GCSE History Edexcel: Henry VIII - Wolsey's Foreign Policy Aims (Lesson 6)

This lesson can be specifically used for Edexcel GCSE History (1-9) British Depth Study – Henry VIII & his Ministers OR it can be easily adapted to teach students about Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey’s foreign policies and the threat to Henry VIII from other countries in Europe. The lesson is suited for or could easily be adapted for students aged 12-16

This lesson examines the following questions relating to Wolsey’s foreign policy aims:
What were Wolsey’s foreign policy aims?
What was the purpose of Wolsey’s foreign policy aims?
What was Europe like during the reign of Henry VIII?
What were the threats from other countries in Europe?

This is a fully resourced lesson which includes a printable fact sheet based on the GCSE Edexcel specification as well as worksheets, discussion tasks, engaging background information, warm up tasks and learning reviews.

The downloaded lesson includes the following:

1x A4 printable map-based worksheet
1x A4 printable worksheet to explain the threats to England from Europe

1x main Power Point:
Slide 1: Title slide – Thomas Wolsey’s Foreign Policy Aims
Slide 2: Main Lesson Aims
Slide 3: As You Enter Warm Up Question: Why is war expensive?
Slide 4-5: Starter Task 1: The Geography of Europe in the 1500s activity – with answers revealed.
Slide 6-7: Previous Learning Recap – 8 multiple choice questions from the topic so far which will also help with the subject knowledge for this lesson.
Slide 8: Starter Task 2 – Should Wolsey aim for war or peace with his foreign policy?
Slide 9: Task 1 – Source analysis activity
Slide 10: Background information – Map based information about each of the European nations during the 1500s.
Slide 11: Task 2 – Worksheet based activity
Side 12: Task 3 – Explaining the threats to Henry VIII and England in the 1500s – links to the A4 worksheet
Slide 13: Task 4 – Explaining Wolsey’s foreign policy aims.
Slide 14: Follow Up Challenge Tasks
Slide 15: Example exam question – ‘Two features’.
Slide 16-17: Learning Review Activity
Slide 18: Lesson fact sheet
Slide 19: Original Map which can be edited for personal use.

I would be really grateful if you could leave a review for the lesson if you feel the lesson is effective for you. Many thanks if you spend some of your valuable time doing this as feedback is highly valued.

All images used in this lesson are in the public domain and are therefore copyright free at the time of publishing. Images which require attribution have been attributed in the notes section of each slide where the image appears. If you feel any errors have been made, please contact me at raschoolresources@gmail.com in the first instance to resolve any issues. My lessons are completed using PowerPoint and designed on widescreen formatting. Thank you.