The Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535 ( 27 Hen. 8. c. 28),The citation of this Act by this

short title In certain jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and other Westminster system, Westminster-influenced jurisdictions (such as Canada or Australia), as well as the United States and the Philippines, primary legislation has both a short title an ...

was authorised by section 5 of, and Schedule 2 to, the

Statute Law Revision Act 1948 The Statute Law Revision Act 1948 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 62) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 5(3) of the Statute Law Revision Act 1950 provided that this act, so far as it repealed chapter 34 of the Statute of West ...

. Owing to the repeal of those provisions, it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the

Interpretation Act 1978 The Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act makes provision for the interpretation of acts of Parliament, Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England, Measures of the Church Asse ...

. also referred to as the Act for the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries and as the Dissolution of Lesser Monasteries Act 1535, was an act of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

enacted by the

English Reformation Parliament The English Reformation Parliament, which sat from 3 November 1529 to 14 April 1536, established the legal basis for the English Reformation, passing major pieces of legislation leading to the break with Rome and increasing the authority of the ...

in February 1535/36. It was the beginning of the legal process by which

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

set about the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Background

From the 14th century onwards, several popes had granted licences for the suppression of religious houses in England.John Burton, MD, ''Monasticon Eboracense'' (York: 1758), quoted in ''The Monthly Review'
p 275
at books.google.com In 1528

Cardinal Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( ; – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic cardinal. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling f ...

sequestrated

Rumburgh Priory Rumburgh Priory was a Benedictine priory located in the village of Rumburgh in the English county of Suffolk. The priory was founded in about 1065 as a cell of St Benet's Abbey at Hulme in Norfolk.Page W (1975) 'Houses of Benedictine monks: Prio ...

for funds to build his college at Ipswich. The breakdown of relations between Henry VIII and the Church in Rome, prompted by his marriage to

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the Wives of Henry VIII, second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading ...

, resulted in the

Statute in Restraint of Appeals The Ecclesiastical Appeals Act 1533 (24 Hen. 8. c. 12), also called the Statute in Restraint of Appeals, the Act of Appeals and the Act of Restraints in Appeals, was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), Act of the Parliament of England. It wa ...

of 1533, forbidding all appeals to the Pope in Rome on religious or other matters.

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

responded by announcing Henry's provisional

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...

, and the hostility between the king and the pope escalated. In the words of John Burton's ''Monasticon Eboracense'' (1758) – One of the first practical results of the assumption of the highest spiritual powers by the king was the supervision by royal decree of the ordinary episcopal visitations, and the appointment of a layman —

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

— 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. A document, dated 21 January 1535, allows Cromwell to conduct the visit through "commissaries", as the minister is said to be at that time too busy with "the affairs of the whole kingdom." The men employed by Cromwell were chiefly

Richard Layton Richard Layton or Leighton (1500?–1544) was an English churchman, jurist and diplomat, dean of York and a principal agent of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Life Early life He was born about 1500, son ...

and Thomas Leigh. The visitation seems to have been conducted systematically, and to have passed through three clearly defined stages. During the summer the houses in the West of England were subjected to examination; and this portion of the work came to an end in September, when Layton and Leigh arrived at Oxford and Cambridge respectively. In October and November the visitors changed the field of their labours to the eastern and south-eastern districts; and in December we find Layton advancing through the midland counties to Lichfield, where he met Leigh, who had finished his work in the religious houses of Huntingdon and Lincolnshire. Thence they proceeded together to the north, and the city of York was reached on 11 January 1536. But with all their haste, to which they were urged by Cromwell, they had not proceeded very far in the work of their northern inspection before the meeting of Parliament.Francis Aidan, Cardinal Gasquet
"Suppression of English Monasteries under Henry VIII”
in The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 10 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911) 24 January 2015

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

met on 4 February 1535/36 and received a digest of the report ''

Valor Ecclesiasticus The ''Valor Ecclesiasticus'' (Latin: "church valuation") was a survey of the finances of the church in England, Wales and English controlled parts of Ireland made in 1535 on the orders of Henry VIII. It was colloquially called the Kings books, ...

'', a visitation of the monasteries of England commissioned by the King. Cromwell was then defeated in Parliament, with his plan to reform monasteries denied, and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, put forward by Thomas Audley, soon passed the Act. The act applied only to lesser houses "which have not in lands,

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...

rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

s, portions, and other

hereditament In common law, a hereditament (from Latin ''hereditare'', to inherit, from ''heres'', heir) is any kind of property that can be inherited. Hereditaments are divided into corporeal and incorporeal. Corporeal hereditaments are "such as affect the se ...

s, above the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds", attacking such houses as dens of iniquity and proposing that those in them should be "committed to great and honourable monasteries of religion" and "compelled to live religiously".

Preamble

The preamble of the act states –

Effect

The main effect of the act was to

expropriate Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

the lesser religious houses to the King, who (in the words of the act) "shall have to him and to his heirs all and singular such monasteries, abbeys, and priories, which at any time within one year next before the making of this Act have been given and granted to his majesty by any abbot, prior, abbess, or prioress, under their convent seals, or that otherwise have been suppressed or dissolved... to have and to hold all and singular the premises, with all their rights, profits, jurisdictions, and commodities, unto the king's majesty, and his heirs and assigns for ever, to do and use therewith his and their own wills, to the pleasure of Almighty God, and to the honour and profit of this realm". This section includes a

retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in software development, popular culture, and the arts. ...

effect, regularising suppressions of houses which had already taken place.

Consequences

The act, and the many dissolutions which followed in its wake, was the principal cause of the

Pilgrimage of Grace The Pilgrimage of Grace was an English Catholic popular revolt beginning in Yorkshire in October 1536 before spreading to other parts of Northern England, including Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham and north Lancashire. The protests occurre ...

, a rebellion which broke out at

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia ** Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

in Lincolnshire in October 1536. An army numbering about 30,000 men gathered, and King Henry ordered the Duke of Norfolk,

Duke of Suffolk Duke of Suffolk is a title that has been created three times in the peerage of England. The dukedom was first created for William de la Pole, who had already been elevated to the ranks of earl and marquess, and was a powerful figure under Henr ...

, and Lord Shrewsbury to take action. But he had no

standing army A standing army is a permanent, often professional, army. It is composed of full-time soldiers who may be either career soldiers or conscripts. It differs from army reserves, who are enrolled for the long term, but activated only during wars ...

, and the rebels were looked on favourably. So peace had to be negotiated, the demand to restore the monasteries was conceded, a new parliament was to be called, and the rebels were promised free pardons. After they had dispersed and gone home, Henry broke his word. The rebel leaders were arrested and put on trial, and several hundred were executed. Bigod's rebellion then followed, also unsuccessful.

Repeals

Sections 17 and 18 of the act were repealed by section 11 of the

Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1623 The Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1623 ( 21 Jas. 1. c. 28) was an act of the Parliament of England that continued, revived and repealed various older acts. Background In the United Kingdom, acts of Parliament remain in force until expressl ...

( 21 Jas. 1. c. 28), sections 4 to 6, 8 to 12, and 14 of the act were repealed by section 1 of, and schedule 1 to, the

( 11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 62), and finally the whole act, so far as still extant, was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of the schedule to, the

Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969 The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969 (c. 52) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act implemented recommendations contained in the first report on statute law revision made by the Law Commission. The enactments which were re ...

.Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969, as enacted
at legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2020

Notes

References

Halsbury's Statutes ''Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales'' (commonly referred to as ''Halsbury's Statutes'') provides updated texts of every Public General Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Measure of the Welsh Assembly, or Church of England Me ...

, *

The Statutes Revised A revised edition of the statutes is an edition of the Revised Statutes in the United Kingdom (there being more than one edition). These editions are published by authority. In 1861 the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the first of a long ...

, Volume I (3rd edition,

HMSO The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the U ...

, 1950), pp. 186–190 {{Authority control Acts of the Parliament of England 1535 Acts of the Parliament of England concerning religion Repealed English legislation Dissolution of the Monasteries 1536 in Christianity