Dissolution Of The Monasteries Flashcards
Cromwell’s visitations
Cromwell was ordered to set a commission of six officials to inspect the monasteries.
These were called the visitations.
Findings of the visitations
Hundreds of monks were not celibate either having a mistress or affair with young boys.
Some nuns had children.
On Monastery in Yorkshire was accused with working with pirates.
Outcome of the visitation
Results of visitations were recorded in the compendium.
Wasn’t very reliable.
Inspections were too fast to be thorough.
Public responses to the visitations
Most abbeys was supported by the public.
If visitation results were true people would not support them.
Protestant ideas
Believed monasteries were useless.
The main role was to pray for the souls of the dead and to get them into heaven. But Protestants believed that you could only get into heaven by praying to God yourself.
Motivations
Cromwell is certainly of this believe he was the main driving force behind the dissolution.
However Henry wasn’t Protestant so this is unlikely to be his main reason for the dissolution.
Loyalty
Henry didn’t trust the loyalty of the monasteries.
He believed they were still loyal to the Pope in Rome rather than him despite the act of supremacy.
Reality
In reality only 18 monks were executed for refusing to take the oath of succession providing that most monks and nuns were loyal to Henry.
Money
Henry commissioned the valour Ecclesiasticus which surveyed the monist trees and found that they owned one third of English land and earned £160,000 a year in total. This was three times as much as Henry‘s crown lands.
Funding
Henry needed to defeat England from possible catholic invasion after the break from the Rome.
He couldn’t rely on Parliament to raise money for tax.
Henry could use the monasteries land to reward or bribe the nobility for their support.
First act of dissolution 1536
Closed 300 smaller monasteries with an income of under £200 a year.
Allowed for 67 ‘good’ monasteries to stay open.
Closing more monasteries
Henries need for money and the support of some monasteries for the pilgrimage of grace led him to start closing the rest in 1530.
The second act of dissolution 1539
Confirmed these closures.
By 1540 there were no monasteries left.
