Discuss the changes brought about by the Dissolution Act of 1536

Question

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Answer 1

Henry’s dissolving the monasteries and selling off Church holdings. Henry VIII’s decree was motivated primarily by a need for money to support his lavish lifestyle and large court; the sale of the monastic lands, however, transformed London. Before the Dissolution, as much as 60 percent of the property in some parts of the city and vast holdings outside the city were owned by the Church. Henry sold this property to the wealthy, some of whom were already gentry, and some of whom were enabled to rise in social class partly as a result of becoming landowners. The greater availability of property for housing supported a population that was growing rapidly thanks in part to higher wages available there. All of these factors contributed to what was by Elizabeth’s time the creation of a new culture of achievement, in which a person’s place in society was no longer determined at birth. The dissolution of the monasteries also affected Henry’s political power because those who received properties from him tended to support his split with Rome, and because Parliament was able to raise money without raising taxes. The city in particular enjoyed a mutually beneficial political relationship with the crown: Henry and Elizabeth rarely meddled in city politics, and in return the city bestowed on the monarch almost undivided loyalty