Just been watching a YouTube video about King Henry VIII. When he went against the Catholic church he looted and took over the monasteries and then sold them. However who bought them and where did the money for them come from?
The Dissolution of the Monasteries was a much more complex (and drawn out) process of Henry's break with Rome. The acts of Parliament passed between 1536 and 1541 made the dissolution a completely legal take down of the riches of the medieval Catholic Church. This is important because with the seizure of these lands, wealth, and buildings went directly into the royal money purse. As a result, these buildings and lands were at the king's disposal. Rather than having people purchase the assets, it was more likely that the king would use his newly acquired properties as rewards to members of the nobility in exchange for service and/or loyalty. For example, in April 1537 Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk was rewarded monastic properties in Lincolnshire.1 In other instances, however, the buildings were stripped for their raw materials, particular the lead on the roofs. Over time, other raw materials like stone were robbed, usually by local communities.2
Rewarding people like Charles Brandon with property might initially seem like a waste of potential financial gain. However, it was the theory of gift-exchange common in pre-modern European society.3 Henry VIII was actually playing a very strategic game with his rewards because he would expect a return gift, which was not necessarily a tangible gift, but could come in the form of loyalty or hospitality. The giving of a gift (especially from the king) was an informal binding contract between the two parties. Essentially, the seizing of the monastic lands by Henry VIII gave the king a plethora of potential gifts to give to his nobility and thus binding them to him.