Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of Abbreviations
- Part One The Tudor Scene
- Chap. I The reign of Henry VII
- Chap. II Some monastic activities
- Chap. III The Cistercians
- Chap. IV The Premonstratensians
- Chap. V The friars in the early sixteenth century
- Chap. VI Sixteenth-century visitations
- Chap. VII Monastic personalities
- Chap. VIII Humanism at Evesham
- Chap. IX William More, prior of Worcester, 1518–36
- Chap. X Butley and Durham
- Part Two The Gathering Storm
- Part Three Suppression and Dissolution
- Part Four Reaction and Survival
- Appendix I Sir Thomas More's letter ‘to a monk’
- Appendix II Religious houses suppressed by Cardinal Wolsey
- Appendix III The witness of the Carthusians
- Appendix IV Houses with incomes exceeding £1000 in the Valor Ecclesiasticus
- Appendix V The sacrist of Beauvale
- Appendix VI Itinerary of the visitors, 1535–6
- Appendix VII The commissioners for the survey of the Lesser Houses in 1536
- Appendix VIII The conflict of evidence on the monasteries
- Appendix IX The last abbots of Colchester, Reading and Glastonbury
- Appendix X Regulars as bishops
- Bibliography
- Index
Chap. I - The reign of Henry VII
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of Abbreviations
- Part One The Tudor Scene
- Chap. I The reign of Henry VII
- Chap. II Some monastic activities
- Chap. III The Cistercians
- Chap. IV The Premonstratensians
- Chap. V The friars in the early sixteenth century
- Chap. VI Sixteenth-century visitations
- Chap. VII Monastic personalities
- Chap. VIII Humanism at Evesham
- Chap. IX William More, prior of Worcester, 1518–36
- Chap. X Butley and Durham
- Part Two The Gathering Storm
- Part Three Suppression and Dissolution
- Part Four Reaction and Survival
- Appendix I Sir Thomas More's letter ‘to a monk’
- Appendix II Religious houses suppressed by Cardinal Wolsey
- Appendix III The witness of the Carthusians
- Appendix IV Houses with incomes exceeding £1000 in the Valor Ecclesiasticus
- Appendix V The sacrist of Beauvale
- Appendix VI Itinerary of the visitors, 1535–6
- Appendix VII The commissioners for the survey of the Lesser Houses in 1536
- Appendix VIII The conflict of evidence on the monasteries
- Appendix IX The last abbots of Colchester, Reading and Glastonbury
- Appendix X Regulars as bishops
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
THE CHANGING SCENE
The advent of the first Tudor sovereign marked no epoch in the history of the religious orders in England. Neither the policy of the king nor the external events of his reign affected in any direct way the fortunes of the monasteries. Nevertheless, here, as in so many departments of the national life, the return of calm weather after a season of storms, and the steady hand of a single master at the ship's helm, allowed all the natural forces of the age full play, and tendencies hitherto latent or only seen by glimpses now became clear to every beholder.
Henry VII, as has often been remarked, was conservative and observant in religious matters. In this respect, indeed, he was a representative, almost a survival, of the last generation of simple medieval orthodoxy. Nothing in his outlook or behaviour differed in any significant respect from the ways of thinking and acting of Henry IV or still earlier monarchs. Neither humanism, nor Neoplatonism, nor neo-paganism, nor even the unethical political realism of Italy, had any direct influence on his attitude in religious matters. He was not personally interested in religion in its theological or devotional aspects, still less in its spiritual depth, but neither was he a critic or a libertine. His actions and policies, as we see them, were earthbound.
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- Information
- The Religious Orders in England , pp. 3 - 14Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1979