Was Thomas Wolsey Another King (Alter Rex)? - Edexcel iGCSE History Lesson

This engaging Edexcel iGCSE History lesson on Thomas Wolsey explores whether he truly ruled as “Alter Rex” (the other king) during Henry VIII’s reign. Designed specifically for the Edexcel IGCSE Tudor England unit and written by a History examiner, this resource supports students in developing secure content knowledge, historical vocabulary, and exam writing technique.

Students complete scaffolded activities including sentence-ordering tasks, ranking exercises on Wolsey’s political, social, economic, and foreign policy reforms, cause and consequence quizzes, importance pyramids, and a fully supported 12-mark exam practice question. Carefully structured literacy tasks develop precision with key terminology and help students produce clear, analytical responses using examples such as the Star Chamber, Treaty of London, Eltham Ordinances, Enclosure investigations, and the Amicable Grant.

How I use this resource:
I use this lesson to model judgement writing and paragraph structure for Edexcel iGCSE exam questions, building confidence in linking evidence to evaluation.

Ideal for teachers seeking high-quality Edexcel iGCSE Tudor History resources focused on literacy, analysis, and exam success.

I also have other iGCSE Henry VIII lessons available in my online TES shop.