Summer exams - dissolution of the monasteries

Question 1

Positive impacts of the dissolution of the monasteries ( The crown)

Answer 1

• the crown itself gained because it aquired the former monastic lands, worth £1.3 million
• money enabled the king to fund new costal defences and build new warships
• helped king prepare fro french invasion

Question 2

What did the crown do with the money from the dissolution

Answer 2

1) 2/3rds of monastic lands were sold off to pay for Henry’s wars, raising about £800,000 for the king
2) the rest was sold off by the end of the tudor period

Question 3

who else benefitted from the dissolution (rich)

Answer 3

• nobility and gentry (those who bought the land)
• king was able to earn additional money by selling them to the rising elite
• also cultivated loyalty among the nobility by granting these properties who had proven their faithfulness through years of the refromation

Question 4

examples of people beneiftting from the dissolution

Answer 4

• the Russel family in the south-west and bedforshire
• used land to establish themselves as important land owners, turning fromer monastry of woburn Abbey into their family home

Question 5

Who else benfitted from the dissolution (former workers)

Answer 5

• abots and priors who did not resist the dissolution were either given pensions or found another role within the church as a bishop or clergy
• abbot of Romsey for example, recieved a pension of £266 a year

Question 6

What did Cromwell do to manage the kings funds after the dissolution

Answer 6

• cromwell even set up a special financial office, the court of Augmentations, to deal with lands, money and treasure that were taken from the monasteries

Question 7

counter argument agsinst crown

Answer 7

• however could be argued that this was more beneficial to the king and to the rising elite
• for the majority of tudor sociey would not have benefitted and in fact made it worse
• however, king still is head of the country. If he is financially stable then its good. Helped aginst france, threat to whole country and feeling of more security.

Question 8

negative impacts of the dissolution of monasteries, poverty (nuns and monks)

Answer 8

• about 7,000 ex-monks and nuns had to fnid a new life and way to support themselves after the dissolution, lost their jobs, fear of becoming vagrants
• nuns and friars recieved a smaller pension than monks, who got around £5 a year

Question 9

why were former nuns particularly badly hit

Answer 9

• henry insisted that they were not to break their vow of chacity, meaning they could not get married
• without a husband, it was difficult to make a living

Question 10

negative impacts of the dissolution of monasteries, poverty (POOR)

Answer 10

• removed the safety net provided by the monasteries, increased harship for those who relied on them
• monaseries were a traditional source of support and alms for the poor, unemployement rose and more ppl fell into poverty with little or no support on land to help
• people often had to resort to begging in order to feed themselves

Question 11

what did the monasteries use to provide for the poor

Answer 11

• supported poor, monks and nuns would give their leftover food to the poor and provided hospitals to care for the sick

Question 12

negative impacts of the dissolution of monasteries, poverty (ill and weak)

Answer 12

• also destroyed sanctuaries for the ill or weak

Question 13

Monasteries and POG

Answer 13

• the dissokuton was felt most in the poorest areas, particualry in the north where the Pog began as a protest to the dissolution of the smaller monasteries
• october 13th 1536, 40,000 people led by Robert Aske to convince Henry to stop attacks on the churches and moasteries

Question 14

Counter argument dissoltion and poverty (jobs)

Answer 14

• the rise of grammar schools provided a place of employment for former monks who had lived in religious hosues
• six of the monasteries were changed into catherdrals with completley new dioceses, including canterbury, winchester, ely and druham,
• this created new chapters and secular orders that relgious men could join as an alternative to monstic life

Question 15

counter argument against dissolution (pog)

Answer 15

additionally, the pog was also caused by bad harvests of 1535 and rumours of sheep tax. Also wanted to retsore papal authority in engalnd

despite this, not enough houses, still did contribute, poor.

Question 16

monasries education before dissolution

Answer 16

• monsteries had been sources of learning and education - provided religious insturction and educational opporutnitirs for children, centres of learning with large librbaries filled with books
• their libraries were full of religious books but also texts about every topic, from science and medicinee to poetry and sermons
• in a period where there were only 2 universities in the entire kingdom (Oxford and camberidge) relgigious houses were important places for education and knowledge about the wider world

Question 17

education counter

Answer 17

• however some of the religious houses were refounded as grammar schools
• the dissolution of the monasteries bougth education from a thing provided mainly by the church to one which expanded on new humansit ideas such as Greek, arithmetic, rhetoric nd music
• provided education for boys in local community, based on the new educational values arriving from Europe
• wolsey’s college at oxford, cardinal college was refounded by the king as christ church college, whilst kng’s hall camberidge became trinity college
• the cuort of augmentations, estbalished in 1536, administered the closure of these houses and oversaw the conversion of some of the religious houses into parish churches and schools

Question 18

education counter counter

Answer 18

• however these high-profile foundations did not disguise the fact that henry had promised to fill the gap left by monasteries, but most of these promises were broken because the money was needed to fund his wars against france and sctoland
• many former monastic lands were left to decay, schemes to refund preachers and schools wre dropped
• this oly influenced important gentry, merchants and yeomen
• grammar school boom came more under ed

Question 19

education

Answer 19

because many schools were attached to monasteries, they were lost when the monasteries were destroyed unless they were given special exemption by the crown

• it was left to private induviudlas to refound these or start new ones later in the tudor peiod, such as Robert Dudley.
• the destruction on monastic libraries was a destruciotn of english culture
• loss of knowelegde
• books in libraries were taken out, some were destroyed, some taken into private collections

Question 20

dissolution of the monasteries

Answer 20

the dissolution of lesser monasteries act - 1535

authorised crown to close small religous houses with an income of less than £200 a year

Question 21

when were other monasteries dissolved

Answer 21

• after the pog
• all the religious houses had to be surrednered
• around 625 reliious houses existed beginning of henry’s reign, by april 1540, none left