Compare Sources a and B as Evidence for the Condition of Monasteries on the Eve of the Dissolution

1106 Words5 Pages
When Sources A and B are compared as evidence for the condition of monasteries on the eve of the dissolution, it can be clearly seen that both texts have use to historians today. This is because the two Sources share the same agenda; that of the conditions of the monasteries and both speak in detail about such subject. However, both Sources can only be viewed with the understanding that they offer limited reliability. Cromwell’s inspectors were sent out with the instruction to find anything they could wrong with England’s monasteries and therefore, the inspector’s findings would have been extremely subjective. Although, Source B opposes this previous prediction and speaks positively of the condition of the monasteries, which for an historian, makes this source a valuable piece of evidence. One of the big factors in evaluating the two sources for their usefulness as evidence for the condition of the monasteries is their provenance. Both Sources A and B were written by Cromwell’s agents / inspectors, which he sent out in 1535 to survey the value of monastic lands and properties. Cromwell commissioned a series of visitations (inspections – commonly carried out by the head of a religious order, now falling under Henry's jurisdiction; Cromwell's through his title of Vicegerent) and despatched his inspectors with a list of injunctions to issue to the monasteries. In the same year Henry ordered the Valor Ecclesiasticus. This latter report was designed to register and record the wealth of all religious houses in England for taxation purposes. The men dispatched were Cromwell’s men and these officials had no doubt what the Crown expected of them. It took them only six months to submit for Cromwell's scrutiny an accurate and detailed tax-book. Two months later, in September, the visitations were carried out. Six canon lawyers, as well Cromwell's men, conducted a tour of

More about Compare Sources a and B as Evidence for the Condition of Monasteries on the Eve of the Dissolution

Open Document