Today I visited the site of Chertsey Abbey in Surrey, formerly a Benedictine Monastery, which had been founded in the year AD666. Although there isn’t much there now, at its prime the building was 275 feet long and may have been as magnificent as Westminster Abbey.
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The Abbey owned a huge area of land and was clearly a very important religious house in medieval times. In 1341 King Edward III (founder of the Order of the Garter) visited; and in 1471 King Henry VI was buried in the Abbey following his death at the Tower of London (Henry VII had him reinterred at Windsor).
So what happened to this once wealthy and powerful institution?
The Dissolution of the Monasteries
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King Henry VIII (reigned 1509-1547) wished to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, who had failed to give him a male heir, in order to marry Anne Boleyn with whom he had become infatuated.
In 1528 the King sought permission from the Pope to divorce, but this was refused. Thereafter Henry broke with Rome and declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England. He had his first marriage annulled, married Anne Boleyn, and in 1533 they had a baby girl - Elizabeth.
At this time there were more than 800 monasteries and religious houses in England, with 10,000 monks, nuns and friars. It was suggested that, as the monasteries were of the Catholic Church and therefore owed allegiance to the Pope, they should be closed down.
It is also true that monasteries, like Chertsey, were very wealthy institutions and if they were dissolved that wealth and property could be diverted to the Crown. This was a very attractive proposition given Henry’s lack of resources as a consequence of fighting wars, and his extravagant lifestyle.
The Dissolution began in 1536 with the smaller monasteries at first, the larger monasteries followed. Chertsey Abbey was dissolved in 1537, and by 1540 monasteries were being dismantled wholesale.
Most of the monks, friars and nuns co-operated and were given money or pensions – those who refused to comply were executed.
The confiscated land and buildings were sold off cheaply to families who supported Henry, creating a new breed of Landed Gentry. People and businesses that had relied on religious houses for their income, such as centres of pilgrimage, suffered badly.
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Many of the monasteries had maintained libraries full of priceless illuminated manuscripts, but sadly many of these were destroyed, with little or no regard for their value.
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Happily some illuminated manuscripts did survive including a manuscript created in the 14th C. at Chertsey, known as the Chertsey Breviary, and it is held at the Bodleian Library (see Oxford below). Click here for more information: Chertsey Breviary.
The Chertsey manuscript shown here is from the British Library Collection - Click the image for a larger version.
The site of Chertsey Abbey is in the Borough of Runnymede (synonymous with Magna Carta – see below) so can be combined with a visit to Windsor Castle. Very close by is the interesting Chertsey Museum which is well worth a visit – more later…