Exploring Medieval Monasteries, part 19

Hello. Last time we looked at how monastic standards in some institutions had declined, and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who acted as Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII, shut down several, with papal backing and acknowledgement that religious life in them had decayed. Wolsey used the money raised from disposal of the property for charitable purposes, such as founding schools, and the friars, the monks, the nuns involved, were absorbed into other houses of the same order. The man who did the legal work for Wolsey was Thomas Cromwell, the man who will go on to organise the dissolution proper. When Henry VIII broke with the Church of Rome, there were 848 religious houses in England and Wales, some poor, many wealthy. Collectively they control over 2 million acres, around 16% of the countryside. And here we have a spendthrift king who is strapped for cash. After the Act of Supremacy in 1531, all the taxes that had traditionally been paid by clerics to the pope are now paid to the crown, and a new annual tax of 10% was imposed on income from church lands and offices. In January 1535, commissions were appointed to conduct a survey in order to assess the new tax. It was known as the Vala Ecclesiasticus, and all clergymen, all parish priests, the heads of monasteries were required to give sworn testimony before the commissioners, mostly local gentry, to give details of the lands that they owned and the income that they earned. The commissioners were authorised to examine all documents and have access to account statements. They want a full financial statement. They were asked to report to the Exchequer by the end of May. Speed was seen as important. There was concern that if there was a delay, then moveable assets might disappear. It was all written up in 22 volumes. They're in the National Archives in Kew, written in Latin. Two of the volumes were illuminated, probably made for King Henry's personal use. This is a title page of one of them. Were the findings of the Vala Ecclesiasticus accurate? The commissioners are potentially in a position to benefit if their local monasteries are dissolved, and they would be keen to find favour with Cromwell and with Henry. But where the figures can be checked, perhaps against later dissolution records, they're shown to be broadly accurate, and if anything, on the low side, by about 15%. There would be difficulty in estimating values of some assets. If we think about standing woodland that's being managed for timber for building, then it's a long-term investment. It looks as though the commissioners were conservative and gave the monasteries the benefit of the doubt. And they're working under pressure, of course. Only in a very few instances is a discrepancy large enough to suggest deliberate fraud. The Vala Ecclesiasticus, important historical document, hugely important at the time. It's the first time the government has a real grasp of the wealth of the church, and particularly of the monasteries, and ways of getting their hands on it are soon being planned. The first move was the dissolution of the lesser monasteries, an act passed in March 1536. This dissolved all the monasteries with a declared annual income of less than £200. It's around half of all the houses. They are an easy target. They're too poor to oppose the measure. As a result, 243 religious houses are closed, their property passed to the crown. The heads of the houses were offered a pension and the other members were given a choice, either transfer to a larger house or return to live in society, free of your vows of obedience and poverty, but still having to respect their vow of chastity. There were a further 176 that came within the scope of the act that were allowed to continue on payment of a fine, and that was usually set at one year's income as assessed by the Vala Ecclesiasticus. Once they were closed, any valuable metal, gold, silver, bronze, lead, was taken to be melted down. The lands were rented out or sold, and what the crown didn't take was soon recycled by the local population with active encouragement from the government. Many monasteries are very soon in ruins. A court of augmentations was set up to run the estates in the interim between their surrender and either lease or sale. In October 1536, there is a reaction. Begins in Lincolnshire, soon spreads to Yorkshire. It's mainly in the north, but Norfolk were heavily involved as well. A series of popular uprisings, collectively known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. They're objecting to the break with the Catholic Church, objecting to the dissolution of the monasteries, but there are other factors, economic factors, enclosure of common land. Religion is the trigger. It took five months for order to be restored, and once it's done, Henry shows no mercy. Some religious houses were charged with actively supporting the Pilgrimage of Grace. Their heads were convicted and executed for treason. Property transferred to the crown, and the monks were expelled. The abbot of Fountains Abbey was hung, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. Thomas Cromwell then sent out royal commissioners to persuade the remaining monasteries to surrender voluntarily. They spread fear. There were complaints about the bullying tactics, commissioners couching their threats in terms of, well, if you love the king, reminding these houses what had happened to the so-called disloyal abbots in the north. Pensions were offered to those who surrendered, and those abbots who would not be bullied faced real problems. The full force of the law was brought to bear. The abbot of Glastonbury, Richard Whiting, was taken to the Tower of London to be questioned by Thomas Cromwell himself. He was found guilty of secretly hoarding gold and other plate from the commissioners. Hung, drawn, and quartered on Glastonbury tour, along with two of his monks, John Thorne and Roger James. Now the friaries had little property and little wealth, and yet they were all closed as well. By 1539, they'd all gone. Lichfield Friary and Derby Friary were two of the last. We might see this as an exercise in administrative tidiness. Once the decision had been taken that all the institutions would go, then that had to be carried through. The last monastery to surrender was Waltham Abbey in 1540. Now next time, in the final instalment of this series, I'm going to look a little deeper into what happened to monastic property after the dissolution. If you've enjoyed this video, hit the like and subscribe buttons, and click on the notification bell to be informed when the next video is released. Or you can subscribe by clicking on the rose window over my shoulder.