GCSE History Edexcel: Henry VIII - The Failure of Annulment to Catherine of Aragon (Lesson 9)

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 why Henry VIII’s attempts to gain an annulment had failed by 1529. The lesson is suited for or could easily be adapted for students aged 12-16

This lesson examines the following questions relating to Henry’s annulment:
Why did Henry VIII want an annulment to his marriage with Catherine of Aragon?
What were the reasons for the failure to gain an annulment?
Which of these reasons was the most significant?

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 worksheet/diagram of the reasons for the failure
1x A4 printable worksheet learning review

1x main Power Point:
Slide 1: Title slide – Henry’s failure to gain an annulment by 1529.
Slide 2: Main Lesson Aims
Slide 3: As You Enter Warm Up: Students to examine and describe a painting of the annulment hearing. They will return to this at the end of the lesson.
Slide 4: Learning Recap 1: Students use images to help them recap reasons why Henry VIII wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
Slide 5-6: Learning Recap 2: Useful recap questions with added challenge questions linked to the lesson. Answers revealed.
Slide 7: Background information: A slide showing the key individuals responsible for the failure of the annulment.
Slide 8: Task 1: An explanation of the main sorting task which helps explain the reasons for the failure – links to the A4 explanation sheet.
Slide 9: Task 2: A task which asks students to summerise the main reasons for the failure in the format of a table.
Slide 10: Follow Up Challenge Tasks: 5 higher level questions based on the lesson.
Side 11: Example exam questions
Slide 12: Learning Review 1 Activity
Slide 13: Learning Review 2 Activity (links to the A4 worksheet)
Slide 14: Lesson Fact Sheet

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.