Please revise the following topics:
- What were the differences between Catholics and Protestants in the 16th Century?
- Henry VII – was he a gangster?
In Section A you will need to answer a source question, using details from the sources provided and from your own knowledge.
In Section B you will answer factual and explaining questions.
You may find these websites helpful:
The Reformation (Catholics vs Protestants)
Spartacus Educational – Henry VII
Was Henry VII a gangster?
A ‘gangster’ is characterised as someone who is a member of an organised group of criminals, who use a variety of illegal techniques such as extortion, manipulation, and violence to acquire personal wealth and increase the wealth and power of the organisation to which they belong.
From an early age, Henry VII used a certain degree of manipulation in order to gain support for his claim to the English throne, such as promising to marry Elizabeth of York and uniting the houses of York and Lancaster, bringing an end to the War of the Roses. It could also be argued that travelling from France to England to wage war on Richard III and his army, could be considered an act of violence on an international scale.
Having secured the throne, Henry VII went on to build the national financial stability by avoiding war, promoting trade with countries such as the Netherlands, and enforcing a royal tax system. It is possible that the enforcement of these taxes could have involved a degree of violence.
Ultimately, by the end of Henry VII’s reign, his kingdom was solvent, prosperous, and united, and the House of Tudor had been secured as an enduring royal family.
The question of whether Henry VII is a gangster or not, depends on the interpretation of the legality of the war that won him the throne, and the methods used to build the financial stability of the nation. As well as whether the organisation to which he belonged; England, is to be considered an organised group of criminals.
If we assume that the methods were legal by the standards and laws of the time, and England to be broadly non-criminal in nature, then the answer would have to be that Henry VII was not a gangster.
Harrison's Collection 