Henry VIII is known for being one of the most brutal Kings in History.
It was during his 4 decade long reign that 70,000 people were executed inside of England,
and he changed the country forever.
One of the most shocking policies he imposed was the Dissolutions of the Monasteries, in
which Thomas Cromwell was placed in charge of making the Crown incredibly rich.
He did this by seizing huge amounts of land and wealth from the monasteries, abbeys and
religious houses across England that were then closed down.
With this Henry VIII became incredibly rich following the suppression, and the income
and assets along with the land fell into the royal coffers.
Henry VIII also sold off much of the lands for his military campaigns in Europe, and
the Dissolution changed England forever, and it showed Henry VIII for the brutal dictator
that he truly was.
mThe huge theft of land did not go down well with many people, and the Pilgrimage of Grace
rose up in the north against Henry VIII’s changes.
Cromwell was put in charge of getting rid of the monasteries, and in 4 years he shut
down over 800 monasteries, abbeys and nunneries and other religious houses.
This made thousands of monks and nuns homeless, and those who refused to leave and give up
their ways of life were often placed in prison and tortured.
But there was one man who was rather powerful and senior in Somerset and the local church.
Richard Whiting was the Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey who was brutally executed following
his opposition.
Join us today as we look at his execution, remember to support our channel please make
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Richard Whiting was born around 1460, and this was when the War of the Roses was gripping
the nation.
The crown was being passed from the House of Lancaster to the House of York.
But whilst this was happening, Whiting was educated at Glastonbury Abbey, and he then
studied at Cambridge University and he graduated in 1483.
After graduating he became a priest and rose to the position of a deacon.
He was a very skilled and intelligent man, and obtained a doctorate at university, and
he then worked as a chamberlain of Glastonbury Abbey and he was in control of different parts
of the monastic building.
In February 1525, the Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey Richard Bere died, and with this the
monks living there had to choose their next abbot.
They appealed to Cardinal Wolsey to choose for them, and he chose Richard Whiting the
Chamberlain, and he was classed as an ‘upright and religious monk, a provident and discreet
man, and a priest commendable for his life, virtues and learning.’
So Whiting’s reputation had reached Henry VIII’s right hand man Wolsey, and he was
deemed the most ideal man for the job.
Inside of Glastonbury Abbey he lived the normal life for an abbot, and his house was seen
as one of the most profitable and richest monastic house in England.
This made it a target when the Dissolution of the Monasteries came about, and it had
one of the highest incomes of any of the English monasteries.
Whiting himself despite being a holy man enjoyed hunting, and he was also known for mixing
with royalty and Henry VIII’s court, and he also sent many gifts to the King.
Whilst he was an abbot, he carried out a significant amount of renovations and building work at
Glastonbury Abbey, and he added another chapel in the east part of the church.
He was considered a joyous man who helped the poor, and instigated a policy where twice
a week the doors of the abbey would be opened to feed the poor in the local area, and he
also increased the number of monks.
But at the time Henry VIII was getting fed up with his wife Catherine of Aragon, and
his eye had been captured by Anne Boleyn at court.
The Pope refused to grant the King his divorce or annulment that he wanted, and this frustrated
the English King.
Because of this, Henry broke from Rome and turned his back on the Pope declaring himself
the Supreme Head of the Church of England.
He then was seen as the ultimate authority of the church, and his changes offended many
Catholics across the country.
Richard Whiting the Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey before this had appealed to the King to help,
and had said that he would try to speak with the Pope to help, before Henry did anything
drastic.
But it was with Thomas Cromwell’s rise to power that things changed massively.
Cromwell would become the Kings chief advisor and he quickly moved against the Catholics
and also the monastic houses.
He suspended the power and authority of all of the Bishops in England, and then employed
a number of lawyers who would survey the monasteries.
These would have 86 questions to fill out and they would attend the monastery and look
at every element.
If there was one thing which was out of the ordinary, or was deemed to have been unholy,
then the whole of the monastery would be shut down and the order would be outlawed, making
the monks and nuns completely homeless.
The crown would seize the house, the land and the riches and this was the excuse they
needed to shut down any abbey.
After the investigations, there was nothing found that was out of order at Glastonbury
Abbey, but there were a number of rumours of other abbeys.
One Abbot was known for stealing from the church and selling the valuables of his abbey,
and another was known to have been lying with women from stewhouses.
Other abbots was even found in bed with a woman at 11 o clock on a Friday morning when
the investigators called.
One abbot was described as the drunkest knave living, and with this Cromwell issued the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, and with this obtained royal approval to shut down many
religious houses.
All homes with an annual income less than £200 were suppressed to begin with, and Richard
Whiting was told that his abbey would be safe.
However in 1538 Cromwell’s men attended the abbey again for another look, and they
started to knock Whiting’s leadership of the house, and they said that some monks had
fallen out.
He was seen as a man who often neglected his responsibilities as he lived in manors away
from the abbey a large amount of time.
But by January 1539, Glastonbury Abbey was considered the only monastery in Somerset
and the rest had been shut down and absorbed into the King’s wealth, and the monks were
made homeless.
On the 19th September the royal commissioners arrived at Glastonbury Abbey without prior
warning, and Richard Whiting the Abbot was away.
They walked into the abbey, ransacked his apartments and took many papers as evidence.
They tried to find anything to shut down the abbey with, and Whiting then arrived at the
abbey and it was said he was dissenting against the King.
The investigators found allegedly papers containing arguments against Henry VIII’s divorce and
with this he was sent to the Tower of London.
Whilst here, he was held in the place of Torture in a significant amount of distress.
He was an elderly and frail man, and Cromwell himself interrogated him on a charge that
we must assume was probably treason.
Whiting it was found was hiding objects from Cromwell’s men, and they found gold plate
and money inside hidden vaults and chambers.
With this, it was then used as evidence of the Abbot being guilty of treason.
He was not allowed a trial, and was condemned without any trial as he deliberately prevented
Cromwell’s investigators from doing their job.
Cromwell wrote how,’ ‘The abbot of Glaston to be tried at Glastonbury and also executed
there with his accomplices.’
But a French ambassador wrote how, he has lately been up in the Tower in taking the
abbey’s treasures valued at 200,000 crowns, they found a book of arguments on behalf of
Queen Catherine.
Whiting was also a member of the House of Lords, and he should have been given a fair
trial, or have been sentenced to death by an Act of Attainder, giving the King permission
to execute him with no questions.
But his hastily organised execution happened before Parliament was given the chance to
meet and discuss.
At the age of around 80, Richard Whiting the last abbot of Glastonbury Abbey was taken
to Somerset from the Tower of London on the 14th November 1539.
A trial rushed his death sentence and he was not even allowed any time to recover from
his journey before Whiting was put to death.
Some of his closest friends turned against him to save themselves, and the trial was
a shame and Whiting was condemned as Cromwell had already established his guilt.
On the 15th November on the next day, he along with two of his monks who were part of his
abbey were dragged through the streets of Glastonbury.
He was a local man, and he would have walked these streets plenty of times, and he was
tied behind horses on a hurdle and he was taken through the streets on show.
Following this he was taken up to his abbey, which was empty as it had been dissolved,
and he was then taken up to Glastonbury Tor for his execution.
The horses took him up to the top of the tor, a hill overlooking the town and then Richard
Whiting was brutally executed.
Whilst he was on the top of the hill, he was taken up to a gallows which had been created.
The three allegedly waited patiently for their deaths, and Richard Whiting the 80 year old
abbot was handed over to the executioner.
He was hanged from a gallows until he was almost dead, and then his almost lifeless
body was cut down.
He was then beheaded by the executioner in a swift blow, and then his corpses was cut
up into four different pieces, as he was hanged, drawn and quartered.
Henry VIII ordered his body parts to be sent to towns and villages nearby for display,
and these were show in Wells, Bath, Ilchester and Bridgewater.
Whiting’s head was then placed on a pike above Glastonbury Abbey, his former home which
was a ruin of what it previously was.
Glastonbury Abbey was one of the final monasteries dissolved, and with this the King got very
rich as the abbey had held significant wealth.
It was a sense of relief for the poor in the area, but Richard Whiting the last abbot of
Glastonbury Abbey was executed in horrific fashion.
It was killings like this that ensured Henry VIII’s legacy was a brutal and sadistic
one.
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