Change, Continuity, and A Level Assessment
The historical concepts of ‘change and continuity’ are fundamental to the study of the Tudor period and form a cornerstone of A Level History assessment across the three major exam boards: AQA, OCR, and Edexcel.
Specifically, Assessment Objective 1 (AO1) explicitly requires you to demonstrate your understanding of the past through the analysis and evaluation of these key concepts.
To achieve high-level marks, you must go beyond mere description, using these frameworks to evaluate the extent of transformation or persistence within a historical period.
This page is designed to model that analytical approach, highlighting the interplay between revolutionary shifts and enduring structures in the English state by 1603.
Political Power and Monarchy
The nature of royal authority underwent a significant evolution while maintaining its central importance to the English state.
- Change: The dominance of ‘over-mighty subjects’ and the threat of private noble armies were effectively dismantled. Through financial coercion—such as the use of bonds and recognisances by Henry VII—and the execution of rebellious lords like the Duke of Buckingham in 1521, the nobility transitioned from independent warlords into courtiers reliant upon royal patronage and the specialised legal training of the Inns of Court.
- Continuity: The monarchy remained the absolute centre of political life. A system of personal monarchy persisted, where the ruler’s character dictated national policy; Elizabeth I’s procrastination over the Dutch revolt or the marriage question illustrates how the Queen’s personal whims remained the last word in statecraft. Ensuring dynastic security remained a paramount concern from the Battle of Bosworth to the succession of James VI.
Government
The machinery of government saw a bureaucratic expansion, shifting towards a more institutionalised state structure.
- Change: A ‘Tudor Revolution in Government’, spearheaded by Thomas Cromwell in the 1530s, led to the establishment of a formal, smaller Privy Council. Parliament, particularly the House of Commons, gained increased legislative power through the enactment of the Acts of Supremacy. Locally, administration shifted from the nobility to the gentry through the expanded role of Justices of the Peace, who by 1603 were responsible for over 300 statutes ranging from tax collection to social regulation.
- Continuity: Central government remained fundamentally dependent on the cooperation of local elites. Lacking a standing army or a professionalised police force, the Crown relied on the unpaid gentry to enforce its decrees. The failure of the Crown to effectively suppress the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536 without noble assistance underscores the continued reliance on traditional local hierarchies to maintain order in the shires.
The Economy
By 1603, the economy had become more commercially complex and globalised in its outlook.
- Change: Agriculture became increasingly commercialised, driven by the enclosure of land for profitable sheep farming. The cloth trade expanded via the Merchant Adventurers, and the establishment of global joint-stock enterprises, such as the Muscovy Company (1555) and the East India Company (1600), shifted English trade towards global markets and the exploration of the North-West Passage.
- Continuity: Agriculture remained the backbone of the national economy, employing roughly 90% of the population. Despite the rise of new industries like coal mining in Newcastle, the export of unfinished woollen cloth to the Antwerp mart continued to be England’s primary economic asset and the main source of customs revenue for the Exchequer.
Society
Societal structures faced significant demographic pressures, though traditional social ideals remained deeply rooted.
- Change: The population of England roughly doubled from 2.3 million in 1520 to over 4 million by 1603, leading to severe inflation and widespread vagrancy. This necessitated the 1597 and 1601 Poor Laws, which institutionalised parish-based relief. Simultaneously, the gentry experienced a ‘rise’ in wealth, building ‘prodigy houses’ like Hardwick Hall using lands acquired from the dissolution of the monasteries.
- Continuity: Society remained strictly hierarchical. The ‘Great Chain of Being’ and the ‘Homily on Obedience’ (1547) continued to be preached from pulpits to maintain social order. The belief that every individual had a fixed place in the divinely ordained social strata remained the dominant ideology, ensuring that social mobility was often viewed with suspicion.
Religion and Church
Religion represented the most radical area of revolutionary change during the Tudor century.
- Change: England was transformed from a Roman Catholic nation into an officially Protestant state. Papal authority was dismantled by the 1534 Act of Supremacy, and under Elizabeth I, the 1559 Settlement established a ‘via media’. The visual landscape of the church was revolutionised, with altars replaced by communion tables and the introduction of the English Book of Common Prayer.
- Continuity: The Church remained deeply intertwined with the state through the system of Erastianism. Attendance at parish churches remained legally mandatory under the Act of Uniformity, and the ecclesiastical courts continued to monitor the moral lives of the laity, serving as a vital tool for social control and the dissemination of state propaganda.
Foreign Relations
England’s international standing transformed as the nation emerged as a burgeoning maritime power.
- Change: European geopolitics were redrawn by the Reformation; the traditional Burgundian alliance collapsed as Spain became England’s arch-enemy, culminating in the 1588 Armada and the subsequent privateering of Hawkins and Drake. The 1603 Union of the Crowns under James VI effectively ended the ‘Auld Alliance’ between France and Scotland, pacifying the troublesome Anglo-Scottish borders.
- Continuity: National security and the control of the English Channel remained the primary strategic focus. Preventing a hostile power from occupying the Low Countries (the ‘pistol pointed at the heart of England’) remained as vital for national stability in 1603 as it had been during Henry VII’s support for Brittany in the 1480s.
A Centenarian’s Reflection: 1603 looking back to 1485
As I sit in the twilight of my days in this year of our Lord 1603, my mind wanders back to the tales my father told of Bosworth Field, and the world I first drew breath in. The realm has transformed in ways that would have seemed like sorcery to my grandsires, yet beneath the new veneer, the bones of England remain much as they were.
The Three Great Sea-Changes
- The Spiritual Revolution: Most profound is the fracturing of the soul of Christendom. In 1485, every knee bowed to Rome; today, the Latin Mass is a memory, replaced by the English liturgy of our Queen’s ‘via media’. This is the most significant shift because it altered the very visual and internal world of every Englishman.
- The Taming of the Lords: I recall when a great Earl could raise an army to rival the King’s. Now, those same families are courtiers in silk, governed by the law rather than the sword. The centralisation of power in the Crown and the rise of the gentry as JPs has fundamentally stabilised the shires.
- The Global Horizon: Our merchants once looked only to Antwerp; now they look to the Indies and the Americas. The expansion of trade through joint-stock companies has brought a wealth and a global perspective that was unimaginable when the first Tudor took the throne.
The Three Pillars of Continuity
- The Primacy of the Soil: Though the cities swell, England remains a land of the plough. Nine out of ten men still live by the seasons and the harvest, just as they did in my youth. Agriculture is still the heartbeat and the lifeblood of our economy.
- The Sacred Hierarchy: Despite the rise of new men, we still believe in the ‘Great Chain of Being’. The order that places the monarch above the noble, and the noble above the peasant, remains the only shield we have against the terrors of anarchy and rebellion.
- The Fortress of the Channel: Our safety still rests upon the narrow seas. Just as Henry VII worried over the Low Countries, our late Queen spent her life defending them. National security remains, as it ever was, a matter of keeping the coastline clear of foreign foes.