Essay questions and course requirements for HIS211, Political 1603-60

Course requirements: One essay and one set of three gobbets, or two essays

Students can do essays from either the Political or the Social History Reading Lists or both, as they please. Political and Social Topics are covered equally in the final examination for this course.

Students can also take questions from the 1996-1999 examination papers.


1. Assess the political importance of the Crown's need for money, 1603-40

2. What impact did foreign affairs have on the domestic politics of England, 1603-1640?

3. Assess the political significance of 'faction' in Stuart England, 1603-1640

4. Who was the 'best king', James I or Charles I?

5. Why did a Civil War break out in England in 1642?

6.        To what extent, if any, was there a 'puritan' party in early Stuart England?

or

 To what extent, if at all, were there political 'parties' in early Stuart England?

7. Why did Englishmen fear popery so much? Answer with reference to the period 1603-1640 or 1640-1660.

8.       How important was the political and religious extremism of the 1640s and 1650s?

or. 

What was truly 'revolutionary' about 'revolutionary England', 1640-60?

9. Oliver Cromwell: a good general but a bad politician?

10. Assess the role of either the Irish or the Scots on English politics between 1603 and 1660.


Reading list: Political history books and articles
Reading list: thematic breakdown of political books and articles
Reading list: suggested essay questions for political history
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