38 Decay of the Manor 



several occasions before this, but its influence had come from its 

 control of finance, and for a time the King had solved the diffi- 

 culty of getting money without its aid. Under a bill of attainder 

 which followed the battle of Towton in 1461 the estates of 

 twelve great nobles and over a hundred knights and squires were 

 confiscated for his use. The revenue from these possessions 

 enabled him to rule without any check. 



It was with the same absolute power that Henry VIII dissolved 

 the monasteries and confiscated their land. In 1536 he 'sup- 



Ploughing and Digging. Second half of I5th century. 



pressed 376 of the smaller houses whose income was less than 

 .200, and in 1539 some 645 of the greater houses were given up 

 or seized. Most of these estates, estimated to contain one-fifth 

 of the land in the country, were given to his courtiers and others 

 on whom he could depend. The creation of this new aristocracy 

 had an influence on agriculture, for in the management of their 

 estates the new landlords differed in many ways from the officials 

 of the monasteries. 



Progress had been made during those turbulent centuries. 

 Even in scientific and mechanical things farmers had not stood 

 still. The ploughs they used were such as men might handle 

 to-day to good purpose. Fitzherbert in his Husbandry, published 





