Henry VIII And the Reformation Parliament

Henry VIII and the Reformation Parliament transforms students into lords and commoners and members of the English parliament during the tumultuous years 1529-1536.  The game illustrates the clash between four contending ideas: medieval Catholicism, Lutheranism, Renaissance humanism, and Machiavellian statecraft.

 

Part of the “Reacting to the Past” series, this text consists of an elaborate game in which students are assigned roles that are informed by classic texts and set in particular moments of intellectual and social ferment.  The game unfolds just as Cardinal Wolsey is dismissed as lord chancellor for failing to obtain the divorce King Henry VIII is seeking from Catherine of Aragon, and Thomas More is named as Wolsey’s replacement.