Monasteries Flashcards
(39 cards)
What was extraordinary expenditure?
Money spent on less routine things like war and building defences.
What was ordinary expenditure?
Money spent on the routine costs of government.
What was the Valor Ecclesiasticus and when was it written?
Where Cromwell made a full valuation of church land, valuing it at £136000 which would nearly double the value of the crown. Written in 1535.
How much of the landed wealth in England and Wales did monasteries own?
One third.
What did Henry need to do after being excommunicated ?
Build defences to prevent invasion by crusade from Charles V or Francis I.
What was the Act for First Fruits and Tenths and when was it written?
This was where Henry received he £4000 previously paid to Rome from the revenue from Bishoprics and forced the clergy to pay one tenth of their income to the crown. Written in 1534.
What were visitations?
Where Cromwell’s commissioners visited monasteries to assess their levels of corruption.
What examples of corruption did commissioners find?
Breaking chastity and homosexuality - 1 confession for every 30 monasteries.
What were monks and nuns who left religious life after their monasteries closed not allowed to do?
Break their vow of celibacy.
What did Elton argue?
By the 16th century lay people had no respect for the monks because of their perceived behaviour and disrespect for their vows.
Why did some monks oppose the royal supremecy and what were they called?
They had loyalty to the pope in Rome and were called Carthusians.
What does ‘England as Empire’ mean?
Henry wanted England to be free of all foreign interference eg the pope in Rome .
What was the political nation?
The nobility and gentry.
Why did Henry beed to keep the political nation on side?
Some Yorkists still had good claims to the throne and he lacked the money to afford extensive patronage to the nobility.
Why would nobles find the dissolution attractive?
They would gain land and wealth from it.
What did the first act of the dissolution if the monasteries entail and when was it written?
All houses under £200 per year closed , heads if houses were offered pensions in return for retirement and Henry could exempt any houses (which he did - 67 of the 300) written in 1536.
What was voluntary surrender?
Where monasteries surrenders themselves to the king. Annoys we’re offers pensions as incentives and it was mostly forced on houses by pressure from commissioners.
What did the second act of dissolution of the monasteries do?
Legalised the voluntary surrenders that had already happened.
What did Scarasbrick think?
Nobody wanted an entire dissolution.
What was the Comperta of 1536?
Catalogued abuses deliberately set out to ruin the reputation of the smaller monasteries.
Between which dates were he monasteries dissolved?
1536-1540
Which famous humanist scholar was critical of monks and monasteries?
Erasmus.
What did Henry do to ensure the first act for the dissolution was passed?
He went to the House of Commons on person.
After the first act was passed why did 80 smaller houses pay money to Henry and Cromwell?
Bribes to be exempted from the operation of the act.
