the king of the lands of the Hospitallers. On this order, that of St. John of Jerusalem, the lands of the Templars had been conferred when the order of the Temple was dissolved after the loss of Acre, to maintain them as an advanced post against the crescent, at Rhodes, which they had recently taken from the Turks. For more than two centuries they had held the island, but recently, in 1522, L'Ile Adam, their grand master, had been compelled to surrender to the overwhelming force of Solyman. The remnant of the order, settled in Malta in 1530 by Charles V., still maintained their connection with the pope of Rome. On the ground that it was dangerous to permit within the realm any religion being sparks, leaves, and imps (shoots) of the said root of iniquity,' and that it would be better that their possessions in this realm should rather be employed and spent within the realm for the defence and surety of the same, than converted to and among such unnatural subjects,' the lands of the Hospitallers were, after provision had been made for the two priors and certain of the confreres, revested by parliament in the king.1 In 1540-1 three new courts were established for the regulation of different branches of the king's revenue the cOURT OF WARDS, for the superintendence of the feudal revenue; 2 the coURT OF FIRST-FRUITS AND TENTHS;3 and the court of the surveyors-general of the king's lands, which superseded the sheriffs in their function of bailiffs of the king. The court first men 1 32 Hen. VIII. c. 24. 3 Ibid. c. 45. 4 33 Hen. VIII. c. 39. tioned continued to exist until the outbreak of the civil war; while that last mentioned and the court of the augmentations established in 15361 were subsequently determined by the king and merged in a new COURT OF AUGMENTATIONS AND REVENUES of the crown which he created by letters patent. This act received in the reign of his son parliamentary confirmation, and, in the reign of queen Mary, the court was annexed to the court of exchequer. Vast sums were now spent by the king in buildings, havens, bulwarks and other forts for the defence of the coast; and in recompense for his great charges in this respect, and in acknowledgment of the great liberty they enjoyed by being delivered from the usurpations of the bishops of Rome, the province of Canterbury made a grant, in 1540, of a subsidy of 4s. in the pound on all ecclesiastical benefices, to be paid in two years. The grant received, subsequently, the requisite parliamentary confirmation, by an Act which extended to such sums as should be subsequently granted by the province of York.3 No great permanent benefit resulted to the revenue from the lands of the monasteries and the Hospitallers. Almost all the smaller monasteries, priories and other religious houses were granted out, on very easy terms, with the demesnes or lands in hand, to the gentry in the several counties, as residences, on the condition of keeping up hospitality there: They were to maintain ' an honest continual house and household in the same,' and continue the tillage of the demesnes.1 Profuse grants of lands were made, generally with a reservation of a small perpetual rent, to nobles, favourites of the king, and the gentry or courtiers who were able to make interest with Cromwell. Many lands were exchanged away on terms very advantageous to those who received them. While a considerable portion were devoted to the foundation of six new bishoprics; and some were sold at a low price. In short, by gift, grant, exchange or sale, most of the lands of the monasteries and the Hospitallers passed, soon after the acquisition of them by the king, away from the crown into the hands of subjects; and the money received for the lands sold was expended, at once, upon forts and harbours and the improvement of the highways. Some lands were, indeed, retained by the king; but most of these, in consequence of the long leases that had been granted, only fell into the possession of the crown towards the end of the reign of queen Elizabeth or the commencement of the reign of James I. But the people, not fully aware of these facts, hardly expected that, almost immediately after such an apparently enormous accession of revenue, the king would apply to parliament for a grant; and when in 1540 he requested a subsidy towards the expenses of his approaching marriage with Catherine Howard, he obtained it with difficulty. If the king was already in want, it was observed, after the acquisition of so vast an income as that from the sale of the abbey lands, especially being engaged in no war, there would be no 1 27 Hen. VIII. c. 28, s. 9, rep. 1623, 21 Jac. I. c. 28. end of his necessities, nor would it be possible for his subjects to supply them.1 Nevertheless a grant was eventually made of four fifteenths and tenths, and a subsidy of 1s. in the pound on lands and 6d. in the pound on goods.2 The last subsidy received by the king was that for his expedition to France in 1544. His proceedings were up to the standard of his usual magnificence. He crossed the channel in a ship with sails of cloth of gold, and, notwithstanding his enormous size, appeared on horseback surrounded by a magnificent retinue at the taking of Boulogne. The expedition is said to have cost 1,340,000l., and towards the expenses the king received from parliament the largest subsidy ever yet granted, viz. two fifteenths and tenths and a full or entire subsidy, as it was termed, viz. 4s. in the pound on lands and 28. 8d. on goods, with a clerical subsidy, confirmed in the usual way, of 6s. in the pound, to be paid in two years. Moreover, as the chauntries, colleges, and free chapels were rapidly making away with their moveables, and, in imitation of the abbeys and monasteries, freely granting upon long leases at small rents lands they did not long expect to retain, and appropriating the fines they received, the lands of these institutions were now placed by parliament in the disposition of the king. They were, in his son's reign, devoted principally to the foundation of grammar 1 Burnet, i. 453. 2 32 Hen. VIII c. 50. 3 37 Hen. VIII. cc. 24, 25; Par. Hist. i. 561. |