sinner’s gold was exhausted, when, presto! change, the blood appeared by turning the other side of the phial.  Innumerable toe-parings, bones, pieces of skin, three heads of St. Ursula, and other anatomical relics of departed saints, were said to cure every disease known to man.  They had relics that could drive away plagues, give rain, hinder weeds, and in fact, render the natural world the plaything of decaying bones and shreds of dried skin.  The monks of Reading had an angel with one wing, who had preserved the spear with which our Lord was pierced.  Abbots were found to have concubines in or near the monasteries; midnight revels and drunken feasts were pleasant pastimes for monks weary with prayers and fasting.  While it would be unjust to argue that the existence of “pious frauds” affords a justification for the suppression of the monasteries, it must be remembered that they constituted one element in that condition of ecclesiastical life that was becoming repugnant to the English people.  For several generations there had been a marked growth in the hostility toward various forms of superstition.  True, neither Henry nor Cromwell can be accredited with the lofty intention of exterminating superstition, but the attitude of many people toward “pious frauds” helped to reconcile them to the destruction of the monasteries.

The Action of Parliament

The report of the commissioners was laid before Parliament in 1536.  As it declared that the smaller monasteries were more corrupt than the larger ones, Parliament ordered the suppression of all those houses whose revenues were less than two hundred pounds per annum.  By this act, three hundred and seventy-six houses were suppressed, whose aggregate revenue was thirty-two thousand pounds yearly.  Movable property valued at about one hundred thousand pounds was also handed over to the “Court of Augmentations of the King’s Revenue,” which was established to take care of the estates, revenues and other possessions of the monasteries.  It is claimed that ten thousand monks and nuns were turned out into the world, to find bed and board as best they could.  In 1538, two years later, the greater monasteries met a similar fate, which was no doubt hastened by the rebellions that followed the abolition of the smaller houses.  Many of the abbots and monks were suspected of aiding in the rebellion against the king’s authority by inciting the people to take up arms against him.  Apprehending the coming doom, many abbots resigned; others were overcome by threats and yielded without a struggle.  In many instances such monks received pensions varying from fifty-three shillings and four pence to four pounds a year.  The investigations were constantly carried on, and all the foul stories that could be gathered were given to the people, to secure their approval of the king’s action.  With remorseless zeal the king and his commissioners, supported by various acts of parliament, persevered in their work of destruction, until even the monastic