In this episode, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb continues her journey across England to uncover the dramatic final days of England’s monasteries. What began with the smaller monasteries in episode 1, now became a whirlwind of destruction. A tradition that had endured for a thousand years came to a sudden end as the wealthiest institutions, that had seemed invincible, were brought crashing down.

At the spectacular ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, rich in legend, Suzannah unearths the tragic fate of its last Abbot— a man who dared to stand against Henry VIII and paid the ultimate price, high on Glastonbury Tor.

The dissolution sent shockwaves through communities, dismantling centuries of faith, charity, and social order. Hundreds of houses fell, from grand wealthy monasteries, to smaller friaries and convents. At Godstow Nunnery, we discover the stark reality for the women forced to abandon their religious lives, with few choices left beyond the cloister.

Suzannah pieces together the brutally efficient machinery of dissolution, exposing the ruthless tactics used to strip these institutions of their power and wealth. She also discovers a rare fragment of a medieval manuscript—a haunting reminder of the destruction of monastic libraries, where priceless records of knowledge and devotion were torn apart, burned, or lost forever.

The dissolution of the monasteries was more than just the destruction of buildings—it was the unmaking of a way of life. What had once seemed unthinkable had become reality.

If you enjoyed this documentary, this episode of History Hit's Not Just The Tudors Podcast episode dives further into the dramatic story of the dissolution of the monasteries: https://podfollow.com/not-just-the-tudors/episode/5aa35d8b8493982a9b58ddea09c843f88a65ea2b/view.

Each week, Suzannah is joined by expert guests to talk about everything from the Aztecs to witches, Velázquez to Shakespeare, Mughal India to the Mayflower. Not, in other words, just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors.