Discover the Dissolution
When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries of Britain, the religious landscape of the country changed dramatically. What can we discover?
A background to the suppression
Henry VIII's break from Rome and the creation of the Church of England set in motion a revolutionary chain of events that resulted in the closure of almost 900 religious houses, displacing 12,000 people from their religious orders. While some were allowed to remain or convert, many were given pensions to surrender their churches and many still were simply evicted with no compensation. The dissolution changed the kingdom's schooling, medical care, land ownership and powerful figures - but why did it happen, and how did it affect your local area?
Cardinal Wolsey had already begun reforming monasteries.
In 1524, Cardinal Wolsey was granted permission from the Pope to close a selection of monasteries with less than 12 members, in order to raise funds for the foundation of a college in Oxford. He would later gain further permission to do the same for a college in Ipswich. Some of the monasteries he attempted to close were saved for the time being, but many were already down to only one member or were in a state of decay. Their lands and funds were donated to the college, and later the crown when Wolsey fell from grace. Wolsey's goal in closing underused properties to gain money was successful and paved the way for Henry's plans a few years later.
The Break with Rome
By 1529, Henry's relationship with the church had become very tense. His marriage to Catherine of Aragon had failed to produce a male heir and his political position in Europe was strained. A series of failures made Henry believe a change was needed, so he sought an annulment of his marriage to allow him to marry Anne Boleyn and produce new potential heirs.
However, the Sack of Rome in 1527 had led to the Pope being effectively held captive by Catherine's nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Wolsey was unable to secure an agreement.
Wolsey was losing favour with Henry and his court and a series of failures led to his downfall and arrest for praemunire, for allegedly obeying the pope’s authority over that of the king.
"Praemunire" (pry-mew-near-ay) meant appealing to a papal court for justice, Henry considered this to be unacceptable as it went against the will of the King.
The charge against Wolsey overshadowed the whole Church structure, with questions raised over whether the clergy could be Henry's subjects if they denied him on the orders of Rome. Henry's solution was to force the church to submit to his authority and recognise Royal Supremacy over the church. Figures like Thomas Cranmer looked to historical research to prove the King had power over the church, collecting a series of documents as evidence known as 'Collectanea satis copiosa.'
In 1531, Henry charged the entire English church with praemunire. He demanded the Church pay a grant of £100,000 and recognise Henry as the Supreme Head of the Church in England and Wales. The church agreed to pay the fee over five years and Henry was granted his new title, but many of his ministers were still not happy with the church and demanded further restrictions on their powers and positions.
The Supplication of the Ordinaries and Submission of the Clergy
In 1532, Henry and his parliament accused the church of 9 misdemeanors including abuses of power, extortionate fees and nepotism. The convocation, the group of clerics in charge of the church, met to discuss these claims ultimately rejecting them and stating that reforms were already in place. They attempted to stay in Henry's good graces despite the rejection by writing their reply with humble and flattering language.
But Henry wasn't swayed. He sent three demands for the church to submit to the King:
- The church was no longer allowed to create canons, a type of priest, without the permission of the King.
- Existing canons were to be reviewed by the King's committee.
- The church could only keep its current canons with the King's permission.
This meant that the clergy would now be controlled by the King as much as the Pope. Henry soon made other restrictions, including the Statute in Restraint in Appeals in 1533 preventing anyone from attempting to appeal to the Pope's authority over the King's. This effectively removed all of the Pope's power from the kingdom, and as a result, Henry was excommunicated and cut off from the Catholic church.
Now in supreme control of the church with no one to object to his ruling on the matter, Henry was granted his annulment and allowed to marry the now pregnant Anne Boleyn. When Anne gave birth to a girl in September, Henry was sure sons and heirs would soon follow and his actions in seeking divorce were divinely blessed. His new powers gave him the right to order sweeping reforms for the church which he now saw as an asset to the crown.
Valor Ecclesiasticus
Henry decided the church would be a good source of revenue to fund his expensive reign. First he stopped the Pope and the Catholic Church taking taxes from English churches - known as first fruits and tenths - diverting these funds to the Crown.
There was no definitive list of the monasteries in England or their values, so in 1534 Henry ordered a visitation of the monasteries to discover and record the value of taxable income to ensure the crown was getting what it should receive. He asked Thomas Cromwell to appoint a series of commissioners who would travel to monasteries in their areas and create a survey of what they found. This record is called Valor Ecclesiasticus and is held in The National Archives in several volumes. It is written in Latin and records the monasteries and their holdings with a total value of each house. From this record we have a good understanding of how many religious houses there were in the country in 1534, what land they owned, what they produced and which festivals required donations. It made clear that some monasteries were very rich, whilst others were quite poor. Some houses attempted to lie and hide their worth, thinking they wouldn't have to pay as much tax - but this was about to backfire.
The following map shows the locations of each monastery closed by Henry VIII. You can use the filter buttons (click the arrow at the left of the screen) to explore or click on any site to find out more. Zoom in or use the search function to find a site near you!
You can download a copy of our dataset used for these maps here: https://arcg.is/1De0n10
Much like Domesday book, the valor entries list the income of each house from property, farming, and offerings to the church known as 'oblations.' This gives us an idea of what life was like in the church, the types of food available in different areas at the time, and how rich the society was in the areas controlled by each house.
Henry used this survey to decide which religious houses were earning less than £200 a year (this would be worth approx. £88,255 in 2017). Henry considered these houses to be 'small' with little use for the money they earned. However as the map below shows, more than half of the religious houses in the country fell into this category.
The first Act of Dissolution was the suppression of the lower houses. This meant that any house listed within Valor Ecclesiasticus as being worth less than £200 was at risk of closure. The act made it clear that the purpose of these suppressions was to reform the church and Cromwell sent his commissioners to prove the need for reform by uncovering corruption in the houses. The State Papers hold many accusations against individual houses, telling tales of misbehaviour, embezzlement and crime. The commissioners were sent to look for this behaviour as a reason for closure and would happily invent stories or exaggerate the poor state of the house in order to make sure it closed. They also had the power to save a house where they found no evidence of misdeed.
Letter from Dr Thomas Legh to Thomas Cromwell
I have taken possession of the house of Sherborne, for which I heartily thank the King and you. Whatever men may say you shall be assured of my services. You have said at diverse times that I should be your chancellor; and though you may have others of greater learning and judgment, I trust so to order myself as shall be to your profit, keeping three things in view,-fear of God, fidelity to the King, and gratitude to you.
The prior of Gisborough has resigned his house to us, which we have kept close, The cellarer and the bursar stand for it, and are assisted by Master Treasurer (of York?). They are of no literature, unfit to govern, as the house may spend 1,000 marks a year. If you have no friend of yours you wish to put in, stay till our coming, and I will provide one with all qualities fit for such a room, and "as profitable unto your mastership as any other." Mr. Layton has been with the archbishop of York, and has done as you wrote, and taken the surrender of Martyn Abbey to the King's use. I have been at Mountgrace and Hull, and find them there and in all other places ready to fulfil the King's pleasure. Layton is now at the monastery of Fountaines to perform your mind. I expect him tonight, to go through to Carnyll tomorrow, and so home to you. Richmond, 10 Feb. Signed. Thomas Legh
(Calendar entry taken from: Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII. Vol. 10: 1536)
Many smaller houses managed to survive this initial wave of suppression with special grants from the King or payments being made to ensure their survival. Those that were closed saw their members moved to other houses or expelled, some with pensions paid by the crown, others with nothing. Those who argued or rebelled were at risk of arrest for treason with the punishment of execution.
Reaction and Rebellion
While Henry, Cromwell and his commissioners set about closing the monasteries, many of those who lived and worshipped in their communities were unhappy with the King's changes to their way of life. The upheaval caused many acts of rebellion across the country, especially in those areas furthest away from the King's reach. The Lincolnshire Rising and Pilgrimage of Grace saw thousands march in protest of the closure of their monasteries and cathedrals ending in bloodshed and the execution of many of those involved.
Ultimately, most monasteries found themselves with no choice but to surrender to the king. The National Archives holds over 200 deeds of surrender, most written in Latin, which acted as a certificate of the closure of the monastery and its transfer of possession to the King. Many are signed by those who lived within the monastery and are sealed with the wax seal of the institution.
Case Study: Aylesbury Greyfriars
What impact did the Dissolution have on society?
The Reformation wasn't as simple as Protestants vs Catholics
Henry considered himself a Catholic King, even after the break from Rome. There were already many different types of Catholic, following different religious rules to live a pious life, and Henry considered his reforms along these same lines. The map below shows the rule each monastic house was following at the time of its dissolution, and which order of religion it followed within that rule. While most of these orders had houses elsewhere in the world which survived the Reformation, the Gilbertines were an order specific to England and their practices came to an end with the Dissolution.
How did the Dissolution impact men and women?
The vast majority of monastic life was male, with one in fifty men being a member of religious orders, but women were also caught up in the dissolution. Nunneries across the country were visited and closed, a particular issue for unmarried women in a patriarchal society. Those under the age of 24 were allowed to abandon their religious vows and marry, but those who were older were left with little means of supporting themselves and were forbidden to marry as their vow of celibacy was still in place. Some received a pension, but little is known about the fate of the others.
Among whom there is one poor woman called Joanne Bayley who as I am credibly informed sold all that she had for the payment of xx li which she paid to the late prior not 3 years past and is now destitute of her living and makes much lamentation and is very well beloved of the honest men of the same town of Dover. Wherefore it may please you to let me know some part of your masterships pleasure therein which I shall always endeavour myself to follow.
This map shows the location of religious houses coded by the gender of their occupants.
How did the Dissolution change health care?
The Second Act of Dissolution included a clause about the closure of Hospitals, which had been run by religious orders and cared for the sick, the elderly and the destitute. Some were saved by Royal orders while others were closed leaving little support for those who relied on their care.
The modern St John's Ambulance owes its history to the 'Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem', also known as the Knights Hospitallers (as they appear in our map below.) This was a dedicated order for the care of the sick, but other hospitals existed in other monastic houses around the country.
The impact of these closures became clear as the monarchs attempted to tackle the problem of the poor and infirm. Henry VIII reopened St Batholomew's Hospital in 1544 and St Thomas's Hospital in 1552, requiring a tax on the people of London to pay for their care. This wasn't enough to solve the problem though, leading to the first dedicated 'House of Correction' opening in Bridewell Palace in 1556. Edward VI and Elizabeth I would continue to struggle with the needs of the poor, passing Vagabond Acts and Poor Laws to attempt to control and relieve the issue.
How did the Dissolution change education?
For hundreds of years before, monasteries had been sites of learning and literacy. Priories collected and created great libraries of books, many of high value with golden illuminations and jewelled bindings. When these sites came to be dissolved the libraries were broken up and their contents often sold or destroyed. Henry sent figures like John Leland to recover the most important and valuable manuscripts for the crown, but many were sold off to private collectors and have since been lost to time.
The invention of the Printing Press had led to an increase in pamphlets and printed books making book production quicker and cheaper than ever before. This made texts more accessible financially and in turn fuelled the reformation with propaganda on both sides and bibles printed for protestant worship. As the monasteries closed, so did their schools for choristers, scholars and novices. While some were reopened in Henry's new Church of England cathedrals, education was opened up to the masses with more grammar schools and charitable organisations creating a boom in literacy with their mass produced texts.
Dissolution in your area
Discover the Dissolution is a local history research project for schools and history clubs around the country. We want you to use the information on this page to help you begin your own research project into a historical site near you. What was life like in your area during the Dissolution of the Monasteries?
When you have completed your project you can add what you have found to the map below using this form . Use your mouse to move around the map, or filter using the charts, and see the research of other schools!
Discover the Dissolution has been cited in the following academic works:
- Nick Peyton. The Dissolution of the English Monasteries: A Quantitative Investigation. Economic History Working Papers No 316. LSE, 2020 https://www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-History/Assets/Documents/WorkingPapers/Economic-History/2020/WP316.pdf
- Leander Heldring, James A. Robinson & Sebastian Vollmer. The Long-Run Impact of the Dissolution of the English Monasteries. Working Paper 21450. NBER, 2021. https://www.nber.org/papers/w21450