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HistoryThe English Reformation, 1509–160338 min★★ difficulty

Lesson 4: Dissolving the monasteries

Between 1536 and 1540 hundreds of religious houses were closed and their assets transferred.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Britain 1066-1901: Understand the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the English Reformation and its impact
  • Britain 1066-1901: Understand the development of the Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the theory and practice of monarchy and the origins and progress of the English Reformation
  • Historical enquiry: Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources, and how and why historians have interpreted the past in different ways

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Assess the motives and consequences of the dissolution

Key learning points

  • • Survey and closure
  • • Money, power and reform
  • • Local consequences

This lesson at a glance

  • 38 minutes
  • 18 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

assessmotivesconsequencesdissolutionsurvey

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 18 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 18

Watch first

Lesson 4: Dissolving the monasteries

An English teaching video on this topic from The Northern Historian. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Assess the motives and consequences of the dissolution

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 18

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know that royal supremacy gave Henry control of the English Church, and that monasteries owned large amounts of land.

Recap: Lesson 3: Breaking with Rome
3

Key words

Part 3 of 18

Key words

Words you'll need today

Dissolution
The closure of monasteries and transfer of their property to the Crown.
Visitation
An official inspection of religious houses.
Monastery
A community of monks or nuns living under religious rule.
Patronage
Rewarding supporters with land, office or favour.
4

Your lesson plan

Part 4 of 18

Lesson brief

Why were the monasteries closed—and who gained?

By the end, you will be able to

  • • Explain the Valor and visitations
  • • Identify winners and losers
  • • Evaluate hostile government evidence

Resources

  • • Dissolution records (1530s)
  • • Lesson notes and marked knowledge check
4 minRecall the chronology and frame the enquiry
15 minRead the textbook explanation and build the argument
11 minInterrogate the archive evidence in context
8 minAnswer the checks and write a supported conclusion
5

Learning cycle

Part 5 of 18

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Closing the houses

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 18

Learn

Survey and closure

The Crown assessed monastic wealth, investigated houses and legislated first against smaller monasteries, then the rest.

7

Explore the idea

Part 7 of 18

Learn

Money, power and reform

Royal finance, control and criticism of religious life all mattered. Land sales helped create supporters with a stake in the settlement.

8

Reset break

Part 8 of 18

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
9

Quick check

Part 9 of 18

Quick check

Who organised much of the dissolution?

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 18

Quick check

Why treat visitation reports carefully?

11

Learning cycle

Part 11 of 18

Learning cycle 2 of 2

What communities lost

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 18

Learn

Local consequences

Communities lost worship, charity, employment and hospitality, while buildings and land found new uses. Effects varied by place.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 18

Quick check

A major consequence was…

14

Investigate evidence

Part 14 of 18

Evidence 1 of 1

primary

Dissolution records

Thomas Cromwell's commissioners, 1530s

The reports record monastery property, income and alleged faults before houses were surrendered to the Crown.

Commissioners gathered information for a government preparing to close religious houses. Their records are direct evidence of administration, but their purpose may have encouraged hostile reporting.

Think like a historian

How might the commissioners' employer and purpose shape what they recorded?

Source: The National Archives, Discover the Dissolution education collection

View the archive record ↗
15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 18

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often think monasteries were closed purely because they were corrupt. Visitation reports were written to justify closure.
  • People often think the Crown kept all the land. Much was sold, creating owners with an interest in defending the changes.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 18

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

17

Mastery quiz

Part 17 of 18

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Lesson 4: Dissolving the monasteries

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. The dissolution took place mainly between…

  2. 2. Selling monastic land helped the Crown by…

  3. 3. A major local consequence was the loss of…

  4. 4. Motives for dissolution are best described as…

18

Lesson round-up

Part 18 of 18

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Source

A factory inspector's notebook, 1842

"I visited the mill at seven in the morning. The machines were already running. I counted fourteen children at the frames, the youngest no more than nine years of age. The overseer told me they work from six until seven, with forty minutes for dinner."

"The air is thick with cotton dust and the windows are kept shut so the thread does not break. Two of the children showed me hands cut by the shuttles. The owner assured me that the work is light and that the families beg him for the places, since without the children's wages the rent cannot be paid."

"I have written to the magistrates. I doubt much will follow from it."

Original source-style text written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Who wrote this, when, and why might that make it useful to a historian?
  2. What does the source tell you about children's work — and what does it not tell you?
  3. How far does this source show that mill owners were to blame? Answer with a judgement and evidence.

Source for this lesson

Use this for the source work task below.

Dissolution records

primary

Thomas Cromwell's commissioners, 1530s

The reports record monastery property, income and alleged faults before houses were surrendered to the Crown.

Commissioners gathered information for a government preparing to close religious houses. Their records are direct evidence of administration, but their purpose may have encouraged hostile reporting.

Source: The National Archives, Discover the Dissolution education collection

View the original record ↗

  • Source work

    Reading

    Read the source closely. Write who made it, when, and what it tells you — then what it does not tell you.

    2 paragraphs

  • Essay answer

    Writing

    Answer the enquiry question with a clear judgement. Use two pieces of evidence and finish with a sentence that weighs them up.

    300–400 words

  • Timeline

    Diagram

    Draw a timeline of the events in this lesson with dates, then photograph it.

    6–8 events

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 18 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the English Reformation and its impact

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand the development of the Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745, including the theory and practice of monarchy and the origins and progress of the English Reformation

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources, and how and why historians have interpreted the past in different ways

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