Dissolution of Monasteries
History: Edexcel A Level England, 1509-1603, topic 4.2.2
Impact of the Dissolution of the Monasteries
The dissolution of the monasteries affected all of society. The winners were the Crown, the nobility and the gentry. The losers were the monks, nuns and the many communities deprived of their services.
Landowners
- The gentry bought up land to increase their standing locally. The gentry were growing in importance in the 16th century, helped by buying monastic lands.
- Some of the land came with the right to appoint minor clergy, like parish priests.
- Members of the nobility also built up their landholdings.
Communities
- Monasteries had often provided education for those who could afford it.
- Some new grammar schools were founded in place of schools that had been attached to monasteries.
- Monasteries also provided care for the sick. In London in 1538, for example, St Mary Spital and St Bartholomew’s hospitals were closed.
- Abbeys also provided help for the poor.
Monks and nuns
- Thousands of monks and nuns had their vocations and homes taken - as did the people who worked for them, on their farms for example.
- Some monks became priests or learned trades.
- Nuns were worse off. They were not allowed to marry but it was hard for a woman to earn enough to live and they could not become priests.
Test yourself on Dissolution of Monasteries
Why did the gentry buy land following the dissolution of the monasteries?
How many monks and nuns were impacted by the dissolution of the monasteries?