The Dissolution of the Monasteries can be regarded as one of the most important and influential events in the Sixteenth Century. Faced with escalating internal costs for amongst other things, weapons of war, Henry saw the monasteries as the last great bulwark of papacy, and calculated that their combined income outsripped that of even the government by almost 3 to 1. The Dissolution began with the appointment of a layman, Thomas Cromwell, as the king's vicar-general in spirituals, with special authority to visit the monastic houses, and to bring them into line with the new order of things. Some time prior to December of 1534, arrangements were already being made for a systematic visitation. A document, dated 21 January, 1535, allowed Cromwell to conduct the visit through "commissaries" rather than personally.
In its final shape, the first measure of suppression merely enacted that all the religious houses not possessed of an income of more than 200 pounds a year should be given to the Crown. The heads of such houses were to receive pensions, and the religious, despite the alleged depravity of some, were to be admitted to the larger and more observant monasteries, or to be licensed to act as secular priests. The measure of turpitude fixed by the Act was thus a pecuniary one. All monastic establishments which fell below the 200 pounds a year standard of "good living" were to be given to the king to be dealt with at his "pleasure, to the honour of God and the wealth of the realm".
No sooner had the process of destruction begun simultaneously all over the country than the people began at last to realise that the benefits likely to accrue to them out of the plunder were to be virtually non-existent. Less than 500 establishments made there way into the hands of the Crown, and clearly Henry needed more in order to raise the level of money to what he had anticipated. When this was understood, it was first proposed to present a petition to the king from the Lords and Commons, pointing out the evident damage which would be done to the country at large if the measure was carried out fully; and asking that the process of suppression or Dissolution should be at once stopped, and that the lesser houses, which had not yet been dissolved under the authority of the Act of 1536, should be allowed to stand. The plea was rejected in total by Henry. Here and there in the country active resistance to the work of destruction was organised, and in the case of Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and the North generally, the popular rising of the "Pilgrimage of Grace" was caused in the main, or at least in great measure, by the desire of the people at large to save the religious houses from ruthless destruction.
Many religious houses accepted the Crown's pecuniary offers and found new abodes, but some were quick to refuse all compromise. The "Dissolution by Attainder" Act was thus passed, enabling Abbots, and clergy to be arrested and charged with treason for refusing to concede to the wishes of the Crown. In time this led to the downfall of the Friaries who had long been Henry's strongest adversaries. In 1538 and 1539 some 150 monasteries of men appear to have signed away their corporate existence and their property, and by a formal deed handed over all rights to the king. When the work had progressed sufficiently, the new Parliament, which met in April 1539, after observing that various abbots and others had yielded up their houses to the king, "without constraint, coercion, or compulsion", confirmed these surrenders and vested all monastic property thus obtained in the Crown. Finally in the autumn of that year, Henry's triumph over the monastic orders was completed by the horrible deaths for constructive treason of the three great abbots of Glastonbury, Colchester, and Reading. And so, as one writer has said, "before the winter of 1540 had set in, the last of the abbeys had been added to the ruins with which the land was strewn from one end to the other."
It is difficult, of course, to estimate the exact number of religious houses suppressed at this time in England. Putting all sources of information together, it seems that the monks and regular canons expelled from the greater monasteries were about 3200 in number; the friars, 1800; and the nuns, 1560. If to these should be added the number of those affected by the first Act of Parliament, it is probably not far from the truth to say that the number of religious men and women expelled from their homes by the Dissolution were, in round numbers, about 8000. Besides these, of course, there were probably more than ten times that number of people turned adrift who were their dependents, or otherwise obtained a living in their service.
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In 1536, the gentry expressed concern at the passing of the Statute of Uses, which prevented the device of inheritances by will and the evasion of "prerogative"" wardship. A petition was raised in Lincoln, but Henry indicated severe punishment would be inflicted on those who failed to disburse from the resulting councils and assemblies. Rather than be deemed as rebels, the gentry disbursed.
Within a few months this, and the Dissolution had provoked further concern, primarily in the Yorkshire area. Common assemblies formed, and out of them, a leader, Robert Aske emerged. He drafted a petition on behalf of the men of the East Riding in October 1536 requesting the restoration of suppressed religious houses, for economic as well as spiritual reasons, the abolition of the Statute of Uses, the abatement of the subsidy on sheep and cattle, on account of economic decline, and the dismissal of unworthy councilors. Generally, the north was the poorest part of the realm. Pressure of population on means of subsistence had begun to aggravate hardships previously caused by landlords raising of fines and rack-renting, and by benefice-holders exaction of tithes. The unsympathetic south had continually drawn funds from northern sources to prop-up their own lavish lifestyles.
Previous assemblies of this nature had been deemed rebellious and almost treasonable, so Aske was careful in devising an oath which disclaimed treasonable connotations and affirmed traditional northern piety by its emphasis on the primacy of religious over secular aims. Aske called the armed assemblies a "Pilgrimage of Grace". Men marched on Lancaster and Carlisle, with Aske marching on York, eventually meeting Henry's representatives on October 27 at Doncaster bridge, where the supporters of Aske presented their grievances. Assured that they would be duly treated with, and their messengers would be escorted in person to the King, the assemblies disbanded. However many pilgrims distrusted royal assurances, and further uprisings were attempted in the new year. These were unsuccessful, and the government saw this as an opportunity to arrest those responsible for the previous uprising. Aske, Lord Darcy, and Northumberland's brother Sir Thomas Percy were among those executed.
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The term Counter Reformation denotes the period of Catholic revival from the pontificate of Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the close of the Thirty Years' War, in 1648, although many scholars attribute its true beginning to the first meeting of the Council of Trent, and the establishment of the Society of Jesus. Far from being a reactionary movement that started with the condemnations by various other religious orders and groups, specifically in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation, the period represented a time when the Catholic Church reassessed its ideologies and motivations. The Catholic Church had preached, pleaded, threatened, even fought, but they did not remodel their ways seriously everywhere, in small things and in great. Thus, the general community suffered from both a lack of enthusiasm for their faith, as well as a growing concern for the flagrant abuses that were inherent in its very structure.
The Catholic Church initially stemmed the tide of dissatisfaction by confronting these issues. It instilled in its followers a new sense of pride and enthusiasm. The span of time during which this enthusiasm lasted may be justly considered as an historical period, and it is that which we call the period of the Counter Reformation.
Luigi Mocenigo, Venetian ambassador at Rome, commented on the situation of the time, which explained many people's observations and perceptions - "In many countries, obedience to the pope has almost ceased, and matters are becoming so critical that, if God does not interfere, they will soon be desperate. Germany leaves little hope of being cured. Poland is in almost as hopeless a state. The disorders which have just lately taken place in France and Spain are too well known for me to speak of them, and the Kingdom of England . . . after returning a short time since to her old obedience, has again fallen into heresy. Thus the spiritual power of the pope is so straitened that the only remedy is a council summoned by the common consent of all Princes. Unless this reduces the affairs of religion to order, a grave calamity is to be feared."
Back to timelineThe summoned Council Mocenigo talked of was soon established. Although it was originally called for in 1536-37 by Paul III, the first official sessions were between 1545 and 1547. It was a difficult exercise to organise a council of the primary religious leaders of Europe to effect religious policy, considering some of them were at war with each other, and the political configuration of Europe at the time did not promote a smooth transition to such an assembly. Also, some nations had become schismatic, that is they had broken away from the papacy, of this, England was the main example. It was unfortunate that such a great time had elapsed between the time a need for the council had arisen and the actual summoning of the bishops in 1542. Subsequently the response was poor, and the council was postponed several times until finally in 1545, it began. There was initial concern that the make up of the assembly was not representative of Europe, but these fears soon gave way to enthusiasm from those who attended.
During its first sessions (I - VIII) the council adopted a precedent of doctrinal conservatism from which its collective action was never to deviate. It found the pope mainly interested in the definition of dogma, the emperor in disciplinary reforms, and hence it decided to treat both matters concurrently. It announced the sole right of the Church to interpret the Bible and uphold the primacy of the Vulgate text over all other Latin versions. Yet by far the most important decree of this period is that of Justification. With this, a number of beliefs were condemned, held exclusively by the extremists or the eccentrics of the Protestant Reformation. Among these condemned beliefs the following are characteristic.
The other major success during this period was the triumph of scholasticism over biblical humanism. Introduced to improve the education of the priesthood, it effectively forced the study of actual biblical text in the context of modern ideology and cultural development, rather than the mere execution of religious tradition. This was considered the first step in stamping out abuses by the priesthood, who would suffer extreme punishment if they did not abide by the decree.
Having embarked on a steady path of change, the council was thrown into disarray by a conflict between the pope and emperor. It would be another four years before the council reconvened. This second sitting did not achieve as much as the first set of sessions.
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