A-Level History: The Mid-Tudor Crisis, 1547–1558

Was there a "mid-Tudor crisis"? The question has organised study of 1547-1558 for two generations of A-level students, and answering it requires exact knowledge of two short, turbulent reigns. This set supplies that knowledge.

The Edwardian questions cover the minority's two regimes: Protector Somerset's rule, its overreach, and the causes of his fall in 1549 — his failure against that summer's twin risings and his autocratic style — followed by Northumberland's leadership, tested through his constitutional position as Lord President of the Council and the acceleration of religious reform. The religious questions demand the precision the sources reward: the 1549 Book of Common Prayer's introduction of English services against the 1552 book's decisively Protestant theology.

The 1549 rebellions are distinguished by cause: the Western Rising against the new Prayer Book, and Kett's Rebellion driven by agrarian grievance over enclosure — the pairing that anchors any "crisis" argument. The succession crisis of 1553 is tested through Edward VI's Devise for the Succession, backed by Northumberland, and its attempt to divert the crown to Lady Jane Grey.

Mary I's reign completes the set: the Spanish marriage and its consequences — Wyatt's rebellion in 1554, examined for why it failed, and the war with France that lost Calais in 1558 — alongside the restoration of Catholicism: the repeal of Edwardian legislation, the return to papal obedience, and the burnings that defined the reign's reputation. Each explanation weighs the evidence for and against "crisis", building the historiographical judgement the essay question expects.

• Contrast Somerset's and Northumberland's regimes and explain Somerset's fall
• Distinguish the 1549 and 1552 Prayer Books theologically
• Compare the causes of the Western Rising and Kett's Rebellion
• Explain the Devise for the Succession and the Jane Grey crisis
• Assess Mary I's reign: the Spanish marriage, Wyatt's rebellion, restoration of Catholicism and Calais

Covers the mid-Tudor period (1547–1558) as taught in the widely studied A-level Tudors unit: Edward VI's minority regimes, religious change, the 1549 rebellions, the succession crisis of 1553, and Mary I's reign.