Dissolution of the Monastaries 1535-1541

RELIGIOUS REASONS

• Many believed she was a witch
• Henry viewed Anne as an 'evil omen'
• accused of:
  • engaging in elicit sexual acts whith 5 other men including her own brother
  • afflicting Henry with impotence
  • conspired to kill both Mary Tudor and Henry FitzRoy
• had a deformed baby --> said to be result of gross sexual conduct
• sources claim candidates chosen to be accused of adultery alongside Anne were 'Libertines' = a faction henry very much disliked

POLITICAL REASONS (FACTIONS)

• Anne = carefully plotted against
• Jane Seymour deliberately teased the king --> poisoned his mind against Anne; Married just ten days after Ann'es execution
• Jane kept the king occupied whilst Cromwell provided the evidence against anne

GOSSIP/BAD LUCK

• Countess of Worcester was pregnant with illegitimate child --> brother infuriated = stated 'Anne is worse'; brother then tells 2 friendsFitzWilliam and Cromwell who then told the King

MONASTARIES = generic term used to describe a place where you would find an order of monks/nuns i.e convents, friary etc.

MOTIVES

• Financial --> said to be the main factor influencing the kings decision
• Religious --> said to be the least important influencing the king
• Political
• Personal

* all factors are interlinked

* In theory if this went well Henry would never need to go to parliament for taxes ever again. The more money he had, the more power he gained

ORDINARY EXPENDITURE

• 1530'S --> crown = poor; spent money on wars with france
• Monarch was expected to live of his own --> inflation affected revenue
• Act for first fruits and tenths (1534) brought Henry £4000
  •  
    • made up of revenue from bishoprics and forcing clergy to pay one tenth of their income to the crown on an annual basis
• 1534 idea of taking church land had already been thought of and abandoned
• Cromwell suggested evaluatiion of the church so Henry could tax them realistically
• put together the document of 'valor Ecclesiastiais' listing all property owned by the church in England
• showed annual income approx £136,00
• could make significant differences in increasing his prestige especially amongst other european monarch i.e Francis I

EXTRAORDINARY EXPENDITURE

• Henry saw no conflict between the break with Rome and remaining a catholic
• Henry retained antipapalist views in order to increase his power as monarch
• henry overestimated the threat from abroad
  • no doubt Pope would ask Charles V and Francis I to mount a military campaign against England
  • attack delayed due to continuation of disputes between Habsburgs and Valois
• Henry had the threat of excommunication and a country could be lay under interdict = no burias, mass, christenings --> ordinaries may disobey king
• Money aqquired from an attack on religious houses could be used to construct necessary defences from crusades
• Whilst being militarily weak, Henry was keen to maintain the state of isolated neutrality from what was happening in main land Europe
• Henry's ambitions were to attack, France, regaining his claim to the territory --> money gained from monastaries could be used for war with fr.
• Henry was commited to the idea that a monarch proved his worth on the battlefield

CORRUPTION OF MONASTARIES

• attack on monastaries = attack on good works as a means of salvation
• catholics believed they were douing good by giving to the church
• injunctions drawn up by Cromwell in Henry's name (1536) intended  to remove all superstition forbidding monks to worship icons
• strict instructions given against pilgrimages and praying to saints
• people should not offer candles/money to images/relics of saints; only God emphasising restoration of healthand grant forgiveness (idoltary)
• 1538 Becketts shrine destroyed by order of government = pilgrim centre
• attack on monastaries = attack on nuns/ monks standards
• Eton: by 16th cent. lay people had no respect for monks because of poor behaviour/ disrespect for vows
  • evidence = provided by those who conducted visitations i.e Layton/ Tregonwell suggested those who lived in religious houses were greedy / lazy/ sexualised
• Recent historians challenge this : inspections = too short, evidence fabricated, nuns could have had children before they took their vows, retiring to a nunnery to escape marriage

• large % of house of lords belonged to the the church
  • made up of nobles, bishops and abbots
• disolving the monastaries = need to break with rome
• dissolving monastaries would reduce the religious influence withing the House of lords as more power was handed over to the nobles
• Henry forced people in monastaries to swear oath whereby they recognised him as supreme head of the church in England rather than the Pope
• Monastaries had HQ's in foreign countries and had strong ties with the pope
  • taking orders from foreign power = potential riva

• from Henrys point of view, family and securing the Rudor dynasty was the most important
• needed nobility to accept whoever he left to succeed him
• Henry closed monastaries henry would have patronage  he could then give to people to gain their support
• nobles preffered Henry as the head of the church --> did not like the wealth of the monastaries
• People were keen to get their hands on church property
• Cromwell  was trying to keep some of this land for the crown but it was impossible to take care of it all
• Nobility & Gentry saw profit in this

• Abbot of Rievaulx
• Cisterian monk --> focussed on primative monasticism
• intended to uphold rules of St Bernaduct;emphasis on manual work, prayer and praise
• elected to abbacy for Rievaulx in 1533
• former abbot = investigated by Royal Commisionerson allegations of misconduct --> resigned
• benefited from relaxations
• enjoyed aristrocratic lifestyle
• retired to land previously owned by abbey
• recieved handsome pension

• dissolutions led to the appointment of Cromwell as Vicegerant to the King
  • responsible for control of the church
• introduced programme of visitations of monastaries in 153
  • similar to checking religious houses under church
  • follwed by 'Valor Ecclesiastias which listed all property owned by church
• Marcch 1536 = act passed by parliament for dissolution of the smaller monastaries
• 300 religious houses = deemed to have income less than £2000 per year
• 1536 at not preseted as an attack on monastaries as members of religious houses to be disolved were offered oppurtunity to transfer
• act gave king right to exept those he deemed fit 
  • 67/300 exempted --> probably through bribe
• was important to stop monastaries movable wealth out of the country
• commissioners actedd quickly --> Innates expelled and goods siezed to the tower of london

• led to uprisings i.e lancashire and pilgrimage of grace
  • Cromwell & Henry reluctant to take further actions
• demand for restoration lead to henry restoring a select few
• once suh uprisings were defeated they were punished sufficiently
• abbots of houses involved declared to be traitors
  • acts of attainder brought in
  • could be executed and property confiscated
• 1540 all monastaries dissolved
• final assault achieved through combination of persuasion, bribery, bullying and an act of parliament
  • 1539= act of parliament legalised voluntary surrender
  • not all surrendered--> accused of treason
  • 4 years = 800 religious houses closed
  • lay brothers forced to find work
  • nuns thrown back to family

• behind wanting to make Henry ' a man of his own'
• servant of Henry VIII --> power limited as he had to follow kings orders
• seemed to follow Wolseys footsteps --> limited comparisons
  • Wolsey dissolved 29 small monastaries, set up educational institutions
• Cromwell closed monastaries for 3 main reasons:
  • raise money for the king
  • gain support from the nobility
  • destroy the supersticious approach to religion and unnaceptable practices
• skilled administator, organising church and break with rome
• very much in charge of dissolutions --> planned in advance/ ad hoc
• Cromwell was testing for an attack then larger dissolutions would take place
• court of augmentations set up to deal with property matters
• saw to it justices of peace kept him informed of dissidents
  • 65 executed for opposing change
• dissolutions = irrevocable --> nothing more than a political move to gain money for attacks on france

• Act of dissolutions required commisioners to inspect monastaries
• caused problems as they were challenging institutions which valued for religious/socioeconomic roles
• Niholas Metton led the uprising encouraged core of 20+  in order to sieze the rep of the Bishop of Lincoln and royal commisioners in the area
• reported crowd of 3000 advanced from Louth
• gathered support from Horncastle --> 10000 marched to lincoln
• 4th oct = attacked leading official & murdered him
• symbolic = divided clothes amongst crowd
• rebellion regarded as treasonable --> Royal army dispatched
• Gentry decided to sue for pardonand encouraged people to dispense
• great reluctance to follow this advice and serious unrest for 12 days
• Some of those involved placed banner showing 5 wounds of christ
• different groups had different motives
  • ordinaries : afraid crown would take the treasures of churches, worried about jos and land rentals
  • gentry : predominantly politial and religious concerns

• Led by Robert Aske = lawyer , capable of compromise
• grew in pockets with 4 main captains = Charity, Poverty, Faith & Pity
• peacefully sieged castles i.e Lord Darcy ceded Pontefract castle
• had majority of north under control = 30,000 rebels
• did not criticise the king
• governnment underestimated the scale of uprising
• Duke of Norfolk sent to negotiate with rebels --> agreement was clear
• Norfolk played for time = persuaded Henry of the rightness of the demands
• 6th december = bargain struck at doncaster whilst parliament to discuss demands
• agreed whilst parliament met abbeys would continue to stand, dissolutions suspended
• Aske convinced rebels of the sincerity of promises
• Aske had been invited to court to discuss petition further
• pilgrims could return home confident concerns will be dealt with

• people are still deeply upset by the break with rome
• both rebellions were the result of recent changes to religion
• wanted rid of protestant reformers i.e Boleyn, Cranmer etc
• wanted monastaries restored
• evidence of motives found in use of religious symbolism
• Aske suggested economic importance of abbeys
• tried to use things which would work against Henry
• important part of popular culture i.e praying for the dead

• against the actions of Henrys advisors
  • responsible for the break with rome, dissolutions and legislation
• 1536 = some historans believed the aragonese faction were behind this i.e against divorce
• focussed on low politics represeted by yeomen an high politics of nobility/court
• duty of nobility was to advise king when they felt he had made any bad decisions from bad advice and prevent commoners uprising
• 1536 = supporters of the king might wish to portray the yeoman as having beliefs of the country --> see themselves as caring and honest government with clear sense of right/wrong
• nobility/gentry and yeomen would argue that they were acting in the kings interest
• gentry and nobility stated when the commoners rose spontaneously that it was they who took control of the situation

• despite promises made, nothing happened
  • Henry had no intention on fulfilling wishes
  • came to realise they had been fooled
• considerable discussion over how far royal supremacy had been established
• new leader emerged = Bigod
  • decided to seize scarborough --> only beverly held for a short period of time
  • fled to cumberland = captured
• small no. of incidents of unrest were reported across yorkshire
• 16th feb = mustering of the commons in eskdale but gentry turned on them
• Henry persued systematic policy of punishmentand sent Norfolk north
• 144 executions took place including Aske, Bigod, Husse, Darcy
• no. of vicious reprisals i.e burninng wives at stake of gentry on fringe of the rebellion
• clearest evidence of Henry's fear for his government was the execution of Thomas Miller who was instrumental in securing negotiations with pilgrims in doncaster

• Henry made no. of leaders of Pilgrimages such as Baves and Elleker parts of the council in the north
• promise to restore monastaries ignored and failed
• Hery excommunicated by pope
• 6 articles was published = clear henry saw the country as catholic
• statute of wills passed in 1540 more firmly recognised rights of landowners to dispute property
• 1540 = Cromwell removed from power
• 1543 = Mary restored to 2nd in place for succession

• abbeys of England & Wales amongst greatest land owners and institutions
• sources of charity and medical care = hospitals lost
• vagrancy and sturdy beggars became a cause for concern
• limited sources of relief foor poor
• partial sollution later established through elizabetgab poor law
• eve of reformation = monastaries owned 2,000,000 acres of land
• transfer of power for those who purchased property  --> owned by king
• passed on to nobility/gentry established families allowed them rights to their land
• brought end to masses said for souls and making children monks/nuns

• loss of monastary libraries i.e worcester priory had 600 books - only 6 survived
  • some books destroyed for precious binding, others sold/burned
• books were irreplacable
  • many of the anglo saxons manuscripts were lost
• precious possesions taken away and sold by court of augmentations
• Henry did invest some wealth into education
  • grammar schools set up in canterbury
  • universities/colleges rebranded
• Sinods may not have happened as a result of monastaries being dissolved

• dissolution of the monastaries represented final break from formal links with the continental religion and catholic church
• 8000 extra priests = addressed issues of illiterate clergy
• reorganisation of the church
• 1540 = 6 new bishoprics created i.e oxford
  • lead to changes in parliament
  • good because some bishoprics had became too big
• Bishops = handpicked, supported by king = more support in the house of lords

• Economic problems = serious as they made life harder
• enclosure land = reason to take action --> land owner would fence off common land which means they had no access to wood or space to graze their annimals leading to hardship
• evidence found when enclosure ocured in settle in 1535 it appeared in the articles for rebels demands
• those who rented land found rent increasing
• Henry wanted to retrieve land --> feudal system = land owners not happy
• Henry wanted Gentry to pay inheritance to get land