Editing Dissolution of the monasteries (section)

===Later dissolutions===
None of the same legislation and visitation had applied to the houses of the friars. At the beginning of the 14th century there had been around 5,000 friars in England, occupying extensive complexes. There were still around 200 friaries in England at the dissolution. Except for the Observant Franciscans, by the 16th century the friars' income from donations had collapsed, their numbers had shrunk to less than 1,000 and their buildings were often ruinous or leased out commercially. No longer self-sufficient in food and with their cloistered spaces invaded by secular tenants, almost all friars were now living in rented lodgings outside their friaries and meeting for divine service in the friary church. Many friars now supported themselves through paid employment and held personal property.{{citation needed|date= October 2019}}

By early 1538, suppression of the friaries was widely being anticipated. In some houses, all friars save the prior had already left, and assets (standing timber, chalices, vestments) were being sold off. Cromwell deputed [[Richard Yngworth]], suffragan [[Bishop of Dover]] and former Provincial of the [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]], to obtain the friars' surrender, which he achieved rapidly by drafting new injunctions that enforced each order's rules and required friars to resume a strict conventual life within their walls. Failure to accept voluntary surrender would then result in enforced homelessness and starvation. Once the friars agreed to surrender, Yngworth reported to Cromwell. He noted on his actions for each friary, who was the current tenant of each of the gardens, what was the general state of the buildings, and whether any church had valuable lead on roofs and gutters. Most of the friaries were in disrepair, with leased-out gardens as the only valuable asset.<ref name="salter"/>

Yngworth had no authority to dispose of lands and property and could not negotiate pensions. Therefore, the friars appear to have been released and dismissed with a gratuity of around 40 shillings each. Yngworth took this payout from whatever cash resources were in hand. He listed by name the friars remaining in each house at surrender so that Cromwell could provide them with legal permission to pursue careers as a secular priests. Furthermore, Yngworth had no discretion to maintain friary churches, even though many had continued to attract congregations. They were disposed of rapidly by the Court of Augmentations. Of all the friary churches in England and Wales, only [[St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich]], [[Atherstone Priory]] (Warwickshire), the [[Chichester Guildhall]], and [[Greyfriars Church, Reading]] remain standing (although the London church of the [[Austin Friars, London|Austin Friars]] continued in use by the [[Dutch Church, Austin Friars|Dutch Church]] until destroyed in the [[London Blitz]]). Almost all other friaries have disappeared with few visible traces.<ref name="salter">{{harvnb|Salter|2010}}</ref>

[[File:visitation monasteries.JPG|thumb|The suppression of [[St John's Abbey, Colchester]], with the execution of the abbot shown in the background]]
In April 1539, Parliament passed a [[Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1539|new law]] retrospectively legalising acts of voluntary surrender and assuring tenants of their continued rights, but by then the vast majority of monasteries in England and Wales had already been dissolved or marked out for a future as a collegiate foundation. Some still resisted, and that autumn the [[abbot]]s of [[St John's Abbey, Colchester|Colchester]], Glastonbury, and [[Reading Abbey|Reading]] were [[hanged, drawn and quartered]] for [[treason]], their houses being dissolved and their monks receiving a basic pension of £4 per year.{{cn|date=July 2020}}

[[St Benet's Abbey]] in Norfolk was the only abbey in England which escaped formal dissolution. As the last abbot had been appointed to the see of [[Norwich]], the abbey endowments were transferred alongside him directly into those of the bishops. The last two abbeys to be dissolved were [[Shap Abbey]], in January 1540, and [[Waltham Abbey Church|Waltham Abbey]], on 23 March 1540, and several priories also survived into 1540, including [[Bolton Priory]] in Yorkshire (dissolved 29 January 1540) and [[Thetford Priory]] in Norfolk (dissolved 16 February 1540). It was not until April 1540 that the cathedral priories of [[Canterbury Cathedral|Canterbury]] and [[Rochester Cathedral|Rochester]] were transformed into secular cathedral chapters.{{cn|date=July 2020}}