OCR B GCSE: The Elizabethans 1580-1603

The OCR B GCSE History depth study The Elizabethans 1580-1603 explores the late Elizabethan period - a “golden age” marked by dynamic political power, cultural achievements, and significant religious conflict. Students study how Queen Elizabeth I exercised and consolidated her authority through strategies such as patronage, controlling her court, and managing parliamentary relations, while also navigating challenges from internal rebellions (like the Earl of Essex’s revolt) and external threats including Catholic plots and the looming Spanish Armada. In addition, the course examines daily life in Elizabethan society, highlighting the contrasting experiences of the rich, middling, and poor, as well as exploring popular culture (the rise of theatre, literature, and public spectacles) and the impact of England’s expanding global connections. Overall, learners are encouraged to analyse differing historical interpretations, assess the significance of key events, and understand how political, religious, economic, and cultural forces interplayed to shape the period.

What students need to learn:

• Elizabeth and government - Issue: The power of the queen 
  • Elizabeth and her court: patronage, the Privy Council and the rebellion of the Earl of Essex 
  • Elizabeth and her parliaments including opposition from Puritans 
  • Elizabeth and her people including local government and propaganda 
• Catholics - Issue: The nature and extent of a Catholic threat
  • The enforcement of Elizabeth’s religious settlement after 1580
  • Catholic links abroad, plots against Elizabeth, and the Elizabethan spy network
  • Mary Queen of Scots, the Armada and war with Spain 
• Daily lives - Issue: The nature and dynamics of Elizabethan society 
  • The contrasting lives of rich, middling and poor Elizabethans 
  • Family life: husbands and wives, parents and children, wider kinship
  • Poverty: its causes, Elizabethan explanations and responses 
• Popular culture Issue: “Merry England”?
  • Theatres and their opponents
  • The Puritan attack on popular pastimes
  • The persecution of witches 
• The wider world Issue: The nature and significance of England’s connections with the wider world
  • Imperial ambition: the motives and achievements of Elizabethan adventurers
    Roanoke: England’s attempt at an American colony
  • Trade with the east, including first contacts with India