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HistoryThe English Reformation, 1509–160338 min★★ difficulty

Lesson 6: Edward, Mary and Elizabeth

Three settlements in twelve years made religious change immediate, personal and sometimes dangerous.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Britain 1066-1901: Understand the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the English Reformation and its impact
  • Historical enquiry: Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance
  • Britain 1066-1901: 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

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Compare the pace and direction of religious change after Henry VIII

Key learning points

  • • Edward VI
  • • Mary I
  • • Elizabeth I

This lesson at a glance

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

Words to know

directionreligiouschangeedwardelizabeth

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 19 · Discover5%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 19

Watch first

Lesson 6: Edward, Mary and Elizabeth

An English teaching video on this topic from The Northern Historian. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Compare the pace and direction of religious change after Henry VIII

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 19

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know that Henry VIII kept many Catholic beliefs after 1534, and that he was followed by three of his children in turn.

Recap: Lesson 5: Reformation from above and below
3

Key words

Part 3 of 19

Key words

Words you'll need today

Prayer book
The official book setting out services in English.
Heresy
Belief judged contrary to official Church teaching.
Settlement
A set of laws fixing the official religion of the country.
Exile
Leaving the country to avoid persecution.
4

Your lesson plan

Part 4 of 19

Lesson brief

Was England Protestant by 1559?

By the end, you will be able to

  • • Compare three royal settlements
  • • Explain the importance of enforcement
  • • Judge continuity and reversal

Resources

  • • English Reformation document set (c.1527–1590)
  • • Lesson notes and marked knowledge check
4 minRecall the chronology and frame the enquiry
15 minRead the textbook explanation and build the argument
11 minInterrogate the archive evidence in context
8 minAnswer the checks and write a supported conclusion
5

Learning cycle

Part 5 of 19

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Edward and Mary

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

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 19

Learn

Edward VI

Under Edward, worship moved sharply towards Protestantism: English services, clerical marriage and attacks on images.

7

Explore the idea

Part 7 of 19

Learn

Mary I

Mary restored papal authority and Catholic worship. Nearly 300 Protestants were executed for heresy, while others conformed or fled.

8

Quick check

Part 8 of 19

Quick check

Which monarch restored papal authority?

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

Quick check

Part 10 of 19

Quick check

What did Elizabeth's 1559 settlement restore?

11

Learning cycle

Part 11 of 19

Learning cycle 2 of 2

The Elizabethan settlement

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

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 19

Learn

Elizabeth I

The 1559 settlement restored royal supremacy and a Protestant prayer book, while retaining some traditional forms. Enforcement developed over time.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 19

Quick check

Best description of 1547–59?

14

Investigate evidence

Part 14 of 19

Evidence 1 of 1

primary

English Reformation document set

Tudor officials and subjects, c.1527–1590

Royal orders, inventories and petitions show official religion changing repeatedly across four reigns.

The collection places documents from Henry VIII through Elizabeth I side by side, allowing change and continuity to be tested rather than assumed.

Think like a historian

Which changes would an ordinary parishioner have seen, heard or lost?

Source: The National Archives, English Reformation c.1527–1590

View the archive record ↗
15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 19

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often call Mary's reign simply cruel and Elizabeth's simply tolerant. Both used law and force to enforce their settlements.
  • People often think each change convinced everyone. Many people conformed outwardly and waited.
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.

Under ____, worship moved sharply towards Protestantism: English services, clerical marriage and attacks on images.

18

Mastery quiz

Part 18 of 19

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Lesson 6: Edward, Mary and Elizabeth

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

  1. 1. Under Edward VI, worship moved…

  2. 2. Nearly 300 Protestants were executed under…

  3. 3. The best description of 1547–59 is…

  4. 4. Many people responded to repeated change by…

19

Lesson round-up

Part 19 of 19

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

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 for this lesson

Use this for the source work task below.

English Reformation document set

primary

Tudor officials and subjects, c.1527–1590

Royal orders, inventories and petitions show official religion changing repeatedly across four reigns.

The collection places documents from Henry VIII through Elizabeth I side by side, allowing change and continuity to be tested rather than assumed.

Source: The National Archives, English Reformation c.1527–1590

View the original record ↗

  • 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

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the English Reformation and its impact

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance

  • Not looked at yet

    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

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