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SavannahYear 8
← History
HistoryCrown, Church and country, 1509–174530 min★★★ difficulty

How much power did a Tudor or Stuart monarch really have?

On paper these monarchs were close to all-powerful. In practice they had no police force, no standing army and no way of raising serious money without asking. Theory and practice are two different things.

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

  • • Authority from God
  • • Governing through other people
  • • The money problem
  • • Religion made it sharper

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

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 19

Watch first

How much power did a Tudor or Stuart monarch really have?

An English teaching video on this topic from The Time Map. 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 know that Henry VIII made himself head of the Church and that his children ruled after him.

3

Key words

Part 3 of 19

Key words

Words you'll need today

Divine right
The belief that a monarch's authority comes directly from God.
Prerogative
Powers a monarch could use without Parliament's consent.
Subsidy
A tax granted by Parliament to the crown.
Privy Council
The small group of advisers who ran royal government day to day.
Justice of the peace
An unpaid local gentleman who enforced royal orders in a county.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 19

Learning cycle 1 of 2

The theory of monarchy

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

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 19

Learn

Authority from God

Tudor and Stuart monarchs claimed authority from God, not from their subjects. Sermons, portraits and coronation ritual all repeated the message. James I wrote that kings were 'God's lieutenants upon earth'. Rebellion was therefore presented as a sin as well as a crime.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 19

Learn

Governing through other people

Royal government was tiny. Orders travelled through the Privy Council to sheriffs and unpaid justices of the peace, who were local gentry with their own interests. If enough of them dragged their feet, a royal order simply did not happen. Power depended on cooperation.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 19

Quick check

Why did wars usually force a monarch to call Parliament?

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Quick check

Part 8 of 19

Quick check

Justices of the peace mattered because they...

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

The limits in practice

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

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 19

Learn

The money problem

Ordinary crown income rarely covered war. Wars meant taxes, taxes meant summoning Parliament, and Parliament used the moment to raise grievances. That single financial fact explains most of the friction between crown and Parliament across two centuries.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 19

Learn

Religion made it sharper

After the Reformation the monarch was head of the Church too, so religious disagreement became disloyalty. Elizabeth I's settlement tried to hold a middle line; Charles I's support for ceremonial worship convinced many that he was undoing it. Religious suspicion and money worries reinforced one another.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 19

Quick check

Divine right is best described as...

14

Quick check

Part 14 of 19

Quick check

Why did the Reformation make religious disagreement politically dangerous?

15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 19

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • Divine right did not make a monarch's orders self-enforcing; it was a claim, not a mechanism.
  • Parliament in this period was not a permanent body; it met when summoned.
  • 'Absolute' monarchy in England was still limited by law, custom and the need for money.
  • Local gentry were not simply obedient officials; they had their own local standing to protect.
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.

After the Reformation the monarch was head of the ____ too, so religious disagreement became disloyalty.

18

Mastery quiz

Part 18 of 19

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: How much power did a Tudor or Stuart monarch really have?

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

  1. 1. Who wrote that kings were 'God's lieutenants upon earth'?

  2. 2. The Privy Council was...

  3. 3. Prerogative powers were used...

  4. 4. A subsidy was a...

  5. 5. Elizabeth I's religious settlement aimed to...

  6. 6. The clearest limit on royal power was...

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 4 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 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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