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GCSE History · key term
A community in which monks or nuns lived according to religious rules, devoting their lives to prayer and service.
Used by Edexcel and OCR
Paper 2
Revise: Dissolution of the MonasteriesThe dissolution of the monasteries was the closure of religious houses and the seizure of their property by Henry VIII’s government. Between 1536 and 1540, around 800 houses were closed. This affected far more than the monks and nuns who lived in them: religious houses were also landlords, employers, centres of learning and providers of care.
Paper 3
A community whose members followed religious rules, such as a monastery, nunnery or friary.
For an explanation of why dissolution happened, link each motive to closure: monastic wealth offered Henry an incentive, while resistance to royal supremacy made religious houses a political threat.
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Monasteries and other religious houses owned land, received rents and possessed valuable buildings and objects. Dissolving a monastery meant ending the community as an institution and taking its property into royal hands—not simply demolishing a building.