Exam-style Questions: Henry VIII - Part 1
1. Read this source, and then answer the questions that follow.
Alacke! Alacke!
For the church sake
Pore commons wake,
And no marvell!
For clere it is
The decay of this
How the pore shall mys
No tong can tell
For ther they hadde
Boith ale and breyde
At tyme of nede,
And succer grete
In alle distresse
And hevyness
And well intrete
Crim, crame, and riche
With ther ell and the liche
As sum men teache
God theym amend!
And that Aske may,
Without delay,
Here make a stay
And well to end.
(Extracts from a ballad
probably composed at
Sawley Abbey, 1536.)
1. Briefly explain the reference, 'For the church sake, Pore commons wake'.
(3 marks)
2. What reasons are given in this ballad for the commons to rise?
(6 marks)
3. Why do historians give different reasons for the Pilgrimage of Grace, to those given here?
(9 marks)
(Marks available: 18)
Answer outline and marking scheme for question: 1
1. In your answer you should have shown that you know that this is a ballad written in the time of the Pilgrimage of Grace, and explain this rising in a limited way. You should also mention that it is a call to the commons to rise to protest, even stop further dissolution of the monasteries.
(3 marks)
2. You are required here to list the reasons given in the source and no more than this. You should have mentioned:
Their concern for how dissolution will affect the poor: in terms of bread and ale (!) (but in a time when people drank more ale than water we must remember). There is a reference further down the ballad that refers to reformist religious teachings, 'God theym amend!'
(6 marks)
3. It would be helpful if you could demonstrate an awareness of where historians stand on this issue.
Some ideas to include in your answer:
Perspective: historians are able to see the whole picture more clearly than contemporaries were, in part because of their access to sources. They are more able to put events in their national as well as local context.
This source is emotive. It is designed to stir the commons. It is a piece of propaganda.
(9 marks)
(Marks available: 18)
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