Unit information: Tudor Britain in 2018/19

Unit name	Tudor Britain
Unit code	HISTM0072
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Jones
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None.
Co-requisites	None.
School/department	Department of History (Historical Studies)
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The long century (1485-1604) of Tudor rule has long fascinated both historians and general public. During this period, England broke with Rome, Wales became fully integrated into the British state, Ireland was suppressed and Scotland achieved a new amity with its southern neighbour. At the same time, England as a whole saw new prosperity, with its population doubling and its commercial horizons expanding. By the end of the century Britain had started down the track that would turn it into the world's leading maritime and imperial power. This unit will explore Britain's Tudor century: discussing the politics of the period, the social / economic changes and even the reasons for our enduring fascination with its events and personalities.

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. To give students a wide historical knowledge of the political, social and economic conditions of Britain during the period 1485-1604.
2. To improve students’ ability to argue effectively and at length (including an ability to cope with complexities and to describe and deploy these effectively).
3. To be able to display high level skills in selecting, applying, interpreting and organising information, including evidence of a high level of bibliographical control.
4. To develop the ability of students to evaluate and/or challenge current scholarly thinking.
5. To foster student’s capacity to take a critical stance towards scholarly processes involved in arriving at historical knowledge and/or relevant secondary literature.
6. To be able to demonstrate an understanding of concepts and an ability to conceptualise.
7. To develop students’ capacity for independent research.

Teaching Information

1 x 2-hr interactive lecture per week.

Assessment Information

One 5,000 word essay (100%) – ILO’s 1-7

Reading and References

John Guy, Tudor England (1988)

Steven G. Ellis Tudor Frontiers and Noble Power: The Making of the British State (OUP, 1995)

Trevor Herbert & Gareth Elwyn Jones Tudor Wales (Cardiff 1988)

John Walter, Crowds and popular politics in early modern England (Manchester, 2006)

Steve Hindle, The state and social change in early modern England, 1550-1640 (2002)

Steve Hindle, et al. Remaking English society: social relations and social change in early modern England (Boydell, 2013)