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The Dissolution of the Monasteries was ruthless in its efficiency, yet the ruins of these magnificent structures continue to haunt our imaginations.
According to the historian James G. Clark, when Waltham Abbey was surrendered to Thomas Cromwell in 1540, it marked “the end of almost a millennium of monastic life in mainland England.”
For years, King Henry VIII and Cromwell, his chief minister, had been carrying out “reforms” that resulted in the suppression and eventual disbanding of all religious houses in England — including several hundred monasteries, convents, and friaries. Properties and assets were seized in order to enrich the royal treasury and pay for the king’s military adventures.
The campaign was “unmatched in its scale” according to Clark. In his landmark 2021 book, The Dissolution of the Monasteries, he writes:
Continued below.
aleteia.org
According to the historian James G. Clark, when Waltham Abbey was surrendered to Thomas Cromwell in 1540, it marked “the end of almost a millennium of monastic life in mainland England.”
For years, King Henry VIII and Cromwell, his chief minister, had been carrying out “reforms” that resulted in the suppression and eventual disbanding of all religious houses in England — including several hundred monasteries, convents, and friaries. Properties and assets were seized in order to enrich the royal treasury and pay for the king’s military adventures.
The campaign was “unmatched in its scale” according to Clark. In his landmark 2021 book, The Dissolution of the Monasteries, he writes:
Continued below.
8 Lost monasteries of England and Wales (Photo Gallery)
The Dissolution of the Monasteries was ruthless in its efficiency, yet the ruins of these magnificent structures continue to haunt our imaginations.
aleteia.org
