Sir Richard Rich
Sir Richard Rich grew very rich (pun intended!) as a consequence of the activities of
Henry VIII.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries
The account of Sir Richard Rich on British History online
The entry follows the description of Leez Priory
The last chapter closed the chronological history of the priory, but as Sir Richard Rich had so much to do
with its suppression and resuscitation, and was the purchaser of the whole of the monastic site and
buildings, a short account of him may not be considered out of place here before describing
the fair and the other possessions of the prior and convent.
Top
Wikipedia:
Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich (July 1496 – 12 June 1567), was Lord Chancellor during
King Edward VI of
England's reign, from 1547 until January 1552. He was the founder of Felsted School with its associated
almshouses in Essex in 1564. He was a beneficiary of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and persecuted
perceived opponents of the king and their policies. He played a role in the trials of Catholic martyrs
Thomas More and John Fisher as well as that of Protestant martyr Anne Askew.
From the Wikipedia page on Leez Priory:
In 1220, Sir Ralph Gernon decided that the hamlet of Leez, in a dip by the banks of the River Ter, would
provide the perfect location on which to found a house of Augustinian canons. The priory of St. Mary and
St. John the Evangelist thrived for over 300 years. King Henry VIII sent Sir Richard Rich to dismiss
the monastery, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1541). When Sir Richard Rich,
3rd Baron Rich became the Earl of Warwick, he built his own great house on the site that is now known
as Leez Priory. The remains of the Augustinian Priory are very much in evidence within the grounds
to the south of the existing buildings, including extensive underground drainage conduits.
Known as "Delicious Leez", both the site and the rose-brick buildings are breathtaking,
with old garden walls and fish ponds indicative of life and times past.
Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell assisted in the dissolution of nearly thirty monasteries to raise funds for Wolsey to found
The King's School, Ipswich (1528), and Cardinal College, in Oxford (1529)
Thomas Cromwell (/ˈkrɒmwəl, -wɛl/;[1][a] c. 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English statesman
and lawyer who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540,
when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charges for the execution.
Thomas Cromwell issued an injunction in 1538 in his role as
Secretary of State and
Master of the Rolls that instructed churches to keep registers. This did not go well as was not very popular
due to his activities in the Acts of Dissolution, those that started and kept the registers seemed to have
entered names that did not actaully reflect those that had dealings with the church. In fact it seems that
the registers were more of a political statement.
