Henry VIII dissolved the remaining monasteries of England and Wales between 1536-1540. The dissolution began with smaller monasteries with an annual income of under two hundred pounds, but by 1539 all monasteries were in process of liquidation. The crown argued that the monasteries were playing a decreasing role in religious life, and that they were often rife with corruption. True as this may have been, Henry was aware of the financial benefits to be accrued by absorbing the land and assets of the monasteries into the crown purse, following a full-scale audit in 1535 of ecclesiastical wealth, the Valor Ecclesiasticus. Although there was little revolt amongst the disbanded monks and ecclesiastics, the act was unpopular with the public …
127 words
Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Dissolution of the Monasteries". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 June 2005 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=285, accessed 23 November 2024.]
