Impact of the Dissolution of the Monasteries (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes

Impact of the Dissolution of the Monasteries

Context and background

By the early 16th century, England and Wales contained at least 825 religious houses. Over 500 of these were monasteries, with the remainder comprising nunneries and friaries. These institutions owned substantial land, employed numerous labourers, and provided livelihoods for villagers in their vicinity. By 1540, all had been closed, producing profound consequences for English society, the economy, and religious practice. The closure demonstrated the extent to which both monarch and Parliament could exercise their newly declared powers through the legislation of the 1530s.

Nevertheless, monasteries fulfilled important functions in local life, serving as:

• Places of shelter and sanctuary for travellers
• Sources of medicine and food for those in need
• Centres of education for the wealthy

By the 16th century, monasteries had lost much of their earlier prestige. The number of regular clergy had declined to approximately 10,000, and some monasteries housed fewer than a dozen monks. Originally, men and women who had dedicated themselves to prayer lived simple lives, but over time they had acquired servants to manage the daily running of their houses and had accumulated luxuries by spending money received from renting out portions of their land. This decline provided Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell with their first, though not their most compelling, justification for closing the monasteries.

Causes of the dissolution

Once Henry was legally acknowledged as head of the Church in England, questions about accompanying reform of Church institutions required attention. High on the list of targets stood the 825 monasteries, convents, and other religious houses.

Official justifications

As head of the Church, the monarch could order inspections of any religious establishments. Cromwell commissioned a survey in 1535, which discovered that corruption and abuses were allegedly common throughout smaller monasteries across England and Wales. The survey gave Henry the excuse he needed to close them.

Financial motivations

Monasteries were extremely wealthy institutions. In 1535, Cromwell commissioned a survey of the property and value of smaller monasteries, known as the Valor Ecclesiasticus (meaning 'Value of the Church'). This survey revealed that these monasteries had the potential to double the Crown's annual income. At a time when Henry needed money to further his ambitions abroad, seizing the assets of the monasteries presented an extremely tempting prospect.

Seizure of monastic lands would also give the Crown additional property to distribute as a way of buying support from the nobility and gentry during a difficult period.

Political considerations

Monasteries were permanent reminders of the Catholic Church. Although monks and nuns had been forced to swear an oath recognising Henry as head of the Church, they remained potential centres of resistance to royal supremacy. The opposition of Carthusian monks to the dissolution of their establishments led to their execution on Henry's orders (see evidence of resistance in the Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536).

Theological reasons

The primary role of monasteries – to pray for the salvation of souls – was incompatible with the new Protestant theology of individual faith in God. For those critics of the Church who desired genuine reform along Protestant lines, the monasteries appeared outdated and irrelevant.

The process of dissolution (1534–1540)

Cromwell implemented a systematic three-stage strategy for eliminating the country's monastic traditions. First, he gathered evidence to demonstrate that religious houses were unfit to continue. Second, he began to dissolve smaller monasteries. Finally, he moved to abolish the remainder.

Timeline of dissolution

Date	Cromwell's actions
1534	Act of First Fruits and Tenths allowed Henry to tax the Church. These were taxes previously paid to the Pope when a person was appointed (first fruits) and then one-tenth of their income every year. Act of Supremacy gave Henry the power to supervise and reform all religious establishments in England.
1535	Cromwell sent out commissioners to survey the value of monastic lands and properties and to produce a report, the Valor Ecclesiasticus. Cromwell sent out a second set of commissioners to investigate the moral and spiritual standards in the monasteries.
1536	Based on his commissioners' findings, Parliament passed the Act for the Dissolution of the Smaller Monasteries, which closed all religious houses with lands valued at under £200 per year. New commissioners were sent out to supervise the closures (provoking rebellion in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire).
1537–38	Closures continued, although some religious houses bribed officials to overlook them temporarily. The opposition of Carthusian monks to the dissolution of their establishments led to their execution on Henry's orders.
1539	Parliament passed the Act for the Dissolution of the Larger Monasteries, extending the closures to all religious houses except chantries (small, private chapels where prayers were said for the souls of the dead).
1540	The Court of Augmentations was established, with Richard Rich as Chancellor, to handle the property and income from the dissolved monasteries.

Economic impact

Transfer of wealth to the Crown

The main beneficiaries of the dissolution were the monarch and the nobility. Henry's seizure of the lands and assets of the monasteries brought him considerable wealth. It has been estimated that the total value of the dissolution amounted to approximately ten per cent of the entire wealth of the kingdom, and this money came to Henry in one substantial transfer during the 1530s.

For the next half century the Crown used these funds to finance the ambitious foreign policy which Henry had envisaged at the start of his reign. In the longer term, however, the dissolution did little to help the monarchy's financial independence. As the cost of wars continued and escalated (due to greater commitments and rising inflation), Henry and his successors sold off monastic lands to raise money.

Sale of monastic lands

The land was usually sold at full market value; very little was given to courtiers as rewards or favours. It was after the fall of Cromwell that land was sold off rapidly in the last years of Henry's reign. More than half of the monastic lands were sold off in the years 1543–47. In this way, the Crown lost control of these lands and the possibility of collecting taxes from them in the future.

Who purchased the lands?

Historians continue debating who bought the land from the Crown. This remains a difficult question to answer because there is no clear national pattern. However, much of the property was purchased either by:

• Members of the nobility to strengthen their existing regional holdings
• The lesser gentry as a way of establishing their presence in a local community

For some historians, the growing visibility of the gentry class is the most important consequence of the dissolution of the monasteries, as it illustrates an important change in society from the traditional ruling elite to a more widely-based ruling class. Protestants also benefited from the dissolution. For them, the closure of these strongholds of Catholic ritual dealt a substantial blow to the possibility of a return to Catholicism in England.

Social impact

Impact on monastic residents

Monks and nuns lost their work and their accommodation, although most received compensation in the form of pensions or one-off payments. One monk was still receiving a small annual pension until he died in 1607. Approximately one-fifth of ex-monks managed to secure other paid positions within the Church to supplement their pensions. Unfortunately, the government was least generous to the friars and nuns who came from the poorest establishments.

Despite these arrangements, historians have generally refused to link the dissolution to a rise in poverty, because the number affected in each local community was not substantial and because there were other opportunities within the Church or in the homes of wealthy Catholic families for these people to take up.

Impact on local communities

The main losers, beyond the monasteries' inhabitants, were the local communities around them. For all their possible failings, monasteries did offer services to people living nearby which were not entirely taken over by other institutions after they closed.

Historians use words such as 'vandalism' and 'plundering' to describe the methods used, because religious houses had their valuables confiscated and melted down (whatever their worth as religious artefacts), including the lead from their roofs. Many of the impressive monastic buildings that had been a feature of the medieval landscape fell into disrepair and became crumbling ruins, while others were sold off to become houses for the wealthy.

Cultural and educational impact

Destruction of buildings and artefacts

Within the space of five years, Cromwell had ended a tradition stretching back over five centuries. The physical destruction was substantial. Religious valuables were confiscated and melted down regardless of their worth as religious artefacts. Many impressive monastic buildings fell into disrepair and became crumbling ruins, while others were sold off to become houses for the wealthy.

Impact on learning

Some historians point in particular to the effect of the dissolution on learning. Monasteries were places where substantial libraries of books had been built up over generations and where sons and daughters of well-off families might receive part of their education. Evidence suggests that the libraries were broken up, as books were taken by private collectors or simply burned.

On the other hand, some new cathedrals were founded from what had been religious institutions, for example, Peterborough Cathedral. In many other places the church within the monastery was retained as the local place of worship.

Some schools that had been attached to monastic institutions re-opened. There are a few Henry VIII schools as a result. However, many of the schools that exist in England are, in fact, re-foundations from earlier places of learning under the direction of monks.

Evidence of resistance and opposing views

Political and religious impact

The dissolution strengthened royal power and demonstrated the extent of Henry's control over the Church in England. Monasteries, as permanent reminders of the Catholic Church and potential centres of resistance, were eliminated. Their closure removed institutions that, despite the forced oath of loyalty, could have become focal points for opposition to the royal supremacy.

For Protestant reformers, the dissolution represented a major victory. The closure of these institutions, dedicated to practices incompatible with Protestant theology, dealt a substantial blow to the possibility of Catholic restoration in England.