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The Mid Tudor Crisis in Wales and England c.1529-1570

Thomas Cromwell and the dissolution of the monasteries

  • 3 things to know
  • AS Unit 2 and A2 Unit 4

Overview

Office of vicegerent in spirituals, valor Ecclesiasticus and three Welsh monastic houses dissolved under Henry VIII.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Why did Cromwell prefer to work through statute?

Numbers

Define the Valor Ecclesiasticus.

Key term

What was the stated justification for dissolving the smaller monasteries in 1536?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How did Thomas Cromwell rise to power?

    Model answer

    He came from humble origins through Wolsey's service and made himself indispensable to Henry VIII by finding a parliamentary route to the annulment and the supremacy.

  2. 2

    Which offices did Thomas Cromwell hold at the height of his authority?

    Model answer

    He was the King's principal secretary, Master of the Rolls, Lord Privy Seal and Vicegerent in Spirituals, which gave him the King's own authority over the Church.

  3. 3

    Explain the office of vicegerent in spirituals.

    Model answer

    The office by which Cromwell exercised the King's supremacy over the Church, allowing a layman to conduct visitations and issue injunctions to the clergy.

  4. 4

    Why did Cromwell prefer to work through statute?

    Model answer

    An act of Parliament carried the assent of the whole realm, bound the courts and was far harder to challenge or reverse than a royal proclamation.

  5. 5

    Define the Valor Ecclesiasticus.

    Model answer

    The survey of 1535 that valued the income of every religious house and benefice in England and Wales for the Crown.

  6. 6

    What was the stated justification for dissolving the smaller monasteries in 1536?

    Model answer

    The commissioners' reports alleged laxity and immorality in the smaller houses, and the act claimed religion was better observed in the great ones.

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