13+ Scholarship Examinations 2015 HISTORY

13+ Scholarship Examinations 2015
HISTORY
1 hour 30 minutes
90 marks
You should spend half an hour on Section One and one hour on Section Two.
Write your name clearly on every sheet of paper used.
Section One
Source A:
Magna Carta
blunder on
£2 coin
rewrites history.
A commemorative coin depicting King John issuing Magna
Carta 800 years ago has been criticised for a glaring
historical inaccuracy: King John signing with a quill is a
'schoolboy error'. Historian Dr Marc Morris used Playmobil
figures to show how the Magna Carta would have been signed with a royal seal - not a quill - and was
presented to his barons (nobles). King John would have used a wax seal to endorse and authenticate
documents.
The Royal Mint defended the coin, saying it was intended to be ‘symbolic’ and not a ‘literal account of what
actually occurred’. A spokesman added: ‘The design is in fact inspired by King John’s royal seal.’ The Royal
Mint commented: ‘The image used on this coin packaging is a well-known visual representation of historical
events from the time, and not factual depiction. The Royal Mint understand that the Magna Carta was in
fact witnessed and sealed by King John and not physically signed.’
Source B: Why are the Americans so excited about the Magna Carta?
In America, the document sealed by King John on June 15, 1215, is treated with near-religious reverence.
The rights sought from the king by English barons and freemen found their way into the American
Constitution. Those rights find an echo, too, in every set of instructions given by every American judge to
every American jury. When two early copies of the Magna Carta go on tour around America early next
year, they will be treated like rock stars, with rock-star levels of security. Millions will want to see them.
But why should a piece of parchment, sealed in a faraway place nearly a millennium ago, be of such interest
across the Atlantic? “Magna Carta is extremely important to Americans, who learn about it in grade
school,” says Stephen Zack, a civil trial lawyer in Miami and chairman of the American Bar Association
Magna Carta Anniversary Committee. “When American judges talk about the presumption of innocence
and the burden of proof, it is Magna Carta they are borrowing from. Our Supreme Court justices have said
how crucial Magna Carta is to American law, and we can trace our constitution rights back to Magna
Carta. Whenever there’s an attack on the rule of law throughout the world, you realise how vital Magna
Carta is. Before it, the king could do what he wanted to. There are places where that’s still the case with
some world leaders; it shows how vital Magna Carta is.” The committee is arranging for 800 US lawyers to
visit Runnymede, Surrey (where Magna Carta was sealed), in June 2015, on the 800th anniversary.
In America, the Magna Carta stands as an unmatched symbol of freedom against oppression. The truth of it
is that there’s an awful lot about fish weirs and early 13th-century taxes in the document. But at the same
time there are clauses granting unprecedented liberties to English freemen. The most crucial says, “No free
man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, nor will
we proceed with force against him, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.
To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.” This is one of the three original clauses
that are still law in Britain; the other two defend the freedom and rights of the English Church, and the
liberties and customs of London and other towns. It is the clause about liberty that has proved so
adaptable to so many succeeding generations and countries.
Source C: The cult of Magna Carta is historical nonsense.
Magna Carta has an iconic status. To many, it is the foundation stone of English liberty – the guarantor of
the freedoms we cherish, and the solemn legal basis for our centuries-old way of life. Appreciation of
Magna Carta stretches beyond the UK. In the USA, its phrases are cherished as a political inheritance from
England that underpins the United States Constitution: President Franklin D Roosevelt summed up a
widely-held American view in 1941, “The democratic aspiration is no mere recent phase in recent history
… it was written in Magna Carta”. But sadly, this widespread worship of Magna Carta as one of the planks
of an English person’s rights has no basis in law or history. In fact, almost everything commonly attributed
to Magna Carta is wrong.
Despite widespread beliefs about the charter’s contents, it actually contained very little of significance. The
Articles of the Barons (as it was known) did not guarantee freedom to all true-born English people, subject
the king to Parliament, enshrine the notion of trial by jury, guarantee freedom of speech, embed the
concept of no taxation without representation, or anything else along these lines. It was a largely dull
document that dealt with dozens of administrative matters (inheritance laws, feudal obligations, church,
land and forestry rights, fish weirs, prisoners, and so on). It also had a number of clauses we would not
want to highlight today, like, “No one will be taken or imprisoned upon the appeal of a woman for the
death of anyone except her husband.”
Another fact not widely recognised is that the grateful recipients of the rights granted in the Articles of the
Barons were not the long-suffering English people, but the French-speaking aristocracy. The Articles of the
Barons was, basically, an agreement between King John and his uppity aristocratic military henchmen. For
example, one of the barons was none other than our good friend King John’s Sheriff of Nottingham, one of
English folklore’s greatest villains. So, the crowds at Runnymede were not grateful English peasants. It is
also odd that, as it turned out, the Runnymede agreement was only honoured by the barons and King John
for a total of nine weeks, before being ignored and consigned to the rubbish heap.
So why do philosophers, politicians and judges across the English-speaking world idolise Magna Carta as the
source of freedom? Well, it’s down to people not being 100% clear about the facts. Magna Carta would
have been lost in obscurity, and known only to people who like to know such things, were it not for
opponents of King Charles in Parliament in the 1600s. They eventually located their prize in Magna Carta,
which they found in dusty legal archives, holding it aloft as a time-honoured cornerstone of the English
constitution. The only trouble was, they ignored all the little details that got in the way of their story, and
simplified it into something that would suit their purposes. For example, they
squidged over four entirely separate versions of it into their one historic ‘Magna
Carta.’ Far from being one document, Magna Carta was in fact issued on multiple
occasions by three separate kings, leaving us today with 17 physical copies.
Source D: International rap star Jay Z visited Salisbury on 15 July, 2013 to pay a private
visit to the Magna Carta at Salisbury Cathedral. Jay Z posed for pictures as he toured the
Magna Carta exhibition. He chose Salisbury Cathedral as the location for the global launch
of the artwork for his new album Magna Carta…Holy Grail. The cover design for the
album was on display in the Chapter House The cathedral houses one of the original copies
of Magna Carta which inspired Jay Z’s album with the words, “To no one will we sell, to no
one will we deny or delay, right or justice.”
1.
2.
3.
How reliable is Dr Morris’ recreation of the Magna Carta scene using Playmobil figures? [5]
Compare Sources B and C. What are the differences between the Sources and why do they differ? [10]
Imagine one of the barons (nobles) of 1215 suddenly came back to life today: what would you have to
explain to him about Magna Carta in 2015? Use Sources A, B, C, D [15]
Section Two
Choose TWO questions [30 marks each]. You should spend thirty minutes on each. Use
historical events and characters familiar to you in your answers.
1) Choose two events that changed History and explain why they did so.
2) “History repeats ... first as tragedy, then as farce.” Discuss.
3) “The achievements of women are neglected in History.” Discuss.
4) What if Harold had won the Battle of Hastings or Richard III had won the Battle of Bosworth? Is
there any point in “what if” questions? Use examples from periods familiar to you in your answer.
5) “Historical accuracy is not important.” Discuss.
6) “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” Discuss.
7) In your experience, does the teaching of History concentrate too much on wars?
Sources adapted from: Ralph V. Turner, “The Meaning of Magna Carta since 1215” History Today Volume 53 Issue 9 September 2003 - See
more at: http://www.historytoday.com/ralph-v-turner/meaning-magna-carta-1215#sthash.wEjgwKeS.dpuf. Also:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2915594/What-new-2-coin-looked-like-Expert-uses-toy-figures-King-John-really-signed-MagnaCarta.html; http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/dominicselwood/100276672/the-cult-of-magna-carta-is-historical-nonsense-no-wonder-olivercromwell-called-it-magna-farta/; http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/10547870.Jay_Z_visits_Salisbury/
THE KING’S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY
SCHOLARSHIP ENTRANCE EXAMINATION
March 2014
HISTORY
1 hour 30 minutes
[90 marks]
You should spend 30 minutes on Section One and one hour on Section Two.
Please write your name clearly on every sheet of paper used.
Section One
Source A: A modern Cartoon: Richard the Lion Heart (King of England, Duke of Normandy, etc)
conquers the island of Cyprus, 1191, on his way to the Crusade.
Note:
Limassol is a port on the
Island of Cyprus.
Source: David West and Jackie
Gaff, John Cooper (illustrator) ,
Richard the Lionheart: The Life of
a King and Crusader (Graphic
Books - Graphic Nonfiction, 2005)
Source B: Roger of Hoveden: How Richard, king of England,
seized and conquered Cyprus
Three large vessels from Richard’s fleet were driven by the aforesaid
tempest to the island of Cyprus, and, being wrecked and broken up, sank
in sight of the port of Limezum (Limassol). Isaac the Emperor of Cyprus
seized the possessions of those who were drowned, and robbed of their
money all who escaped from the shipwreck.
When news of this was brought to the king he hastened to their rescue,
he sent messengers to the Emperor of Cyprus, once, twice, and yet a
third time, making his request that his fellow pilgrims, whom the Emperor should be restored to him
together with their belongings. The Emperor made answer with proud words, refusing to surrender either
the prisoners or their belongings, and saying that he had no fear of the king of England or of his threats.
Then spoke the king to all his army, saying, “To arms, and follow me! Let me take vengeance for the
insults which this traitor bath put upon God and ourselves, in that he oppresses innocent men, whom he
refuses to surrender to us. But truly, he who rejects the just demands of one armed for the fray, resigns all
into his hands. And I trust confidently in the Lord that He, will this day give us the victory over this
Emperor and his people.”
Meanwhile the Emperor had occupied the shore in every direction with his men. Many of them were
armed, but still more had no arms at all. But the king of England and his men, as soon as they had armed
themselves, disembarked from their large ships into their boats and galleys, and came to land with a rush.
The king, accompanied by his bowmen, was first to land, the rest followed, and as soon as they reached the
shore one and all flung themselves upon the Emperor and his soldiers. The arrows fell like rain upon the
grass. After a prolonged conflict the Emperor, having lost a multitude of his men, fled, and his entire host
with him. The king of England, exulting in his great victory, pursued, and made a very great slaughter of all
who resisted, and, had not night fallen soon, he would have taken the Emperor himself that day, either alive
or dead.
Source C: The Words of Neophytus, a monk: The Misfortunes of the Land of Cyprus.
England is a country beyond Romania on the north, out of which a cloud of English with their sovereign,
embarking together on large vessels called smacks, sailed towards Jerusalem. The English king, the wretch,
lauded in Cyprus, and found it a nursing mother: had it not been so, he too perchance would have suffered
defeat. But how Cyprus was taken, this too I will briefly relate.
Isaac had ruled over Cyprus as Emperor for seven years, and not only utterly despoiled the land, and
perpetually harassed the lives of its rich men, but every day he hounded and oppressed its nobles, so that
all lived in distress, and sought how by any means they might protect themselves against him.
While things were so, the Englishman lands in Cyprus, and forthwith all ran unto him! Then the king,
abandoned by his people, gave himself also unto the hands of the English. Him the English king bound in
irons, and having seized his vast treasures, and grievously wasted the land, sailed away to Jerusalem, leaving
behind him ships to strip the country and to follow him. But Emperor Isaac of Cyprus he shut up in chains
in a castle.
1.
How reliable are the cartoons in Source A as evidence for Richard’s conquest of Cyprus? [5]
2.
Compare Sources B and C. What are the differences between the Sources and why do they differ? [10]
3.
How useful are Sources A, B, C in helping us to understand Richard’s conquest of Cyprus? [15]
Section Two
Choose TWO questions [30 marks each]. You should spend thirty minutes on each. Use
historical events and characters familiar to you in your answers.
1) Chose two events that changed History and explain why they did so.
2) “We learn from history that we do not learn from history.” Discuss.
3) “All History is the biography of great men.” Discuss.
4) What if Harold had won the battle of Hastings or Richard III had won the Battle of Bosworth? Is
there any point in “what if” questions? Use examples from periods familiar to you in your answer.
5) “History is something that happens to other people.” Discuss
6) “The past is never dead; it's not even past.” Discuss
7) In your experience, does the teaching of History concentrate too much on wars?
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