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29 July 2026

The aim of this lesson is to evaluate the Catholic threats to Elizabeth I from within England and overseas, and assess how successfully Elizabeth responded to these challenges.

Students begin by investigating why the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559 provoked opposition from Catholics both at home and abroad. The lesson is divided into two sections, allowing students to compare the different sources of danger facing Elizabeth throughout her reign.

The first section focuses on Catholic threats within England, including the impact of the Papal Bull of 1570 (Regnans in Excelsis) and the arrival of Mary, Queen of Scots. Students assess how far these developments undermined Elizabeth’s authority and evaluate both the short-term and long-term consequences of Catholic opposition.

The second section examines Catholic threats from abroad, exploring the work of William Allen, Edmund Campion, the Jesuits, the Douai Seminary and the Counter-Reformation. Students investigate how missionary priests attempted to strengthen Catholicism in England and evaluate the significance of their activities using a creative ‘shelves of significance’ task, with a bubbling ‘cauldron of danger’ beneath to represent the level of threat.

Students then assess the measures Elizabeth introduced to deal with Catholic opposition, selecting from a range of possible responses and justifying which they believe were the most effective. The lesson concludes with GCSE exam practice, supported by structured guidance and writing frames to develop analytical responses.

An enquiry question is introduced at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout, enabling students to track their progress and develop a deeper understanding of the religious and political threats faced by Elizabeth.

Fully planned and ready to teach, this lesson develops historical enquiry, significance, evaluation and GCSE exam technique.

Included in this lesson:
Fully editable PowerPoint
Catholic threats at home and abroad
The Papal Bull of 1570 and Mary, Queen of Scots
William Allen, Edmund Campion, the Jesuits and the Douai Seminary
The Counter-Reformation and missionary priests
Decision-making task on Elizabeth’s responses to Catholic threats
GCSE exam practice with structured support and model answer supplied
Retrieval practice and plenary activities
Differentiated materials with suggested teaching strategies

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AQA GCSE History: Elizabethan England Complete Bundle

**AQA GCSE Elizabethan England, 1568-1603** These ready to use exam focused resources on Elizabethan England cover the AQA GCSE topic in depth. These fully resourced lessons are perfect for busy teachers who want their students to master content, think like historians and succeed in their exams. These resources provide everything you need to deliver outstanding lessons, whether you’re introducing Elizabeth’s struggles for stability as a female monarch, exploring the Catholic plots and rebellions against her or unpacking the golden age of theatre. Students will also learn about Elizabeth’s court and government, the further challenges to her rule, Elizabethan society, exploration and the wider Elizabethan world. The lessons contain different tasks to challenge the students and are differentiated. Furthermore, each lesson focuses on how to answer GCSE practice questions from the exam, notably how convincing is the interpretation, writing an account, explain the importance and how far do you agree? The lessons are as follows: L1 An introduction to Elizabeth L2 Elizabethan Court and Government L3 Which problems did Elizabeth face in her first ten years? L4 Elizabeth and marriage L5 Who were Elizabeth’s key people? (free resource) L6 The Elizabethan Religious Settlement (free resource) L7 Threats from the Norfolk and Ridolfi Plots L8 The Essex Rebellion L9 Catholic threats at home and abroad L10 The Puritan threat L11 The threat of Mary, Queen of Scots L12 Wealth Status and fashion L13 Elizabethan Theatre L14 The Golden Age (free resource) L15 Poverty and the Poor Law of 1601 L16 Famous explorers (focus on Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh) L17 Planning the Spanish Armada (2027) L18 Planning for the Spanish Armada (2027) L19 Defeat of the Spanish Armada (2027) For further assessment materials, please visit the AQA website for specimen questions and answers. All the resources include suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change. Any reviews would be gratefully received to aid future planning.

£38.00

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AQA GCSE Elizabethan England Lessons and Resources Bundle

This bundle is the first part in a series of lessons I have created for AQA GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England 1568-1603. Having taught this unit for a number of years, I have tweaked the order of lessons I now teach at the beginning. As well as teaching Elizabeth I's court, government and parliament, I have included Elizabeth’s favourites and an introduction to the religious settlement (which are offered as free lessons), as I felt students were getting confused without these aspects of the course being referred to early on. The theme throughout this bundle of lessons is to examine how Elizabeth tried to assert her authority and control in the first half of her reign. The lessons contain different tasks to challenge the students and are differentiated. Furthermore each lesson focuses on how to answer a GCSE practice question from the exam, notably in this unit a source, write an account and significance question. The lessons are as follows: L1: An introduction to Elizabeth L2 Elizabethan Court and Government L3 Which problems did Elizabeth face in her first ten years? L4 Elizabeth and marriage L5 Who were Elizabeth’s key people? (free resource) L6 The Elizabethan Religious Settlement (free resource) L7 Threats from the Norfolk and Ridolfi Plots L8 The Essex Rebellion L9 Catholic threats at home and abroad L10 The Puritan threat L11 The threat of Mary, Queen of Scots The lessons are enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lessons and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning. The resources includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change. Any reviews would be gratefully received.

£23.00

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