Henry VIII's BRUTAL Dissolution Of The Monasteries

Henry VIII is known for being a rather notorious King of England who had 6 wives, however his reign brought a huge degree of change to England. When he split from the Catholic Church, he declared himself the 'Supreme Head of the Church,' and forced those within his realm to accept him as this. However at the time the infamous Tudor monarch was rather poor and he needed a source of income to fund his expensive military campaigns across Europe.

Henry looked towards the hundreds of monastic buildings, friaries, abbeys and priories across England and saw the wealth that they had accumulated. Some of these monastic orders had large amounts of land and money, and Henry looked to seize this. He placed Thomas Cromwell in charge who sent out a number of investigators searching for reasons to shut down these religious houses. This was known as the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Cromwell shut down hundreds of buildings, took the wealth of all of these and transferred it into the treasury making the King incredibly rich. He also ordered that a number of buildings be destroyed, libraries ruined and also made thousands of staff, monks and nuns homeless and with their way of life in tatters. For a number of people who resented this and stood up to the King, they were also executed including the Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Richard Whiting who was hung, drawn and quartered. His head was then displayed above his own abbey.

The Dissolutions of the Monasteries were an incredibly brutal and powerful sign of Henry VIII's power, and they changed the face of English History forever. So join us today as we look at 'Henry VIII's Brutal Dissolution Of The Monasteries.'

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Music - I Am A Man Who Will Fight For Your Honour - Chris Zabriskie.