The impact of the dissolution of the monasteries on patronage structures in Yorkshire and East Anglia /

In this thesis, the dissolution of the monasteries is treated as an event in the history of patronage relationships between the English crown and local patronage groups. In a comparative approach, the regions of East Anglia and Yorkshire are examined in search of patronage-related differences that help to explain the contrasts in regional political responses to the dissolutions.The first section deals with aspects of patronage in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, exploring through test cases the normal patterns of patronage on monastic estates and the estates of lay landlords and the Crown. Normal durations in tenure, remuneration and networking patterns are explored, in order to show what expectations monastic servants would have held as to the effects of the dissolutions on the duration and value of their positions as well as the creative or destructive impact of the dissolutions on patronage networking.The second section then analyzes patronage on the monastic estate under the management of the Court of Augmentations, following through in case studies the patronage impact of the sale of major blocks of monastic property to lay landlords in either region. The study finds that the northern region underwent more severe patronage dislocation than was the case in East Anglia, partly on account of long-term structural conditions and partly because of the differences in the more immediate political relations between the crown and elites in either region