The ''1536 Compendium Compertorum'' is a title of a handwritten document listing

clerical Clerical may refer to: * Pertaining to the clergy * Pertaining to a clerical worker * Clerical script, a style of Chinese calligraphy * Clerical People's Party See also

* Cleric (disambiguation) * Clerk (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

abuses by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

. It was used by

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

to give religious justification to the dissolution of the monasteries during the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

. There are actually two documents under this title that both list "comperts" (an obsolete

Anglicisation Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

of , "findings"), summaries of the results of visits to monasteries and nunneries of England made by a royal commission in the second half of 1535 and early 1536: * the first document contains 16 pages of the commissioners' findings from Nothern England and is usually the one for which the historians use the brief name "Compendium Compertorum" (the full title is ''Compendium compertorum per Doctorem Layton et Doctorem Legh, in visitatione regia Provincia Eboracensi ac Episcopatu Coven. & Lichfielden''). The author is unknown (handwriting of William Blithman, one of the commisioners, is disputed); * the second document covers only the Norwich diocese, consists of just four pages, and has a brief title ''Compendium compertorum''. It was written by John ap Rhys, another commissioner. Most historians assume that the ''Compendium Compertorum'' documents contain text that was actually read in the Parliament in 1536, but some are suggesting that there was yet another, comprehensive, and now lost, account of the visits.

References

Sources

* * English Reformation History of Catholicism in England {{England-hist-stub