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====Background====
The context of the suppression of the monasteries was the English Reformation. Henry VIII after the Pope denied him a divorce, made himself Supreme Head of the Church in England. In the Act of Supremacy, ‘the king's Majesty justly and rightfully is and ought to be the supreme head of the Church of England.’ <ref> Act of Supremacy (1534) (35 Henry 8 c. I) </ref> The act made Henry the unchallenged head of the Church of England. At first, Henry VIII was not willing to undertake drastic changes to the Church, and the English Reformation was very conservative. Slowly, but surely the Protestants grouping became very influential and they managed to persuade Henry VIII to undertake several changes to the Church partially because Henry VIII was always short of money because he spent lavishly.<ref> Dickens, A. G. <i>The English Reformation</i> (2nd ed.) (London: B. T. Batsford, 1989), p. 67</ref>.
His chief minister Thomas Cromwell and his second wife Anne Boleyn persuaded Henry VIII that as head of the Church of England that he had to reform the church and especially the monastic orders in England. The Reformers had a distaste for monasticism and saw monasteries and convents as corrupt and irreligious and a 'slander of God.’ <ref> <i>The Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535</i> (27 Hen 8 c 28) </ref> The literature for many centuries argued that the monastic system in England was corrupt and in decline. Recent research shows that this was not the case and while some monasteries were corrupt most of them were not. The monks were usually deeply religious and played an important role in the local economy and society. Additionally, the monasteries were often popular with the local community.
