Editing Dissolution of the monasteries (section)

===Initial round of suppressions===
{{Main|Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535}}
{{unsourced|section|date=July 2020}}
[[File:BridlingtonPriory.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Bridlington Priory]] in Yorkshire; dissolved in 1537 due to the [[attainder]] of the prior for treason following the [[Pilgrimage of Grace]]]] The first round of suppressions initially aroused popular discontent, especially in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire where many contributed to the [[Pilgrimage of Grace]] of 1536. This turn led to Henry increasingly associating monasticism with betrayal, as some of the spared religious houses in northern England (more or less willingly) sided with the rebels, while former monks resumed religious life in several of the suppressed houses. Clauses within the [[Treasons Act 1534]] provided that the property of those convicted of treason would automatically revert to the Crown, clauses that Cromwell had drafted with the intention of effecting the dissolution of religious houses, arguing that the superior of the house (abbot, abbess, prior or prioress) was the legal "owner" of all its monastic property. The wording of the First Suppression Act had been clear that reform, not outright abolition of monastic life, was being presented as the objective of the government. There has been continuing academic debate as to whether a universal dissolution was being covertly prepared at this point.

The predominant academic opinion is that the extensive care taken to provide for monks and nuns from the suppressed houses to transfer demonstrates that monastic reform was still, at least in the mind of the King, the guiding principle. Further large-scale action against substandard richer monasteries was always planned. The selection of poorer houses for dissolution in the First Act minimised the potential release of funds to other purposes. Once pensions had been committed to former superiors, cash rewards paid to those wishing to leave the religious life, and funding allocated for refounded houses, it is unlikely that the crown profited beyond the fines levied on exempted houses. During 1537 (possibly conditioned by concern not to re-ignite rebellious impulses) no further dissolutions were undertaken. Episcopal visitations were renewed, monasteries adapted their internal discipline in accordance with Cromwell's injunctions, and many houses undertook overdue programmes of repair and reconstruction.{{citation needed|date= October 2019}}

The remaining monasteries required funds, partly to pay fines for exemption. During 1537 and 1538, there was a large increase in monastic lands and endowments being leased out, and in the offer of fee-paying offices and annuities in return for cash. By establishing long-term liabilities, these actions diminished the eventual net return to the Crown from each house's endowments, but they were not officially discouraged. Cromwell obtained and solicited many such fees in his own personal favour. Crucially, having created the precedent that tenants and lay recipients of monastic incomes might expect to have their interests recognised by the Court of Augmentations following dissolution, the government's apparent acquiescence to the granting of additional such rights helped establish a predisposition towards dissolution amongst tenants. At the same time, and especially once the loss of income from shrines and pilgrimages was taken into account, the long-term financial sustainability of many remaining houses was fragile.{{citation needed| date= October 2019}}

[[File:Furness Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 42919.jpg|thumb|left|[[Furness Abbey]] in Cumbria; dissolved in 1537 and the first of the larger houses to be dissolved by voluntary surrender]]
Although Henry continued to maintain that his sole objective was monastic reform, in 1537 it became clear that official policy was the general extinction of monasticism in England and Wales. This extinction was now expected to be achieved through individual applications from superiors for voluntary surrender rather than through a systematic statutory dissolution. One Abbey whose monks had been implicated in the Pilgrimage of Grace was [[Furness]] in Lancashire. The abbot, fearful of a treason charge, petitioned to make a voluntary surrender of his house, which Cromwell happily approved. From then on, all dissolutions that were not a consequence of convictions for treason were legally "voluntary" – a principle that was taken a stage further with the voluntary surrender of [[Lewes]] priory in November 1537 when the monks were not accorded the option of transfer to another house, but with the additional motivation that from then on, ordinary monks (but not friars)<ref name=scott/> were offered life pensions if they co-operated. Abbots and priors came under pressure from their communities to petition for voluntary surrender if they could obtain favourable terms for pensions; they also knew that if they refused to surrender, they might suffer the penalty for treason and their house would be dissolved anyway. Where the King had been able to establish himself as founder, he exploited his position to place compliant monks and nuns as the head of the house while non-royal patrons and founders also tended to press superiors for an early surrender, hoping to get preferential treatment in the disposal of monastic properties. From the beginning of 1538, Cromwell targeted the houses that he knew to be wavering in their resolve, cajoling and bullying their superiors to apply for surrender. Nevertheless, the public stance of the government was that the better-run houses could still expect to survive, and Cromwell dispatched a circular in March 1538 condemning false rumours of a general policy of dissolution while also warning superiors against asset-stripping or concealment of valuables, which could be construed as treasonable action.