Essay Database

Background to the Dissolution The Dissolution of the Monasteries and the events which followed, were all brought about as a direct result of the break with Rome. The reason for the break, lies simply in Henry’s frustration at his inability to secure a divorce form his wife Catherine of Aragon, and a blessing from the Pope for his new marriage to Anne Boleyn, although arguably, there was a need for reformation within the church. …

…VIII’s reasons for he dissolution of the monasteries therefore, were not at all justified in the way he had claimed. He sought only wealth, and it is this desire to gain control and achieve the riches that came with it which motivated Henry. His greed and the falsity of his many claims against the monasteries succeeds in revealing his real wishes, and nullifies any previous arguments based on his religious concerns for the dissolution.