and Roth are useful on
developments from 1190 to
1216.
See earlier material on
Eleanor.
Relevant Support Material
12
Topic
Awareness of issues of race and
culture.
Outcomes: Skills and Concepts
Copyright © 2008 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Test students’ understanding by giving them
an exam question in timed conditions. How
far was crusading zeal the main cause of the
increase in anti-Semitism in England in the
years 1154 to 1264? (45 minutes) Use exam
board’s mark scheme when giving feedback.
Teaching Suggestions
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE History / A2 Scheme of Work HIS3A / Version 1.0
klm
Relevant Support Material