This KS2 history enquiry revolves around Henry VIII’s divorce and the break with Rome, one of the best-known stories in English history. At first, Henry, this larger than life figure, seems almost to be a perfect guest on Jerry Springer. He married his brother’s widow before dumping her for a younger woman, than had his new wife killed after accusing her of sleeping with her brother. Beneath these salacious details of Henry’s personal life, and the oft-quoted rhyme about the fate of his wives, lies a very important story in British history.
At the end of this enquiry we want pupils to be able to explain the competing pressures that forced Henry to divorce Catherine and marry Anne and to see this as only part of a broader turn of events we call the Reformation. Because the wider political and religious issues are dealt with in-depth later at Key Stage 3, here we focus mainly on the role of the personalities with just enough broader context to make them intelligible.
There are five separate smart tasks that make up the enquiry. PLEASE NOTE Tasks 2 and 3 each with full resources are separate posts. The description and resources for Tasks
