The Early Tudors, 1485-1558

A Certificate of Participation is awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/learning activities for the duration of the course. This tutor-led, cohort-based online course is 7-weeks in duration and is made up of 5 teaching units. Teaching Week 1 - Henry VII and the origins of the Tudor Dynasty This week we will study the origins of the Tudor dynasty in the Wars of the Roses. Where the Tudors came from, why they emerged as the leading Lancastrian claimants, the importance of Lady Margaret Beaufort in the career of Henry Tudor. To understand the invasion of England by Henry Tudor in the summer of 1485 and the Battle of Bosworth, at which Richard III was defeated and killed and Henry acclaimed king. To study the ways in which Henry consolidated his rule. The threat posed by the pretenders Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel.  Learning objectives: - How Henry Tudor survived the Wars of the Roses and emerged victorious in 1485. - How he established his rule. - How he dealt with rivals and pretenders to his throne. Teaching Week 2 - Marriages, Annulments and Reformations This week we will seek to understand the first half of the reign of Henry VIII, his marriage to Katherine of Aragon, his early wars against France and his championing of Catholic orthodoxy against the teachings of Martin Luther. From there we will look at the career of Thomas Wolsey and the growing concerns over the succession due to Katherine’s failure to produce a male heir and the way the king’s ‘great matter’ came to dominate the reign in the 1520s. We will then consider the events of the early 1530s, the break with Rome, the dissolution of the monasteries and Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn. Apart from Wolsey, we will also consider the careers of Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer and their role in the Reformation. We will also consider some of the victims of the Reformation, such as John Fisher and Thomas More.  Learning objectives: - The early years of the reign of Henry VIII. - Why he sought to annul his marriage to Katherine of Aragon. - Why this precipitated the break with Rome and the dissolution of the monasteries, etc. - The importance of such figures as Wolsey, Cromwell, Cranmer, More and Fisher in this process. Teaching Week 3 Henry VIII – Supreme Head in Earth This week we will consider the later part of Henry’s reign, from his proclamation of the Royal Supremacy to his death in 1547. We will consider further the careers of Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer in the creation of the Church of England and the publication of an English Bible in 1540. We will also examine the increasingly conservative thrust of Henry’s religious policies in the final years of his reign and the faction fighting at court between conservatives and radicals for the king’s patronage.  Learning objectives: - Why Henry proclaimed himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England. - Why Henry’s religious policies became more conservative after 1540. - The implications of the faction fighting at court. Teaching Week 4  - England’s Josiah: the reign of Edward VI With the death of Henry in 1547 his nine year old son became king. His short reign witnessed a radical change in religious policy in a Protestant direction. We will examine the effects of this radicalisation on the fabric and liturgy of the English church. We will also consider the careers of the two ‘Protectors’ of Edward, namely, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. The course will end with the attempt by Edward and Dudley to alter the succession in favour of Dudley’s daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey.  Learning objectives: - Why the Reformation became more radical under Edward VI. - The importance of Cranmer to this process and the significance of the two Prayer Books of 1549 and 1552. - Why Edward attempted to change to succession in 1553. Teaching Week 5 - Fires of Faith: the England of Mary Tudor We begin this week with the challenge to Mary’s succession by Dudley’s attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne, we will study the ways in which Mary defeated this attempt. From there we will concentrate on Mary’s attempts to undermine the English Reformation and restore the Catholic faith, which involved her marriage to Philip of Spain and, most notoriously, the burning of nearly 300 Protestants, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. Despite Mary’s marriage she died childless in November 1558 and was succeeded by her half-sister, Elizabeth who restored the Protestant faith in England. The course will end with a discussion of the significance of the period and some of the long-term implications of the events studied.  Learning objectives: - How Mary defeated Dudley and Lady Jane Grey. - Why Mary was so determined to restore Catholicism. - The significance of her marriage to Philip of Spain. - The significance of the policy of persecution – did it help to consolidate Protestantism in England?