3.1.6

Impact of Dissolution

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Impact of Dissolution

Some benefitted from the dissolution of monasteries, some lost.

Illustrative background for WinnersIllustrative background for Winners ?? "content

Winners

  • Religious reformers who opposed the idea of monasteries.
  • Henry VIII, who became a lot richer.
  • Gentry and nobility who gained monastic land.
  • Henry compensated for the loss of monastic education by opening new Cathedral grammar schools and colleges at Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
Illustrative background for LosersIllustrative background for Losers ?? "content

Losers

  • Monks and nuns who lost their jobs and homes.
    • However, heads of religious houses were given a large pension.
    • Monks and nuns were given a small one-off payment.
    • About 6,500 monks got a new job within the Church.
    • However, some became beggars.
    • As nuns could not marry or get a job, they suffered the most.
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Losers continued

  • Catholics who felt they needed the prayers of monks and nuns.
  • The poor and sick who depended on monastery aid.
  • It could be argued that the dissolution was the reason for increasing poverty in Tudor England.
  • Farmers whose rent became more expensive, as the nobility charged more than the Church.
  • Libraries and art collections were lost, destroyed or sold off. This was cultural vandalism.

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