Dissolution of English Monasteries
- Dates
- 1536–1540 AD
With the authority given to him by the Act of Supremacy, Henry VIII dissolved all monasteries, convents, priories and friaries in his realm.
In detail
The Act of Supremacy declared the King of England (and his successors) to be the absolute head of the Church of England. As a result, in 1536, Henry VIII ordered those monasteries that produced less than 200 pounds a year be dissolved and the property given to the crown. This act caused the only major rebellion of the English Reformation. This revolt became known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, and it was the catalyst to bring about the final blow to the monasteries in England. Henry VIII became enraged at the revolutionaries and forced the larger monasteries to surrender their property to the king. This ceding of property began in 1539.
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