0:00:03 > 0:00:05When we think of monasteries in Britain,
0:00:05 > 0:00:09we think of Henry VIII and the Dissolution.
0:00:09 > 0:00:14But their story stretches back a thousand years before Henry was born
0:00:14 > 0:00:16to the most remarkable of beginnings.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22The monastic system that would be torn apart by Henry
0:00:22 > 0:00:25began as a cult of extreme isolation
0:00:25 > 0:00:29on rocky islands and in desert caves.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34From these origins, the monasteries grew to dominate
0:00:34 > 0:00:37every aspect of public life.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42The story of Britain's millennium of monasteries
0:00:42 > 0:00:45is one of devotion and faith,
0:00:45 > 0:00:51but also of ambition, violence and greed.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56As the monks grew in power, they transformed society,
0:00:56 > 0:00:59but they also absorbed its corruption.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04The difference between their original austere ideals
0:01:04 > 0:01:11and this, the palatial opulence of a high medieval monastery,
0:01:11 > 0:01:13is breathtaking.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18It's a contradiction they would never fully escape
0:01:18 > 0:01:22and one that would eventually lead to their destruction.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28In this episode,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32we discover how the immensely rich and powerful monasteries,
0:01:32 > 0:01:36which had dominated British society for a thousand years,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40were annihilated in less than five years.
0:01:42 > 0:01:48Was it the violent action of an over-bearing and greedy tyrant
0:01:48 > 0:01:54or the inevitable end of days for a rotten and outmoded institution?
0:02:05 > 0:02:09CATHERDRAL BELLS CHIME
0:02:16 > 0:02:21On the 20th of December, 1327, the disgraced and deposed king,
0:02:21 > 0:02:26Edward II, was buried here in the magnificent church
0:02:26 > 0:02:30of St Peter's Monastery, which is now called Gloucester Cathedral.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37But as Edward was laid to rest in his ornate tomb,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41rumours were already circulating that he'd been gruesomely murdered.
0:02:45 > 0:02:51Because kings were thought to be divinely ordained by God,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55many now saw Edward II as a holy martyr.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58In the 14th century, people still fervently believed
0:02:58 > 0:03:03in the supernatural power of martyrs and relics,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07and soon pilgrims flocked to Edward's tomb.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10They were encouraged by the monks of St Peter's Abbey,
0:03:10 > 0:03:15who claimed that numerous miracles of healing had taken place here.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23This was a fortunate turn of events because up until this point,
0:03:23 > 0:03:27the abbey had lacked any really significant relics.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35The bodies and possessions of saints and martyrs
0:03:35 > 0:03:40had been venerated from the earliest days of Christianity.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45Monasteries had secured a role as their primary custodians
0:03:45 > 0:03:49and donations from those on pilgrimage to these holy relics
0:03:49 > 0:03:51were one of their greatest sources of income.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01The flood of pilgrim gold into St Peter's allowed the monks
0:04:01 > 0:04:04to fund one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture
0:04:04 > 0:04:07created in medieval Britain -
0:04:07 > 0:04:09the Great Cloister.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19It was the first ever large-scale work of fan vaulting,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22a new technique invented in Gloucestershire.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29Then, as now, it dazzled.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40I think this is one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture
0:04:40 > 0:04:42ever made.
0:04:42 > 0:04:43As you walk through,
0:04:43 > 0:04:49it's like you're enclosed by overhanging branches.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53And yet, the stone seems almost weightless.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58It's like the whole building is dancing around me.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04But this wondrous space wouldn't have been seen
0:05:04 > 0:05:07by the pilgrims that had paid for it.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11This wasn't a public religious building
0:05:11 > 0:05:14designed to proclaim the glories of God.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18This extraordinarily expensive palace
0:05:18 > 0:05:22was the private domain of just 50 or so monks.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Although the public weren't allowed into the cloister,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34on rare occasions, selected noble and royal guests were.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36But never women.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40It proclaimed the monastery's magnificence
0:05:40 > 0:05:43and enhanced the monks' prestige.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Because, like all the great monasteries,
0:05:45 > 0:05:49St Peter's carefully cultivated its status
0:05:49 > 0:05:52as an intimate friend of the Crown.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57Richard II even held a parliament here in 1378.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02And yet, behind all the confidence and splendour,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05lay a fundamental contradiction.
0:06:08 > 0:06:14Despite this sumptuous setting, monks weren't kings,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17or noblemen, or even regular citizens.
0:06:17 > 0:06:23They had taken vows to lead a life of simplicity and poverty,
0:06:23 > 0:06:28rejecting the world and all its luxurious temptations.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40These extravagant medieval monasteries
0:06:40 > 0:06:44couldn't be further removed from the simple stone cells
0:06:44 > 0:06:46of the fourth-century hermits,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50whose lives the monks were supposed to be emulating.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54The spiritual roots of monasticism
0:06:54 > 0:06:58were in tension with their worldly powers.
0:06:58 > 0:07:03But for now, like the stones of the cloister,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06this delicate balance was holding firm.
0:07:09 > 0:07:15In 1400, monasticism in Britain was still thriving.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18There were more than 800 monasteries and nunneries,
0:07:18 > 0:07:24with around 7,000 men and women living in religious communities.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29But what was life actually like for the monks and nuns themselves?
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Were their daily lives as grand as their buildings?
0:07:36 > 0:07:40At the Museum of London's Archaeological Archive,
0:07:40 > 0:07:44they've been conducting research into the skeletal remains of monks
0:07:44 > 0:07:49to discover if their lives differed from an average medieval Londoner.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58I met Dr Becky Redfern in the bone store,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01where the museum keeps thousands of skeletons
0:08:01 > 0:08:05discovered in archaeological excavations.
0:08:07 > 0:08:08So, Becky what have we got here, then?
0:08:08 > 0:08:12Well we've got two very exciting individuals from the medieval period.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14So, here we have a member from a monastic order
0:08:14 > 0:08:16from Merton Priory in Surrey.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18- Ah-ha, we have a monk. - We have a monk.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22And then we have our Mr Average medieval Londoner,
0:08:22 > 0:08:26and we can tell that his life was subject to a lot more stress
0:08:26 > 0:08:30and dietary insufficiencies compared to a monastic one.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32What sort of things tells us that, then?
0:08:32 > 0:08:36So, on his thigh bone there, his femur, you can see it's very bowed.
0:08:36 > 0:08:37Oh, yes.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40And that is from rickets, so he suffered from that as a child.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42- And that's from a lack of vitamin D? - Yes.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45But the monastic populations have a lot less evidence
0:08:45 > 0:08:47for this type of disease compared to the leg...
0:08:47 > 0:08:50- So, no rickets on this skeleton, then?- No, none in him.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53And the monastic members tend to be slightly taller
0:08:53 > 0:08:54than the average population,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57which is again showing that they have a good diet.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00And what sort of ages are these individuals, then?
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Well, the monastic orders are a lot older,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07so these are individuals who are at least 45 years old.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11So, when we've looked at the indicators that we use on his pelvis,
0:09:11 > 0:09:13that's showing us that he's at least 45 years,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15- so he could be into his 60s or even older.- Right.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18- Whereas...- That's very old for the time.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21Very, very good going for medieval period, yeah.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24It's because of their social and environmental buffering,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26it enables them to live a lot longer.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28But people amongst the general public,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31- they are living a lot shorter lives. - Yeah. A lot shorter lives.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34This man is 25 to 30 years old.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37So, from the cemetery where he was buried - St Mary Spital -
0:09:37 > 0:09:41- most people are dying between 25 and 35 years old.- Gosh.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45So, this skeleton over here then, it shows evidence of malnutrition.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49- Mm-hm.- Do we see any evidence of that in monastic graveyards?
0:09:49 > 0:09:54No, not at all, really. In fact, we see the opposite.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58We know from analysing the carbon and nitrogen levels in their bones
0:09:58 > 0:10:01that they eat a lot of protein, so a lot of meat and a lot of fish.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04And this is also manifested in this disease.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08- So, this candle wax kind of dripping effect here.- Oh, gosh!
0:10:08 > 0:10:11And in some cases, this disease, which is known as DISH -
0:10:11 > 0:10:13which is diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis,
0:10:13 > 0:10:15but DISH is much easier -
0:10:15 > 0:10:19for some individuals, the ribs can fuse on,
0:10:19 > 0:10:22the sacrum can fuse to the pelvis
0:10:22 > 0:10:26and this is associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28So, we're looking at a fat monk?
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Yeah, probably. Yeah.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34But do they suffer from any other diseases?
0:10:34 > 0:10:37So, in Hull, there are these monks,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41and they've obviously been very naughty because they've got syphilis.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43- Oh, no!- Can you imagine?
0:10:43 > 0:10:47During life, they may have denied colourful pasts and fast living,
0:10:47 > 0:10:49- but actually...- The bones can't lie. - Yeah, indeed.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55So, far from living lives of abstinence,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58many monks were eating better and living longer
0:10:58 > 0:11:01than people outside the cloister.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04But what did their diet actually consist of?
0:11:15 > 0:11:17The image of the fat monk
0:11:17 > 0:11:20is a cherished cliche of the medieval world.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25The classic depiction is Chaucer's character,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29described in his General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32written towards the end of the 14th century.
0:11:33 > 0:11:39Chaucer introduces the monk, saying, "Fat was this lord.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44"He stood in goodly case. His bulging eyes rolled about."
0:11:44 > 0:11:50And we're told, "A fat swan he loved best of any roast."
0:11:50 > 0:11:56Chaucer's monk was a comic figure, a waddling glutton.
0:11:58 > 0:12:03The amount of food and drink consumed by some real medieval monks
0:12:03 > 0:12:07is revealed by records that survive from Westminster Abbey's kitchens.
0:12:10 > 0:12:11In the early 16th century,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15when a skilled worker could earn around seven pounds a year,
0:12:15 > 0:12:20the Abbey's annual income was £2,100.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26While less than 10% this was given away as alms to the poor,
0:12:26 > 0:12:30an incredible 37% was spent on food.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37The monks were only supposed to eat only small amounts of meat,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40but they soon began to find ingenious loopholes.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44They narrowed the definition of meat,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47which meant they could eat as much offal as they liked.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49And because they weren't allowed to eat much meat
0:12:49 > 0:12:51inside their refectories,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54they simply created new dining halls.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Thank you.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03By the 16th century, every day, Westminster monks
0:13:03 > 0:13:08were consuming meat equivalent to a 12oz steak.
0:13:16 > 0:13:22On top of that, each day, the monks could expect to consume five eggs,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24two loaves of bread...
0:13:26 > 0:13:29..and at least eight pints of ale.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Oh, yummy. Thank you so much.
0:13:40 > 0:13:41Looks amazing.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50They were also fond of delicacies,
0:13:50 > 0:13:56often eating so much dairy they had to be treated with digestive syrups.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Fruit was brought from nearby farms.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04Like many monasteries, Westminster Abbey was also known as a convent,
0:14:04 > 0:14:09and today that farmland is still called Covent Garden.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16The Westminster monks were, on average, consuming
0:14:16 > 0:14:206,200 calories per day,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23three times the recommended intake for a man.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27This is extraordinary for a monastery
0:14:27 > 0:14:29founded on the Rules of Benedict,
0:14:29 > 0:14:33which states a pound of bread should be sufficient food for a day.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41So, Chaucer's monk wasn't just a caricature.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45His mockery shows that monks' lavish diets
0:14:45 > 0:14:48had become a public joke.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56There were still those
0:14:56 > 0:15:00who believed in the original ideals of monasticism -
0:15:00 > 0:15:03ideals of self-deprivation and seclusion.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11In the early years of the 15th century,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15a young woman here in York made a radical decision.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Her name was Emma Raughton
0:15:21 > 0:15:26and she had chosen to be sealed in a cell for the rest of her life.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34Like hundreds of other women in the medieval period,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Emma Raughton was becoming an anchoress.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40The word comes from the Greek anachoretes,
0:15:40 > 0:15:42which means "one who lives alone".
0:15:46 > 0:15:50Accounts survive describing the extraordinary ceremony
0:15:50 > 0:15:54that was performed on the day women like Emma were sealed up.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09Once the girl or woman was inside the church,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11she was led to the west end
0:16:11 > 0:16:15where she would lie down on the ground prostrate.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19She was then sprinkled with water and given two candles -
0:16:19 > 0:16:23one representing love of God
0:16:23 > 0:16:27and one representing love of your neighbour.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31After this, she was led towards her cell.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Psalms from the Office of the Dead were sung
0:16:51 > 0:16:57and then she was sprinkled with dust before being led to her cell.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01And then the door was permanently blocked behind her.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09It was a funeral ceremony.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19The anchoress was, in effect, leaving the world of the living
0:17:19 > 0:17:21and entering the world of the dead.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31This is an incredibly cramped place.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38Emma's cell may well have had a second storey, but still,
0:17:38 > 0:17:44it's such a constricted, confined place to spend an entire lifetime.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49So, what was she supposed to do with herself, day after day,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53year after year, trapped in here?
0:17:53 > 0:17:57Well, like monasteries and nunneries,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00anchoresses had a rule to live by.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05The Ancrene Wisse, or Anchoress's Guide,
0:18:05 > 0:18:09was written by a West Midlands friar in the early 13th century.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17The Ancrene Wisse gives very precise details
0:18:17 > 0:18:20on how the anchoress should live her life,
0:18:20 > 0:18:25from how she should pray - kneeling down on the bed -
0:18:25 > 0:18:30to the thickness of the curtains that would have covered the windows.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34It also gives extraordinary instructions
0:18:34 > 0:18:37on how she should respond to the Mass
0:18:37 > 0:18:40which was being said in the church down below
0:18:40 > 0:18:42and which she could glimpse
0:18:42 > 0:18:45by peeping through this hole in the wall.
0:18:52 > 0:18:58It says here, "When the priest has consecrated the Host,
0:18:58 > 0:19:04"forget all the world, be completely outside of your body,
0:19:04 > 0:19:09"embrace the sparkling love of your lover,
0:19:09 > 0:19:14"who has descended into your bower from heaven
0:19:14 > 0:19:21"and hold him firmly until he has granted you all that you ever ask."
0:19:22 > 0:19:26The one being embraced is Jesus himself.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34The solitary suffering of the anchoress
0:19:34 > 0:19:36was mirroring that of Christ.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41On the threshold between life and death,
0:19:41 > 0:19:46she was forming an intensely personal - even mystical -
0:19:46 > 0:19:48union with God.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58This gave her great power
0:19:58 > 0:20:01as a heavenly representative for her community.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06The public flocked to these holy women.
0:20:10 > 0:20:15The earliest monks took their inspiration from the Desert Fathers
0:20:15 > 0:20:21who had achieved spiritual perfection alone in their caves.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25By the 15th century, monks had drifted away
0:20:25 > 0:20:29from the path of austere perfection,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32swapping their caves for palaces.
0:20:32 > 0:20:39Now it was the anchoresses, sealed up in their cave-like cells,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43who seemed to be the true inheritors of the monastic tradition.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53The monks' pursuit of luxury threw their legitimacy into question.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00For centuries, monasteries were at the heart of public life.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05They were the sole suppliers of a range of services
0:21:05 > 0:21:08that were essential to the ruling elite.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11But these, too, were slipping from their grasp.
0:21:13 > 0:21:14Most critically,
0:21:14 > 0:21:19they now faced competition in their fundamental dominion -
0:21:19 > 0:21:20education.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Since the fall of the Roman Empire,
0:21:25 > 0:21:29monasteries monopolised literature and learning.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32They were guardians of classical knowledge,
0:21:32 > 0:21:37connected to a Europe-wide educational system.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41But by the 12th century, a new institution had evolved
0:21:41 > 0:21:46at Bologna, Paris, Cambridge and here at Oxford.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51These universities didn't require students to be monks.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54They studied a broader range of subjects,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57including law and medicine.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00Learning was no longer a monastic preserve.
0:22:04 > 0:22:10Soon, even some monks were being sent away to the universities.
0:22:10 > 0:22:16And as education became increasingly secularised and professionalised,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20so too was the production of the materials education required.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28The scribing of books had been monopolised by the monasteries.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32Monks had expertise and time to spare.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37But in 13th and 14th centuries,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41entrepreneurs realised there was money to be made in manuscripts
0:22:41 > 0:22:45and professional scribes set up in many major towns.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50But most devastating of all
0:22:50 > 0:22:55was the invention of the printing press in 1450.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58The impact on monasteries was huge.
0:23:05 > 0:23:10For centuries, the patient production of books by hand
0:23:10 > 0:23:13was a primary activity of the monasteries.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18Now the demand was fading, and nothing ever fully took its place.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23The importance of monasteries to their powerful patrons
0:23:23 > 0:23:25was in decline.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33Despite the gradual undermining of their role,
0:23:33 > 0:23:35at the dawn of the 16th century,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38monasteries were still incredibly influential.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Between them, the monasteries owned
0:23:43 > 0:23:46a staggering one third of the nation's land.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52And politically, they still sat at the heart of the nation,
0:23:52 > 0:23:54seen clearly at Westminster.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02The great abbey sat alongside the palace,
0:24:02 > 0:24:07home to royalty and parliament, in a great and intricate knot of power.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15And yet, for the spectators watching the opening of parliament
0:24:15 > 0:24:17in November 1529,
0:24:17 > 0:24:21something happened which might have called all that into question.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30As usual, crowds had gathered to watch the pomp and ceremony.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33But something happened which wasn't traditional.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38Copies of a pamphlet were hurled into the crowd
0:24:38 > 0:24:41and fell into curious hands.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45It was called A Supplication For The Beggars
0:24:45 > 0:24:49and its intention was to destroy the monastic system.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54The anonymous pamphlet was, in fact,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57written by a lawyer called Simon Fish,
0:24:57 > 0:25:02who provocatively addressed it to the King - Henry VIII.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07It claimed to be written on behalf of the beggars of the kingdom,
0:25:07 > 0:25:13who were being starved to death by a far worse group of beggars -
0:25:13 > 0:25:14the church.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18The pamphlet instructs the King,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22"In the times past, there craftily crept into this your realm
0:25:22 > 0:25:24"holy and idle beggars -
0:25:24 > 0:25:29"the abbots, priors, deacons, monks and friars -
0:25:29 > 0:25:32"who, setting all labour aside,
0:25:32 > 0:25:36"have begged so importunately that they have gotten into their hands
0:25:36 > 0:25:39"more than a third of your realm."
0:25:39 > 0:25:43The holy beggars are also accused of making,
0:25:43 > 0:25:47"a 100,000 whores in your land."
0:25:47 > 0:25:53"Surely," he argues, "we'd be better off without these sinful parasites."
0:25:57 > 0:26:01It wasn't the first time the Church had been criticised,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04but this was something new and different...
0:26:06 > 0:26:08..something dangerous.
0:26:11 > 0:26:17Fish argued that the Church had leached away Henry VIII's power
0:26:17 > 0:26:20and that the vast wealth of the monasteries
0:26:20 > 0:26:22should be given to the Crown.
0:26:22 > 0:26:28Most provocatively, he yoked the greed of the national church
0:26:28 > 0:26:32to the overall corruption of the Roman Catholic faith.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36And all this was done in the language not of the scholar,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38but of the streets.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41Opposition to the monasteries now had a new voice.
0:26:48 > 0:26:54But in 1529, the monasteries still had sufficient support
0:26:54 > 0:26:55from the ruling class.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Fish was charged with heresy,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01but died of plague before he could be brought to trial.
0:27:02 > 0:27:08However, his ideas would live on, and they gained greater purchase
0:27:08 > 0:27:11when Henry VIII made a momentous decision.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Forbidden by the Pope from annulling his first marriage
0:27:14 > 0:27:16and marrying Anne Boleyn,
0:27:16 > 0:27:21in 1533, Henry split the English Church from Rome.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32While the Pope had been the ultimate religious authority,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36the monasteries now had a new and unpredictable leader.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40And with opposition abroad and expensive tastes at home,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43that leader badly needed money.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48For King Henry, the ideas that had fluttered down on the London breeze
0:27:48 > 0:27:52four years earlier now seemed like an attractive policy.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Making matters worse for the monasteries
0:27:59 > 0:28:02was a religious reform movement burgeoning on the Continent.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06Martin Luther, a German friar,
0:28:06 > 0:28:10set about the Catholic Church with great zeal,
0:28:10 > 0:28:15targeting perceived Church corruption and superstition.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19With their relics, idols and opulent lifestyles,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23monks were believed to be some of the worst offenders.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26With these new ideas from abroad,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29the monasteries were losing their grip.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32A perfect storm was brewing.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35But it might not have struck with such force
0:28:35 > 0:28:38had it not been for one man.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40THUNDER ROLLS
0:28:44 > 0:28:47Thomas Cromwell was King Henry's fixer.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50He lived to solve problems.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53And the monasteries, with their spiritual independence,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56were a major problem for Henry.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58Cromwell oversaw the break with Rome
0:28:58 > 0:29:02and then became Vicar General of the English Church.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07Eager to provide his king with desperately needed funds,
0:29:07 > 0:29:11he saw in the monasteries a golden opportunity.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16Commissioners were dispatched across the country
0:29:16 > 0:29:20to prepare a dossier on the state of the monasteries.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23As Cromwell's agents,
0:29:23 > 0:29:27they had unlimited power to search monasteries,
0:29:27 > 0:29:31audit their treasures and interrogate the monks and nuns.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36Known as visitors, they arrived here,
0:29:36 > 0:29:41at the gate of Bury St Edmunds Abbey, in November 1535.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47This is what the visitors wrote about Bury -
0:29:47 > 0:29:53"The abbot delights in the company of women, in sumptuous banquets,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56"in cards and dice, and does not preach."
0:29:56 > 0:30:02"The prior and eight others are defamed for incontinence with women.
0:30:02 > 0:30:08"One confesses to adultery, and two admit to voluntar polluc."
0:30:08 > 0:30:13That is, self violation. It's hot stuff.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19The findings at Bury were echoed across the country.
0:30:19 > 0:30:24Certain monasteries already had a reputation for bad behaviour,
0:30:24 > 0:30:28but the visitors reported institutional corruption and vice
0:30:28 > 0:30:30on a phenomenal scale.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37At Farley, the prior apparently had "eight whores".
0:30:37 > 0:30:42At Garendon, there were "five sodomites", one abusing ten boys.
0:30:44 > 0:30:45While at Langdon,
0:30:45 > 0:30:49the visitors stationed guards at the escape routes,
0:30:49 > 0:30:53or starting holes, of the abbot's house.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57One them wrote how he fortunately found a small pole axe,
0:30:57 > 0:31:02dashed the door to pieces and went about the house.
0:31:02 > 0:31:07Finally, they found the abbot's whore, alias his gentlewoman,
0:31:07 > 0:31:11when she, "Bestirred her stumps towards her starting holes,"
0:31:11 > 0:31:15and then they, "Took the tender demoiselle."
0:31:18 > 0:31:21ABBEY BELLS CHIME
0:31:24 > 0:31:26As well as reporting on moral abuses,
0:31:26 > 0:31:29the visitors gave detailed reports
0:31:29 > 0:31:31on the relics held by each monastery.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36Monks operated a vast relic industry,
0:31:36 > 0:31:39which had been a source of much of their considerable income.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44For centuries, it had been believed that relics were
0:31:44 > 0:31:47"potent repositories of heavenly power".
0:31:48 > 0:31:50But under the new religious ideas,
0:31:50 > 0:31:53they were condemned as trinkets of superstition.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04The visitors listed the spectacular array of relics
0:32:04 > 0:32:06venerated here at Bury.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08There was, "The shirt of St Edmund...
0:32:11 > 0:32:15"..the blood of Christ, the stone with which St Stephen was stoned...
0:32:18 > 0:32:20"..the coals with which St Lawrence was roasted...
0:32:23 > 0:32:28"..the skull of St Petronilla, which simple folk put on their heads,
0:32:28 > 0:32:30"hoping to be delivered from fever."
0:32:30 > 0:32:32BELL TOLLS
0:32:32 > 0:32:35During one inspection, it was discovered that
0:32:35 > 0:32:38one of the country's most popular relics
0:32:38 > 0:32:40had even received a helping hand.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43At Boxley Abbey in Kent,
0:32:43 > 0:32:48the visitors examined their famous, miraculous crucifix
0:32:48 > 0:32:54and found old wires and rotten sticks at the back
0:32:54 > 0:32:57which caused the eyes to move and
0:32:57 > 0:33:01the head to stir like a living thing
0:33:01 > 0:33:06and the lips, likewise, to move as though they should speak.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10The abbot and monks claimed that they were ignorant of it.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16The reports still make eye-popping reading
0:33:16 > 0:33:20and some were clearly telling Cromwell what he wanted to hear.
0:33:20 > 0:33:25But were the allegations true? Or had the dossier been sexed up?
0:33:27 > 0:33:29The visitors were looking for dirt
0:33:29 > 0:33:32and through bullying and interrogation,
0:33:32 > 0:33:33they got what they wanted.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37Clearly, some of the claims were exaggerated.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41For example, they said that two nuns at Handale Priory
0:33:41 > 0:33:43had recently given birth,
0:33:43 > 0:33:48but they turned out be 49 and 70 years old.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52Yet, it's impossible to believe that they made up everything.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Monks and nuns across the country
0:33:54 > 0:33:58had plummeted from the earlier monastic ideals.
0:33:58 > 0:34:03Whatever the truth, Cromwell now had the justification he needed.
0:34:05 > 0:34:11In July 1535, when the visitation reports were read out to Parliament,
0:34:11 > 0:34:13the House was stunned.
0:34:14 > 0:34:19No-one had envisioned corruption on this scale.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23The Dissolution swiftly became official policy.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27The Suppression Of Religious Houses Act was passed,
0:34:27 > 0:34:30forcing the closure of all smaller monasteries,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33those with an income less than £200 a year.
0:34:36 > 0:34:41This amounted to around 230 monasteries across England,
0:34:41 > 0:34:43many with fewer than ten inhabitants.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47They were an easy target.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50Their members either joined larger houses
0:34:50 > 0:34:52or were bought off with a small pension.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58While the political elite were convinced they deserved to close,
0:34:58 > 0:35:02the monasteries were still held sacred by many,
0:35:02 > 0:35:04particularly in the north of England...
0:35:06 > 0:35:09..and they were willing to fight to keep them.
0:35:13 > 0:35:19In October 1536, a Yorkshire-born lawyer named Robert Aske
0:35:19 > 0:35:21was travelling to Westminster.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26He was 36 and a member of the minor gentry.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30While passing through the Lincolnshire town of Louth,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33his journey was suddenly interrupted.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37The town was in revolt.
0:35:37 > 0:35:42Incensed by economic grievances and the religious reforms,
0:35:42 > 0:35:44the people rose up.
0:35:44 > 0:35:49A man of deep conscience, Aske shared the anger of the people
0:35:49 > 0:35:52with what was happening to the monasteries.
0:35:52 > 0:35:58He turned his horse back from London and began to organise the movement.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00The rebels had a new leader.
0:36:03 > 0:36:09Under Aske, a far greater rebellion began to spread across the north.
0:36:09 > 0:36:14At its heart was a desire to save the monasteries.
0:36:14 > 0:36:19Thousands rose in armed revolt, primarily in the counties
0:36:19 > 0:36:22of Yorkshire, Lancashire,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25Cumberland and Westmorland.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31Aske re-branded the uprising.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34This was no longer just a rebellion -
0:36:34 > 0:36:37this was the Pilgrimage of Grace.
0:36:37 > 0:36:4110,000 people joined him and they took the city of York
0:36:41 > 0:36:45without a fight, parading through its streets.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48A celebratory Mass was held here at the minster.
0:36:59 > 0:37:05Aske wrote a declaration and nailed it to the doors of the minster.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08It called upon the dispossessed monks
0:37:08 > 0:37:11to go back into their houses again.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15Cromwell's Dissolution was being put into reverse.
0:37:21 > 0:37:27By October, Aske's forces had swollen to 30,000 armed men
0:37:27 > 0:37:31and threatened the entire Tudor state.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35But the king's officers shrewdly delayed the rebels with promises
0:37:35 > 0:37:37and they became divided.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43Its momentum lost, the Pilgrimage was crushed.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47200 of the rebels were executed.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51Their number included some monks
0:37:51 > 0:37:54and the Abbots of Fountains and Jervaulx.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00The Pilgrimage of Grace was never just about the monasteries.
0:38:00 > 0:38:05The people were angry at the whole aggressive Tudor state.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09Robert Aske was executed as a traitor.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13He was brought here to Clifford's Tower, hanged from a chain
0:38:13 > 0:38:15and then disembowelled.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18The revolt squandered any sympathy
0:38:18 > 0:38:22that Henry VIII may have had left for the monks.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25The Pilgrimage, which had aimed to save the monasteries,
0:38:25 > 0:38:27instead sealed their fate.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35For Henry, the Pilgrimage was the breaking point.
0:38:36 > 0:38:41Cromwell was now empowered to target the huge, rich monasteries
0:38:41 > 0:38:44that hadn't been closed under the Act of Suppression.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50But this time, he didn't even get an Act of Parliament.
0:38:50 > 0:38:55Cromwell and his visitors simply strong-armed the abbots and abbesses
0:38:55 > 0:38:59into signing over their monasteries over to the crown.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03If they agreed, they were rewarded with healthy pensions.
0:39:03 > 0:39:08If they did not, they faced poverty and punishment.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10Westminster.
0:39:11 > 0:39:12Peterborough.
0:39:14 > 0:39:15Winchester.
0:39:17 > 0:39:18Gloucester.
0:39:20 > 0:39:21Durham.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26One by one, the great monasteries of England were surrendered.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34But what was the Crown to do with this sudden and unprecedented haul?
0:39:38 > 0:39:44On the 23rd of June, 1538, the abbot and monks of Roche Abbey,
0:39:44 > 0:39:49a Cistercian monastery in Yorkshire, met in their chapter house.
0:39:49 > 0:39:56Their predecessors had gathered here every day for 391 years.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59But this was to be their final meeting.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05The abbot signed the deed of surrender
0:40:05 > 0:40:09and handed the abbey keys to the royal commissioners.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15What happened next was typical of all the monasteries.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22When it was built in the 1170s,
0:40:22 > 0:40:26this church was one of the most advanced buildings in the country.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30You can see over there Gothic pointed arches,
0:40:30 > 0:40:33a style that was to become one of the great glories
0:40:33 > 0:40:35of the medieval period.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39This building was one of the first in England to use them.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42It had stood here for three and a half centuries.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45But it was brought down in just a few days.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51The devastation was total.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54Cromwell's agents were systematic and efficient.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59Precious lead from the roof was carted off
0:40:59 > 0:41:02and anything else of value was auctioned,
0:41:02 > 0:41:04from tables and chairs to door locks.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10An account survives of what happened here at Roche.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13It was written by a local priest,
0:41:13 > 0:41:15whose uncle attended the auction,
0:41:15 > 0:41:18and it reveals how far and how quickly
0:41:18 > 0:41:22the monks plummeted from their position of power and wealth.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28The account states that the monks were allowed to auction off anything
0:41:28 > 0:41:29from their own cells.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34It says, "One monk urged my uncle to buy something from him,
0:41:34 > 0:41:38"but my uncle replied that he could see nothing
0:41:38 > 0:41:40"that would be of any use to him.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44"The monk asked him for two pennies for his cell door,
0:41:44 > 0:41:46"which was worth over five shillings,
0:41:46 > 0:41:48"but my uncle refused."
0:41:53 > 0:41:57The account tells how local people descended on the abbey
0:41:57 > 0:41:59to scavenge anything that remained.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05They stole pewter pots and ripped hooks from the walls.
0:42:05 > 0:42:11Some even used service books to patch up holes in their carts.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16When the priest asked his uncle why he took part in the pillaging,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19he replied, "What else should I have done?
0:42:19 > 0:42:23"Might not I, as well as the others,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26"have had some share in the profits of the abbey?"
0:42:26 > 0:42:32This destruction was an act of greed, not of religious ideology.
0:42:38 > 0:42:43While the ruined monasteries still punctuate the landscape of Britain,
0:42:43 > 0:42:47some of the best evidence for how the Dissolution was carried out
0:42:47 > 0:42:49is hidden from view.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53In this innocuous warehouse in Yorkshire,
0:42:53 > 0:42:57English Heritage stores architectural artefacts
0:42:57 > 0:43:01found at monasteries ransacked by Cromwell's agents.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03This is it.
0:43:04 > 0:43:05There's so much!
0:43:08 > 0:43:10Oh, my goodness, it's amazing.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16We're used to hearing about the savagery of the Dissolution,
0:43:16 > 0:43:20but the truth these artefacts reveal is far more surprising.
0:43:24 > 0:43:29The English Heritage Curator for the North is Kevin Booth.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32Kevin, what have we got here?
0:43:32 > 0:43:35Well, pretty much, the remnants of England's monastic traditions,
0:43:35 > 0:43:37or at least within the north of England.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39We've got about 20 sites here.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43Some of the classics. I mean, there's Rievaulx, there's Whitby,
0:43:43 > 0:43:46there's Byland across there and there's Kirkham.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49Gosh. It's a real treasure trove of finds
0:43:49 > 0:43:52- from these monastic sites, then. - It absolutely is.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56It's really the bulk of everything that's left from those sites.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59Fantastic. So, these are the artefacts, the images,
0:43:59 > 0:44:02the sculptures that adorned these ruinous monastic rites.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05They are, but more importantly, I suppose,
0:44:05 > 0:44:08it's what adorned those sites at the Dissolution.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10So, we're seeing a snapshot of material that was there
0:44:10 > 0:44:14either on the buildings or the detritus left behind
0:44:14 > 0:44:17in the process of taking those buildings apart.
0:44:19 > 0:44:23- And this is absolutely stunning. Look at that.- Mm.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25- So ornately carved.- Yeah.
0:44:25 > 0:44:26This is a boss.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29It's one of those pieces that locked together the ceiling vaults.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33And this one's likely from high up in the east end of the church.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36- At Rievaulx?- At Rievaulx, yeah. - So, a monastic church.- Yeah.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38And it's a very important stone,
0:44:38 > 0:44:39then, isn't it?
0:44:39 > 0:44:41Without this, clearly, that whole
0:44:41 > 0:44:44- structure comes tumbling down.- Mm.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46But the point that we found with this
0:44:46 > 0:44:48is that it's simply not damaged,
0:44:48 > 0:44:50- there is barely a scuff mark on it.- Yes.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52So, the question has to be,
0:44:52 > 0:44:55how do you get this from the top of that building
0:44:55 > 0:44:57if it's all being pulled down
0:44:57 > 0:45:00- without that being seriously destroyed?- Destroyed, yes.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03Because presumably, it's 50, 60, 70 foot in the air?
0:45:03 > 0:45:05Yeah. They must have had scaffolding.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08They must be quite carefully and quite systematically
0:45:08 > 0:45:13taking down material for future use, for resale, for whatever.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15So, it destroys this idea
0:45:15 > 0:45:19that it's all wanton ripping down of these buildings.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21This barely scratched, isn't it?
0:45:21 > 0:45:25The ends are lovely and smooth. It's barely damaged.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28- It's still got all the chisel marks of the man who made it.- Yes!
0:45:28 > 0:45:30And the little setting-out mark here.
0:45:30 > 0:45:32It's so highly worked.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35It flies in the face of this early monastic tradition
0:45:35 > 0:45:38where it's sort of a beehive cell on the side of a mountain.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40This is the finest art of its time
0:45:40 > 0:45:42- and it's just a fraction of that, isn't it?- Absolutely.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46And it does give us an insight into the quality of the art
0:45:46 > 0:45:48within an institution like Rievaulx.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50Yeah. And there's another good
0:45:50 > 0:45:52example over here, isn't there,
0:45:52 > 0:45:54- of how things have been destroyed? - Absolutely.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59So, here we have a figure of Christ seated in majesty,
0:45:59 > 0:46:02probably from the west front, west portal of Gisborough Priory,
0:46:02 > 0:46:03around 1300.
0:46:03 > 0:46:08And traditionally, he'd be seated in majesty, maybe holding a book?
0:46:08 > 0:46:12Yes. So, he lost his arms but we can be fairly certain
0:46:12 > 0:46:15he's sat with his arms in this position holding something,
0:46:15 > 0:46:18quite possibly a representation of a book made from bronze,
0:46:18 > 0:46:21perhaps guild, perhaps even with precious stones inset into it.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24Because manuscripts, they were covered
0:46:24 > 0:46:26in these sorts of bejewelled surfaces weren't they?
0:46:26 > 0:46:28Beautiful works of art in their own right.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31This particular work of art, we've got a socket here,
0:46:31 > 0:46:36so it suggests that that bronze book is wedged,
0:46:36 > 0:46:39set presumably with lead setting into there, but that's gone.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42- That's the missing piece. - Well, it's easy to grab, isn't it?
0:46:42 > 0:46:46It's easy to grab, but in this instance, perhaps harder to pry off.
0:46:46 > 0:46:52So, you can see here these marks, coming at angle in as if a tool,
0:46:52 > 0:46:58some kind of axe or pick, has been used to prize that book,
0:46:58 > 0:47:01that precious item out of that socket.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, it's precious metal and jewels
0:47:04 > 0:47:06- just ready for the taking. - Ready for the taking.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12What's remarkable to me about the process of the Dissolution
0:47:12 > 0:47:16is not it's savagery, but quite how methodical it was.
0:47:18 > 0:47:24On the whole, the Dissolution wasn't an orgy of destruction.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28It wasn't a zealous and wanton obliteration
0:47:28 > 0:47:31of a much-detested institution.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33It was something far more systematic.
0:47:34 > 0:47:39Like hundreds of other monasteries and nunneries across the country,
0:47:39 > 0:47:44Roche was quickly and efficiently converted into money.
0:47:44 > 0:47:49And what couldn't be plundered was simply abandoned to decay.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08Cromwell's blend of bribery and intimidation
0:48:08 > 0:48:12persuaded almost all the great monasteries
0:48:12 > 0:48:14to capitulate without a fight.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17Very few stood up to the Dissolution.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22Those that did paid a terrible price.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32Glastonbury Abbey had the biggest income in England,
0:48:32 > 0:48:34but there was a problem.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39On the first occasion, the visitors praised the order of the house,
0:48:39 > 0:48:42which, they said, "Had long been honourable."
0:48:42 > 0:48:45They even praised its worthy abbot.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49This lack of scandal was not what Cromwell wanted.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52Rebuked, the visitors returned again.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54And this time, they found what they were looking for.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02In the walls of the abbey, they discovered money and treasure
0:49:02 > 0:49:04hidden from them by the monks.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07In the abbot's house,
0:49:07 > 0:49:11they found a book that opposed the king's divorce.
0:49:12 > 0:49:17It wasn't much, but more than enough for Cromwell.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22The abbot of Glastonbury was called Richard Whiting.
0:49:22 > 0:49:23Nearly 70 years old,
0:49:23 > 0:49:28he epitomised the great monastic leader of the early Tudor period,
0:49:28 > 0:49:33entertaining in a lavish way and sending Christmas gifts to the king.
0:49:33 > 0:49:39But that world was over. Now, Cromwell expected a quick surrender.
0:49:39 > 0:49:41But Whiting did something that hundreds before him
0:49:41 > 0:49:45had failed to do - he refused to give in.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52The interrogators arrived, but Whiting didn't buckle.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57The old man was despatched to the Tower of London
0:49:57 > 0:50:01and two months later, put on trial.
0:50:01 > 0:50:06He was found guilty - but not of treason, as Cromwell hoped,
0:50:06 > 0:50:10but simply of "robbing Glastonbury Church".
0:50:16 > 0:50:21On the 15th of November, 1539, Richard Whiting was tied to a hurdle
0:50:21 > 0:50:23and dragged through Glastonbury.
0:50:26 > 0:50:31He was described as, "A very weak man and sickly."
0:50:33 > 0:50:37Next. he was brought here, to the top of Glastonbury Tor.
0:50:40 > 0:50:45Though convicted only of robbery, the abbot had defied Cromwell.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49An example would be made of him.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01Here, Whiting received the traditional punishment for treason.
0:51:01 > 0:51:02He was hanged...
0:51:03 > 0:51:05..disembowelled...
0:51:06 > 0:51:07..beheaded...
0:51:10 > 0:51:13..and his body was chopped into four pieces.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19His head was then carried down the hill
0:51:19 > 0:51:21and stuck on the gates of the abbey.
0:51:21 > 0:51:26The old man must have known what he was doing by disobeying Cromwell.
0:51:26 > 0:51:31But handing over his abbey was something he simply could not do.
0:51:31 > 0:51:36One eye witness said that, "He faced his death very patiently."
0:51:39 > 0:51:44Abbot Whiting's horrific death shows how ruthlessly determined
0:51:44 > 0:51:48Cromwell was to ensure the success of the Dissolution.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54Yet, to me, what's most remarkable is how little resistance there was.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01The reason that Richard Whiting stands out
0:52:01 > 0:52:04is that he is almost alone.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07The abbots of Reading and Colchester were also executed,
0:52:07 > 0:52:13but the hundreds of other monastic leaders went with barely a fight.
0:52:13 > 0:52:17Whilst nationally, from around 12,000 monks and nuns,
0:52:17 > 0:52:20it's thought that fewer than 20 met a violent end.
0:52:21 > 0:52:26The Dissolution is often seen as a savage convulsion,
0:52:26 > 0:52:30but the truth is, it was an almost bloodless revolution.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33While the individual deaths were terrible,
0:52:33 > 0:52:37the mass violence was done to ideas, not to people.
0:52:52 > 0:52:57By 1541, from the 800 monasteries and nunneries
0:52:57 > 0:53:01in existence a decade earlier, not a single one remained.
0:53:12 > 0:53:15Not all the monastery buildings were destroyed.
0:53:18 > 0:53:2114 of the most magnificent were saved,
0:53:21 > 0:53:25becoming the great cathedral complexes we know today.
0:53:33 > 0:53:39Some became schools, parish churches or private homes.
0:53:44 > 0:53:48For the vast majority of people in the 16th century,
0:53:48 > 0:53:53the end of a millennium of monasteries had very little impact.
0:53:53 > 0:53:58As great swathes of monastic lands were auctioned off,
0:53:58 > 0:54:02peasants simply swapped landlords.
0:54:02 > 0:54:08The fruit of their labour had once been lavished upon majestic abbeys,
0:54:08 > 0:54:13but were now in the hands of an enriched gentry.
0:54:13 > 0:54:18It's their spectacular homes that now start to rise up
0:54:18 > 0:54:22on the landscape, with places like here at Wroxton
0:54:22 > 0:54:26actually built upon the very foundations
0:54:26 > 0:54:31and from the same stones as the monasteries they'd superseded.
0:54:35 > 0:54:39While the monasteries no longer dominated
0:54:39 > 0:54:42all the social spheres they once had,
0:54:42 > 0:54:45their destruction did have repercussions
0:54:45 > 0:54:47for some outside the cloister.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57The amount of relief given to the poor fell immediately.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59Monastic hospitals were shut down
0:54:59 > 0:55:04and only gradually replaced by secular alternatives.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07But the monks themselves were never abandoned.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11Many found new roles within the Church
0:55:11 > 0:55:14and the others were pensioned off,
0:55:14 > 0:55:17receiving a small but survivable income.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21Bureaucracy - not butchery - was the order of the day.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30For a thousand years,
0:55:30 > 0:55:34monasteries had been at the very heart of British society.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38How could they have gone so quickly?
0:55:41 > 0:55:44I believe the monks' time had passed.
0:55:44 > 0:55:50Their brand of Christianity, resplendent with saints and relics,
0:55:50 > 0:55:56had become outmoded in the eyes of a progressively rational elite.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00Monasteries would be dissolved across Europe,
0:56:00 > 0:56:04even in staunchly Catholic Italy, France and Spain.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07But primarily, the British monasteries
0:56:07 > 0:56:11had lost their unique place in the life of the nation.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16A millennia earlier,
0:56:16 > 0:56:20the monasteries had first appeared in the wilderness,
0:56:20 > 0:56:24outposts where monks sought personal salvation
0:56:24 > 0:56:26through Christ-like suffering.
0:56:28 > 0:56:33Gradually, the monks had become intertwined with the ruling class
0:56:33 > 0:56:36and began building their own palaces,
0:56:36 > 0:56:41their founding principle and justification all but forgotten.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46Yet they had kept the flame of civilisation burning
0:56:46 > 0:56:49since the fall of the Roman Empire.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53And the institutions that now took on their role
0:56:53 > 0:56:58were profoundly influenced by the monasteries they replaced.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03This isn't the cloister of a monastery,
0:57:03 > 0:57:05but of New College in Oxford.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08And it isn't just the architecture
0:57:08 > 0:57:11that replicates the monastic style.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15In their organisation and their dedication to learning,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18the early universities and schools
0:57:18 > 0:57:22were essentially secularised monasteries.
0:57:22 > 0:57:27The monastic tradition influenced all future educational institutions.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34But it wasn't just in the realm of education.
0:57:34 > 0:57:36The pattern is seen again and again.
0:57:38 > 0:57:39In art...
0:57:41 > 0:57:42..science...
0:57:44 > 0:57:45..music...
0:57:47 > 0:57:48..medicine...
0:57:50 > 0:57:52..and architecture.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56None would be in the form we recognise today
0:57:56 > 0:58:00without the tireless work of the monks.
0:58:01 > 0:58:07A movement founded on the rejection of society ended up transforming it.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14While the word monk means alone,
0:58:14 > 0:58:18the lasting impact of Britain's monasteries
0:58:18 > 0:58:21has been a shared cultural inheritance.