King Henry VIII vs Suleiman the Magnificent

PowerPoint & two worksheets that compares the reigns of King Henry VIII and his contemporary Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire. This lesson is a great way to continue to teach the Tudors at Key stage 3 but also to diversify the history curriculum.

Activities include

• Starter activity to identify which quote is not about Henry VIII (a positive amongst negative judgments).
• A gap fill covering key areas of Henry’s reign that have likely been considered in earlier lessons to establish a baseline for the comparison.
• A comprehension activity to identify evidence of Suleiman’s foreign relations, his religious policies, his treatment of wives, family members and advisers, his management of finance, and whether his policies benefited the people of his empire.
• Have completed a comparison table pupils judge whether Henry and Suleiman were similar or different in their polices, actions and achievements.
• Source analysis and accompanying questions on which monarch best lives up to Erasmus’ judgment on ideal kingship.
• Extension task on whether a comparison of the Monarch’s achievements using a 16th century map as stimulus might not be fair.

Designed for teaching an academically able Key Stage 3 class covering the Tudors.
Lesson Length: 1hr depending on pace.