Welcome
Welcome all to your King Henry the VIII Webquest.
You are about to experience what it would be like to be a potential matchmaker for this infamous king.
Before starting your webquest, first some information about all the kings and queens of England
Horrible histories Kings and Queens song
Introduction
Introduction
The greater goal for this webquest will be to analyse whether the actions of King Henry were justified. You will want to develop an opinion of whether or not the ends justified the means. In other words, does it matter why reforms are made?
His Six Wives
In this Webquest you will be expanding your knowledge of the reign of King Henry VIII, particularly the roles and lives of his six wives. You will be learning about the various wives in Henry's life, the various fates of their lives and how they tie into the controversial life of King Henry VIII.
Your task
Your task
In this webquest, you are taking the role of potential future matchmaker for King Henry VIII. You have been assigned to figure out the kings preferences, so as to avoid possible pitfalls experienced by past advisers and wives. You will take what you have learned in your research to write an article and do the final assignment.
For a final assignment you will take what you have learned and create a personal advertisement that you think would best represent what Henry would be looking for in a woman. You will need to use cunning and wit if you are to find him a match and keep your own life.
Procedure
1. The first thing that you are going to want to do is to figure out a little background knowledge on the wives of Henry VIII. You are going to write an article about what happened to Henry's six wives in approximately 200 words.
Based on your initial thoughts,
- How would you describe Henry as a husband?
- Would a woman want to be married to him? Why or Why not?
2. If you are going to be able to find King Henry a suitor, you must know the things that he stood for and accomplished during his life because after all, his legacy is important to him. Follow the links, watch the two video clips and read the sections marked
- What did you find out about Henry's early religious beliefs?
- What was Henry's most lasting military accomplishment?
- Why was Henry so focused on having a male heir? What were some of the things that he did to ensure this would happen?
- What was the main reason Henry started the Church of England?
- Without the Catholic Church to answer to, who was going to keep the monarchy in check in the years that followed Henry's death?
3. In order to find a wife that will make a lasting impression on Henry, you must first go more in-depth on what he liked and what he disliked about his previous 6 wives. Pay special attention to the absolute power that Henry wielded to get what he wanted. Use this link to learn more about his wives. Read the small excerpts about their lives as queen.
- What did you notice about the ages of the particular women?
- To what extremes was Henry willing to go to get what he wanted? What would this suggest about the amount of people willing to go against the king?
- Were any of these marriages set up for political gains?
- Did Henry appear to answer to anybody other than himself?
4. So as to avoid the pitfalls of past advisers and wives take a quick look at this link to find out about the people he has had beheaded. Pay special attention to numbers 5-1 because they were, at one point, very close with Henry. Make sure you click "next" to start the show.
- What did you notice about the relationships Henry had with numbers 5-1?
- Would this scare you away from getting close to him at all?
ALL THE LINKS USED IN THE PROCEDURE:
The wives of King Henry VIII
Info on King Henry VIII
Info on King Henry VIII's wives
5 Funny Facts
Conclusion
Think about the absolution of Henry's control. He believed in ruling with absolute power and did not tolerate those who opposed him. Imagine being someone who was in charge of finding him a wife, do you think you would be able to do this without feeling his wrath?
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER
His desire to attain his own personal agenda led to the creation of the Church of England. This was different from other reformers of the time, due to the reason for which they looked for reform. Take a look at this link of the 95 Theses that Martin Luther wrote and look at numbers 1-10. How would you compare and contrast Luther's motives to Henry's? At the end of the day, do the motives even matter as long as there is reform?
What do you think it would be like to live under King Henry?
Final product
Considering everything that you have read and heard about King Henry, you are now ascribed the task finding him a new wife. Write an advertisement for a potential future suitor of Henry. In order to create this ad you must include: religious preference, thoughts on children, age and appearance, faithfulness, general preferences and anything else that you consider important to Henry. Remember to use specific things that you have found during the Webquest to complete your advertisement.
At the end of your advertisement create a warning section where you discuss the things that have angered the King in the past both by advisers and by wives, so that the potential queen knows exactly what she is getting herself into.
TIPS
- Type your advertisement in Microsoft Word
- Use between 200-300 words
- You can be as creative as you like. You can use images, etc.
- Hand in your assignment in Magister opdrachten "King Henry"
