religion

• in the early 16th century there were around 825 religious houses, 500 being monasteries. many owned land and labourers.
• by 1540 all religious houses had closed, affecting local community and economy negatively on top of religion
• causes of the dissolution of the monasteries

  they acted as a vestige of papal wealth and power. although clergyman had swear an oath recognising henry as supreme head of the church, they were still potential centres of revolt
• causes of the dissolution of the monasteries

  henry was bankrupt, they were a solution since he could sell monastic land
• causes of the dissolution of the monasteries

  accusations of corruption, Cromwell carried out a survey in 1535 during which he encouraged the commissioners to look for the most damaging evidence against each religious house including rumors, meaning the corruption was likely exaggeration.
• causes of the dissolution of the monasteries

  monasteries were very wealthy, in 1535 cromwell commissioned the Valor Ecclesiasticus which surveyed the property value of the smaller monasteries which revealed they could double the crown's annual income. henry needed to finance his aggressive foreign policy
• causes of the dissolution of the monasteries

  seizing monastic lands also offered the crown land to distribute for patronage
• causes of the dissolution of the monasteries

  the primary role of monastaries was to pray for salvation of souls was not inkeeping with the new protestant theology of individual faith in god so they were outdated
• causes of the dissolution of the monasteries 


  monastaries were no longer the medieval place of community, charity and sanctuary they had been. the clergy declined, remaining ones got lazier- taking on servants
• process of the dissolution of the monasteries

  1534 - act of first fruits and tenths, henry taxed church and act of supremacy which secured the separation from rome
• process of the dissolution of the monasteries

  1535 - valor ecclesiasticus and corruption survey
• process of the dissolution of the monasteries

  1536 - Act for the dissolution of the smaller monasteries: closed all religious houses with land valued under £200 per year. commissioners were sent out to supervise the closures
• process of the dissolution of the monasteries

  1537 and 1538 closures continued, some religious houses bribed officials to overlook them. Carthusian monks opposed the closures are were executed
• process of the dissolution of the monasteries

  1539 - Act for the dissolution of larger monastaries- all religious houses except chantries
• process of the dissolution of the monasteries

  1540 - court of augmentations was established to handle income from dissolved monasteries
• effects of the dissolution of the monasteries 


  traditions and history were destroyed and pillaged
• effects of the dissolution of the monasteries

  king and nobility benefited- gaining wealth, land even raw materials like lead ransacked from monastery roofs for foreign policy and patronage but was sold off rapidly after the fall of cromwell and did little to help crown finance long term. which meant the crown lost control of the lands and the taxes that came along with them. it was bought by the nobility and gentry, mostly previous land owners
• effects of the dissolution of the monasteries 


  protestants benefitted as the closure of the religious houses which were places of catholic ritual which dealt a blow to the possible return of catholicism
• effects of the dissolution of the monasteries

  the inhabitants of monasteries and local communities suffered. monks and nuns lost work, though most recieved compensation and 1/5 monks remained within the clergy. communities suffered as monastaries offered local services that werent necesarily replaced like education, healthcare, charity and festivals
• renaissance ideas

  cultural and intellectual movement which began in Italy that revived interest in classical (ancient greek and roman) ideas and art which began to flourish in english society during this reign among the social elite partly because of the king encouraging thinkers like Thomas More and Desiderius Erasmus
• renaissance ideas how they influenced

  knowledge of classical learning increases in the elites; school became more influenced by humaninst approaches to education; the crown needed well educated diplomats who could communicate with other countries in a fashionable/trendy way
• reform of the church

  1532 to 1540 cromwell and henry reformed the church: england withdrew from the papacy, established the king as the supreme head of the church; dissolved monastaries and began to alter church doctrine and practices
• weaknesses of the church- corrupt

  • pluralism- receiving profits from multiple religious posts
  • simony- purchase of church office
  • non residence- receiving profit from a post without being present performing the duties associated with it
  • Wolsey was an example of a corrupt clergyman showing how the crown used church office as patronage for clergy crown officials
• anticlericalism

  opposition to the political and social importance of the clergy
• Desire for church reform from people like crumb who objected to the influence and power of canon law and wanted to bring the church within state jurisdiction
• Lollard movement

  • Originated with John Wycliffe
  • Focused on personal piety and following scripture
  • Rejected Catholic tradition like saints and relics
• Clerical misconduct like the case of Richard Hunne who refused to pay the mortuary fee so the church imprisoned, tortured and killed him and then dressed up the killing as a suicide
• Simon Fish' Supplication of the Beggars in 1529


  • A written attack against the church
• decline of monasticism

  there was already a precedent for closing religious houses, wolsey dissolved 20 in the 1520s to pay for the cardinal college, monasticism was a relic of a bygone age post reform, the ease of cromwells dissolution only demonstrating it further
• evidence of early english protestantism

  little evidence of a substantial movement towards protestantism post Martin Luther's 1517 attack on the church but protestantism had reached englasnd by the 1530s through eastern ports, not northwest ones since they traded with catholic countries
• the kings great matter encouraged criticism of the church and pope and allowed for reformist and protestant ideas to spread through people like anne bolyne thomas cromwell and thomas cranmer the archbishop of cantenbury
• anne bolyne showed henry william tyndale's english bible and protected protestant heretics
• jane seymours family also had protestant sympathies
• opposition to religious change

  it was unclear where mattters were heading ,even the act of supremacy was assumed to be temporary by many, religious conservatives essentially didnt know it was happening until it was too late
• resistance to religious change at court- Thomas More

  • More was the highest profile opponent of the royal divorce and supremacy. he had replaced wolsey as chancellor after 1529 but fell out of royal favour for being against henrys second marriage to anne bolyne.
  • he refused to swear the oath accepting Mary being made illegitimate by the 1534 succession act so was executed for treason
• resistance to religious change at court- Aragonese

  • before 1534 the opposition came mostly from catherine sympathisers, the aragonese faction led by Henry Courtenay, Lord Darcy and Lord Husey who later joined the Pilgrimage of Grace. they were largely silenced by AB and Cromwell's growing influence
• resistance to religious change within the clergy

  • Bishop John Fisher believed the divorce was wrong and refused to swear the oath accepting it, after being made a cardinal he was executed for high treason
  • Nun Elizabeth Barton claimed to have visions of the divorce leading to disaster, tried to contact More and Courtenay about it which seemed like the beginings of a plot so was executed after admitting the visions were false
  • Monastic orders like the Cathusian order in london refused the divorce, 18 of which were executed
• reasons for lack of opposition to reformation

  • fear - reformation was the will of the crown and going against it would be treason
  • thought it was temporary
  • self interest - clergy got better career prospeccts and laypeole got their hands on seized monastic land
  • some welcomed protestantism
  • they didnt notice the changes since mass was still the same
  • by the 1530s it was not clear the changes would result in protestantism
• government methods for suppressing opposition

  • treason act meant you could be executed for speech alone
  • cromwell ordered bishops to take action against opposing clergymen using injunctions (written religious orders directly to the clergy)
  • printed propaganda could be used to get the message across to illiterate people through the printing press
  • henrys violence towards opposition, like him being personally involved in the burning of protestant heretics like john lambert
  • oaths used as a test of an individuals religious and political commitment, More was executed for not taking one
• church by the end of the reign

  • six articles act 1539 brought end to protestant reforming under him, catholic beliefs like transubstantiation, seven sacriments and celibate priests reintroduced
  • fall of cromwell and rise of the conservative faction suggested a shift back to catholicism in court
  • protestant from 1540-47 were persecuted but some like Archbishop of cantenbury thomas cranmer and katherine parr remained in power
  • katherine encouraged edward and elizabeth to have protestant educations
  • henry needed bishops who preached the popes doctrine