Britain & Ireland 1509-1745

In this section you will find articles to help you unpick the truths from the myths of the Tudor period, examine how Cromwell took the country to war and explore how some the most important political thinkers began to shape the modern world. There is also guidance for teaching some of the information collected here to pupils and different age ranges.

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  • Daniel Defoe, public opinion and the Anglo-Scottish Union

    Article

    There is a tendency to represent Daniel Defoe as a novelist and satirical journalist who was at one point placed in the London stocks as a punishment. Ted Vallance's article broadens our perspective to appreciate Defoe's activities as a propagandist in both England and Scotland... The September 2014 referendum on...

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  • Disembarking the religious rollercoaster

    Article

    Sarah Jackson-Buckley and Jessie Phillips found themselves perennially dissatisfied with the outcomes of their teaching of the Protestant Reformation. Determined that students should take away a sense of the momentous political and social consequences of the Reformation, they turned to historical scholarship, and to the work of other history teachers on...

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  • Early Modern Britain 1509-1745

    Article

    While the 2014 Curriculum sets out the broad focus of each particular content area, considerable choice has been left to history departments in determining which particular events or developments to include and how they can best 'combine overview and depth studies to help pupils understand both the long arc of...

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  • English Puritanism

    Article

    When the modern world was christened Puritanism appeared as a bad fairy and bestowed upon it certain dubious gifts: capitalism, democracy, America. This is a fairy story, but like all fairy stories it contains a small grain of truth. But what was Puritanism? Already in the seventeenth century a critic...

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  • Exploring the importance of local visits in developing wider narratives of change and continuity

    Article

    The authors of this article take a well-known structural framework for students’ thinking about the Reformation and give it a twist. Their Tudor religious rollercoaster is informed by local visits in their setting in Guernsey – an area where the local picture was not quite the same as the national...

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  • Exploring the relationship between historical significance and historical interpretation

    Article

    Jane Card’s previous work on the power of images in conveying particular interpretations and her advice about how to use visual material effectively in classrooms will be familiar to readers of Teaching History. In this article she focuses specifically on the capacity of visual representations to convey a compelling message about the...

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  • Faction in Tudor England

    Article

    'This wicked Tower must be fed with blood' - W. S. Gilbert's dialogue sums up the popular myth of Tudor England. This pamphlet looks at the reality, a society and politics necessarily divided into rival factions by the pulls of patronage, local loyalty and the implications of personal monarchy, and...

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  • Film series: Power and Freedom in Britain and Ireland, 1714–2010

    30th October 2025

    From royal courts to radical protests, from industrial revolutions to global empires – this compelling new film series traces the dramatic evolution of power, rights, and freedom across three centuries of British and Irish history. We will trace Britain and Ireland’s transformation from 1714 to 2010, unpacking power struggles, social revolutions, and...

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  • Film series: Tudor Royal Authority

    Article

    In this film, Professor Sue Doran, Jesus College, University of Oxford, discusses provides an overview of how Tudor Royal Authority developed and evolved from the first Tudor King, Henry VII, to the final Tudor Queen, Elizabeth I.

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  • Film: Domestic Politics and Tudor Royal Authority – discussion

    Article

    In this film Professor Sue Doran, Jesus College, University of Oxford and Professor Steven Gunn, Merton College, University of Oxford, discuss the impact that domestic politics and rebellion had on Tudor Royal Authority and the development of domestic policy. If you're unable to see the film below, please use the link for your Membership...

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  • Film: Edward VI and Tudor Royal Authority

    Article

    In this film Professor Steven Gunn, Merton College, University of Oxford, looks at the reign of Edward VI and examines the impact his youth had to his authority, the importance of advisers in shaping his rule and the significance of religion and foreign relations in defining his legacy. If you're unable to...

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  • Film: Elizabeth I and Tudor Royal Authority

    Article

    In this film, Professor Sue Doran, Jesus College, University of Oxford, looks at the two main challenges to Elizabeth I's authority: gender and religion. Professor Doran looks at the power of Elizabeth's personality, her relationship with her advisers plus the significance of religion and domestics politics to shaping her reign and...

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  • Film: Foreign Relations and Tudor Royal Authority – discussion

    Article

    In this film Professor Sue Doran, Jesus College, University of Oxford and Professor Steven Gunn, Merton College, University of Oxford discuss the role foreign relations played in Tudor royal authority and the amount of power Tudor monarchs were able to exercise. The film will explore common threads and differences in foreign policy...

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  • Film: Henry VII and Tudor Royal Authority

    Article

    In this film Professor Steven Gunn, Merton College, University of Oxford, looks at the life and reign of Henry VII and examines the role and significance of religion, foreign relations, domestic politics and the nobility on Henry's establishment of the Tudor dynasty. If you're unable to see the film below, please use...

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  • Film: Henry VIII and Tudor Royal Authority

    Article

    In this film, Tracy Borman, discusses the life and career of Henry VIII. Tracy examines how Henry VIII evolved from a pleasure loving prince, raised as Henry VII's 'spare heir', to becoming a king who would come to redefine England as a nation.

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  • Film: Mary I and Tudor Royal Authority

    Article

    In this film Dr Anna Whitelock from Royal Holloway, University of London, discusses the life of Mary I, the first crowned Queen of England. Dr Whitelock looks at Mary's difficult early life, her submission to Henry VIII and the rise of a warrior princess. Dr Whitelock explores Mary as a courageous...

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  • Film: Personality and Tudor Royal Authority – discussion

    Article

    In this film Professor Sue Doran, Jesus College, University of Oxford and Professor Steven Gunn, Merton College, University of Oxford discuss the role and significance of 'personality' to Tudor Royal Authority. If you're unable to see the film below, please use the link for your Membership type:Historian members | Primary members |...

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  • Film: Religion and Tudor Royal Authority – discussion

    Article

    In this film Professor Sue Doran, Jesus College, University of Oxford and Professor Steven Gunn, Merton College, University of Oxford, look at the role religion played in defining the reigns and authority of the Tudor monarchs. If you're unable to see the film below, please use the link for your Membership type:Historian...

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  • Film: The ladies-in-waiting who served the six wives of Henry VIII

    Article

    Every queen had ladies-in-waiting. Her confidantes and chaperones, they are the forgotten agents of the Tudor court. Experts at survival, negotiating the competing demands of their families and their queen, the ladies-in-waiting of Henry VIII’s wives were far more than decorative ‘extras’: they were serious political players who changed the...

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  • Film: The significance of advisers – discussion

    Article

    In this film Professor Sue Doran, Jesus College, University of Oxford and Professor Steven Gunn, Merton College, University of Oxford examine the role and importance of royal advisers to the developement of Tudor Royal Authority. If you're unable to see the film below, please use the link for your Membership type:Historian members |...

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