The Dissolution of the Monasteries: A New History

The first account of the dissolution of the monasteries for fifty yearsexploring its profound impact on the people of Tudor England This is a book about people though not ideas and as a detailed account of an extraordinary human drama with a cast of thousands it is an exceptional piece of historical writing.Lucy Wooding Times Literary Supplement Shortly before Easter 1540 saw the end of almost a millennium of monastic life in England. Until then religious houses had acted as a focus for education literary and artistic expression and even the creation of regional and national identity. Their closure carried out in just four years between 1536 and 1540 caused a dislocation of people and a disruption of life not seen in England since the Norman Conquest. Drawing on the records of national and regional archives as well as archaeological remains James Clark explores the little-known lives of the last men and women who lived in Englands monasteries before the Reformation. Clark challenges received wisdom showing that buildings were not immediately demolished and Henry VIIIs subjects were so attached to the religious houses that they kept fixtures and fittings as souvenirs. This rich vivid history brings back into focus the prominent place of abbeys priories and friaries in the lives of the English people.