Page:Henry VIII and the English Monasteries.djvu/22

xvi pecuniary one, and all monastic establishments which fell below the £200 a year standard of "good living" were to be given to the King to be dealt with at his "pleasure, to the honour of God and the wealth of the realm." This money limit at once rendered it necessary, as a first step in the direction of dissolution, to ascertain which houses came within the operation of the Act, and as early as April, 1536 (less than a month from the passing of the measure), we find mixed commissions of officials and country gentlemen appointed to make surveys of the religious, and instructions issued for their guidance.

The returns made by these commissioners are of the highest importance in determining what the moral state of the religious houses was, at the time of their dissolution. It is now beyond dispute that the accusations of Crumwell's visitors were made prior to the passing of the Act of Suppression of 1536, and consequently before, not after (as most writers have erroneously supposed) the mixed commissions of gentry and officials. The commissioners were to be six in number for each district: three were to be officials, namely, an auditor, the receiver for each county, and a clerk, whilst the remaining three were to be nom- inated by the Crown from "discreet persons" of the neigbourhood. The main purpose for which these Commissioners were nominated was of course to find out what houses possessed an income of less than £200 a year, and to take these over, in the King's name, as now belonging to His Majesty. They were, however, instructed to find out and report upon "the conversation of the lives" of the religious, or in other words, to examine into the moral state of the houses visited. Unfortunately, comparatively few of the returns of these mixed commissions are now known to exist, although some have turned up, which