Henry VIII: Reputation and Reality

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the key events which shaped the reign of Henry VIII
• how Henry VIII's reputation has been viewed from the late 16th century to the 21st century
• the historiography of Henry VIII's reign
• a variety of primary sources relating to this period

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• evaluate how Henry VIII's reputation has been perceived over time
• analyse the significant events in Henry VIII's reign
• explain the significance of a range of primary sources, both written and visual

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Create a convincing argument and present it in writing
• Analyse written and visual sources
• Work independently

An indicative list of seminar topics is as follows: Henry VIII: Court and culture

The king’s chief ministers: Wolsey and Cromwell War and foreign policy

Competing with Francis I and the Field of the Cloth of Gold The break with Rome

The dissolution of the monasteries

Political unrest: The Pilgrimage of Grace and beyond Henry VIII: His final years and his legacy Shakespeare's Henry VIII or All is True

Henry VIII's posthumous image: Paintings, literature and film

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods will include:

• weekly one-hour lecture and one-hour seminar
• directed individual and group activities around primary sources
• short presentations given by students on the module
• group discussions including feedback from the tutor

Lectures are designed to introduce you to key themes, historical debates and historians' approaches. Further reading and seminar discussions of primary and secondary source material are designed to consolidate your knowledge and understanding. In seminar discussions you will be expected to engage in critical analysis of primary sources and to formulate and articulate arguments. And you will be encouraged to express your own ideas about a topic.

Learning activities will include:

• independent study, reading and research in preparation for each seminar
• putting together and delivering short presentations as directed by the lecturer
• in-depth study of textual and visual primary sources
• participation in small group and whole seminar discussions

Learning and teaching activities are designed to help you investigate the main themes and issues of the module. These activities will include directed and self-directed study, for example through preparatory reading and library and on-line research. Particular attention will be paid to the different approaches historians have used, and the presentations you give will focus on getting to grips with these approaches, using the reading list of secondary literature provided at the start of the module. You will also study (on your own and in seminars) a wide range of primary written and visual sources. These activities will help you to prepare for the essay and examination exercises.

You will receive feedback on your progress via seminar and group discussions and in responses to your presentations.

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

A. Fox and J. Guy (1986). Reassessing the Henrician Age: Humanism, Politics and Reform, 1500-1550. Oxford: Blackwell.

J. Guy (1990). Tudor England. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

R. Strong (1967). Holbein and Henry VIII. Routledge & K. Paul for the Paul Mellon Foundation for British Art.

D. R. Starkey (1985). The Reign of Henry VIII: Personalities and Politics. London: George Philip.

A. F. Pollard (1905). Henry VIII. London: Longmans.

G. R. Elton (1977). Reform and Reformation: England 1509-1558. London: Arnold.

J. J. Scarisbrick (1968). Henry VIII. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode.

C. Lloyd and S. Thurley (1990). Henry VIII: Images of a Tudor King. Oxford: Phaidon Press in association with the Historic Royal Palaces Agency.

G. Bernard (2005). The King's Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External