Henry VIII, the Reign
The Lesser Monasteries – Those with a Yearly Value of Less than
Two Hundred Pounds
Parliament met on 4 February 1535/36 to hear an appraisal of the Valor Ecclesiasticus, the survey of religious houses commissioned Thomas Cromwell and the The Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1536 (27 Hen 8 c 28) followed.
The Act applied only to lesser houses, being those "which have not in lands, tenements, rents, tithes, portions, and other hereditaments, above the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds".
The purpose of the Act was to acquire the lesser religious houses for the monarch, who "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".
The Act applied only to lesser houses, being those "which have not in lands, tenements, rents, tithes, portions, and other hereditaments, above the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds".
The purpose of the Act was to acquire the lesser religious houses for the monarch, who "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".
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