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:

• how Henry VIII's reputation has been viewed from the late 16th century to the 21st century
• a range of primary evidence of Henry VIII's reign
• the key events which shaped the reign of Henry VIII

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

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

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

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

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 methods will include:

• lectures
• seminars

Learning activities will include:

• independent study, reading and research in preparation for each seminar
• in-depth study of textual and visual primary sources
• participation in small group and whole seminar discussions

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.