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SavannahYear 8
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HistoryChurch, state and society: 1066 to 174530 min★★★ difficulty

Theory and practice of monarchy, 1509-1745

What monarchs claimed and what they could actually do were often different things. Comparing theory with practice across two centuries reveals how English government really worked.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand the development of the Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the theory and practice of monarchy and the origins and progress of the English Reformation

Key learning points

  • • The theory of royal authority
  • • The limits in practice
  • • Parliament's growing role
  • • Towards constitutional monarchy

This lesson at a glance

  • 30 minutes
  • 19 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

developmentchurchsocietybritaintheory

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 19 · Discover5%
1

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Part 1 of 19

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Theory and practice of monarchy, 1509-1745

An English teaching video on this topic from Tim Tells History. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand the development of the Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the theory and practice of monarchy and the origins and progress of the English Reformation

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 19

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know the outline of the Reformation and the Civil Wars.

Recap: Monarchy and the English Civil Wars
3

Key words

Part 3 of 19

Key words

Words you'll need today

Prerogative
Powers a monarch could use without Parliament.
Court
The household and political circle around the monarch.
Patronage
Granting offices and favours to secure loyalty.
Constitutional monarchy
Rule by a monarch whose powers are limited by law.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 19

Learning cycle 1 of 2

What monarchs claimed

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 19

Learn

The theory of royal authority

Tudor and Stuart monarchs presented themselves as divinely appointed, and portraiture, ceremony and proclamations all reinforced the message. Royal supremacy over the Church after 1534 strengthened the claim further, since obedience to the Crown was now a religious duty as well as a legal one.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 19

Learn

The limits in practice

No monarch had a standing army or a police force, and tax needed consent. Government depended on unpaid local gentry as justices of the peace, so a policy that the gentry disliked was often simply not enforced. Patronage was therefore the real machinery of power: loyalty had to be bought with offices, land and honours.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 19

Quick check

Prerogative powers were those used...

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Quick check

Part 8 of 19

Quick check

Local government relied mainly on...

9

Reset break

Part 9 of 19

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 19

Learning cycle 2 of 2

What monarchs could actually do

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 19

Learn

Parliament's growing role

Parliament began as an occasional event and became a regular institution. The Reformation was enacted through statute, which gave Parliament a role in the most fundamental change of the century. By the seventeenth century MPs argued that some matters required their consent, and the Civil Wars tested that claim to destruction.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 19

Learn

Towards constitutional monarchy

After 1688 the monarch could not suspend laws, keep a standing army in peacetime or tax without Parliament, and regular sessions became necessary because funding was granted for short periods. By 1745 Britain was governed by a monarch and Parliament together, with ministers who needed parliamentary support to survive.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 19

Quick check

The Reformation was enacted through...

14

Quick check

Part 14 of 19

Quick check

After 1688, taxation required...

15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 19

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often assume a strong claim meant strong power. Enforcement depended on local cooperation.
  • People often date limited monarchy to 1215. The decisive legal limits came after 1688.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 19

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

17

Challenge round

Part 17 of 19

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Royal supremacy over the ____ after 1534 strengthened the claim further, since obedience to the Crown was now a religious duty as well as a legal one.

By 1745 ____ was governed by a monarch and Parliament together, with ministers who needed parliamentary support to survive.

18

Mastery quiz

Part 18 of 19

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Theory and practice of monarchy, 1509-1745

6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Patronage means...

  2. 2. Royal portraiture was used to...

  3. 3. A monarch without a standing army had to...

  4. 4. Regular parliamentary sessions became necessary after 1688 because...

  5. 5. Constitutional monarchy means royal power is...

  6. 6. Comparing theory and practice is useful because it shows...

19

Lesson round-up

Part 19 of 19

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

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Games

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Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

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Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Source

A factory inspector's notebook, 1842

"I visited the mill at seven in the morning. The machines were already running. I counted fourteen children at the frames, the youngest no more than nine years of age. The overseer told me they work from six until seven, with forty minutes for dinner."

"The air is thick with cotton dust and the windows are kept shut so the thread does not break. Two of the children showed me hands cut by the shuttles. The owner assured me that the work is light and that the families beg him for the places, since without the children's wages the rent cannot be paid."

"I have written to the magistrates. I doubt much will follow from it."

Original source-style text written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Who wrote this, when, and why might that make it useful to a historian?
  2. What does the source tell you about children's work — and what does it not tell you?
  3. How far does this source show that mill owners were to blame? Answer with a judgement and evidence.

  • Source work

    Reading

    Read the source closely. Write who made it, when, and what it tells you — then what it does not tell you.

    2 paragraphs

  • Essay answer

    Writing

    Answer the enquiry question with a clear judgement. Use two pieces of evidence and finish with a sentence that weighs them up.

    300–400 words

  • Timeline

    Diagram

    Draw a timeline of the events in this lesson with dates, then photograph it.

    6–8 events

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Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover

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