Effects of the Dissolution

• Monasteries that had been centres of learning and teaching simply disappeared; their libraries were broken up.
• The tradition of churchmen serving as government ministers came to and end.
• Monks and nuns thrown out of their houses. Some abandoned their religious calling; some find employment in schools or chantries.
• The biggest losers were the ordinary people of England. They had nowhere to go when times were hard.#
• Many were forced to become vagrants and wander from town to town looking for work.
• The elderly were most badly affected; they had often relied on monasteries for support.
• The first proposals for the Poor Law were put forward by Cromwell in 1536.
• Cromwell suggested to Parliament that the able-bodied should be put to work building and repairing roads.
• The needy and infirm should be looked after by charity or the collection of local taxes.
• In the north of England, the dissolutions resulted in the Pilgrimage of Grace.