Monasteries would have been a key feature of the English landscape until the late 1530s. They were situated across the length and breadth of England, performing religious as well as social and cultural functions. However, by 1534, King Henry VIII had declared himself Head of the English Church via the Act of Supremacy. In 1536, the Dissolution of the smaller Catholic monasteries begun. By 1541, all of England’s monasteries had been dissolved. This has been described by some as an act of cultural vandalism, while for Protestant reformers this was a welcome move towards destroying the power of the Papacy in England. The leaders of the Pilgrimage of Grace - the largest rebellion in Tudor England - cited the dissolution as one of its drivers. With the dissolution of the monasteries, English history changed forever.

In this episode, the @versushistory team debate the key causes and effects of Henry VIII's dissolution of the Catholic monasteries.

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