GCSE History Edexcel: Henry VIII - Thomas Cromwell's Rise to Power (Lesson 11)

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 the early life and career of Thomas Cromwell and explain his rise to power in Henry VIII’s government. The lesson is suited for or could easily be adapted for students aged 12-16

This lesson examines the following questions relating to Cromwell’s rise to power:
What happened in Thomas Cromwell’s early life and career?
How did these events cause his rise to power as Henry VIII’s Chief Minister by 1533?

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/timeline

1x main Power Point:
Slide 1: Title slide – Thomas Cromwell’s Rise to Power
Slide 2: Main Lesson Aims
Slide 3: As You Enter Warm Up: What kind of person is Henry VIII looking for as his Chief Minister?
Slide 4-6: Learning Recap 1: Filling in the missing words task to help students recap their learning about Thomas Wolsey. Printable worksheet included.
Slide 7: Starter Task: Students read and analyse a historical interpretation of Thomas Cromwell to help them learn about his skills.
Slide 8: Starter Task: A printable sheet for the starter task which includes two historical interpretations of Thomas Cromwell.
Slide 9: Starter Task 2: Analysis of a portrait of Thomas Cromwell
Slide 10-11: Background Information: An overview of Thomas Cromwell’s early life and a map of his travels across Europe.
Slide 12: Task 1 – Students to complete a timeline of the main events in Cromwell’s early life/career.
Slide 13-14: Task 2: How would Cromwell’s achievements help his rise to power in Henry’s government? A table filling in exercise with model answers.
Side 15: Optional creative historical writing task
Slide 16: Follow Up Challenge Questions
Slide 17: Example Exam Questions
Slide 18-19: Learning Review 1 – Put the events of Cromwell’s life in the correct order – answers given.
Slide 20: Learning Review 2 – Explain 4-5 reasons for Cromwell’s rise to power before 1533.
Slide 21: 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.