M O N 
There are five fpecies in Gmelin’s Linnaeus; and Mr. 
Adams has difcovered five others; all which are defcribed 
under Animalcule, vol. i. p. 717, 18. See alfo the ar¬ 
ticle Helminthology, vol. ix. p. 362. 
MQNASA'HA, a town of Hindooftan, in Oude : twen¬ 
ty-five miles eaft of Mohomdy. 
MONASERA'I, a town of Hindooftan, in the circar 
of Sumbulpour: Ten miles louth-eaft of Sumbulpour. 
MONA'SIO, a town of Italy, in the department of the 
Lario : fifteen miles north of Como. 
MONASS', a river of Alia, which runs into the Caf- 
pian Sea five miles fouth of Boinal. 
MONASTEE'R, a town of Africa, built by the Arabs, 
on a peninfula which advances into the fea: fifty miles 
fouth-eaft of Tunis. - 
MONAS'TER, a town of Ruffian Poland, in the pala¬ 
tinate of Kiev : forty miles eaft of Bialacerkiev. 
MONASTE'RIAL, adj. Belonging to a monaftery. 
MONASTERO'LO, a town of France, in the depart¬ 
ment of the Stura: three miles north-weft of Savig- 
liano. 
MONASTER'VAN, a town of Ireland, in the county 
of Kildare, on the river Barrow, near the grand canal: 
nineteen miles north of Carlow, and thirty-two fouth- 
weft of Dublin. 
MONASTERY, f. [ monajlere , Fr. monajlerinm, Lat.] 
Floufe of religious retirement; convent; abbey 5 cloifter. 
In a monajlery your devotions cannot carry you fo far 
toward the next world, as to make this ,lofe the fight of 
you. Pope. 
Then courts of kings were held in high renown ; 
There, virgins honourable vows receiv’d. 
But chafte as maids in monajleries liv’d. Dryden. 
Spenfer has once written it monajlere, after the French 
form : 
The elfin knight. 
Who now no place befides unfought had left, 
At length into a monajlere did light. Spenfer's F. Q. 
Monastery is the term correftly applied to the houfes 
of monks, mendicant friars, and nuns. The reft are more 
properly called religious lioufes. For the origin of the mo- 
naftic life and of monafteries, fee Monk. 
Dijfolution of Monajleries. —The houfes belonging to 
the feveral religious orders which obtained in England 
and Wales were, cathedrals, colleges, abbeys, priories, 
preceptories, commandries, hofpitals, friaries, hermitages, 
chantries, and free-chapels. Thefe were under the di- 
reftion and management of various officers. The diffo- 
lution of houfes of this kind began fo early as the year 
1312, when the Templars were fuppreffed; and in 132.3 
their lands, churches, advowfons, and liberties, here in 
England, were given by 17 Edw. II. ftat. 3. to the prior 
and brethren of the Hofpital of St. John at Jerulalem. 
In the years 1390, 1437, 1441, 1459, 1497, l 5 ° 5 > i 5 °?> 
and 1515, feveral other houfes were diffolved, and their 
revenues fettled on different colleges in Oxford and Cam¬ 
bridge. Soon after the laft period, cardinal Wolfey, by 
licenfe of the king Henry VIII. and the pope, obtained 
a diffolution of above thirty religious houfes for the 
founding and endowing his colleges at Oxford and Ipf- 
wich. About the lame time a bull was granted by the 
fame pope to Wolfey to fupprefs monafteries where there 
were not above fix monks, to the value of 8000 ducats 
a-year, for endowing Windier and King’s College in 
Cambridge ; and two other bulls were granted to cardi¬ 
nals Wolfey and Campeius, were there were lei's than 
twelve monks, and to annex them to the greater monaf¬ 
teries ; and another bull to the fame cardinals to inquire 
about abbeys to be fuppreffed in order to be made cathe¬ 
drals. Although nothing appears to have been done in 
confequence of thefe bulls, the motive which induced* 
Wolfey and many others to fupprefs thefe houles was the 
define of promoting learning; and archbilhop Cranmer 
engaged in it with a view of carrying on the reformation. 
Vol. XV. No, 1072. 
M O N 645 
There were other caufes that concurred to bring on their 
ruin : many of the religious were loofie and vicious ; the 
monks were generally thought to be in their hearts attach¬ 
ed to the pope’s fupremacy ; their revenues were not em¬ 
ployed according to the intent of the donors ; many cheats 
in images, feigned miracles, and counterfeit relics, had 
been difcovered, which brought the monks into difgrace ; 
the Obfervant Friars had oppofed the king’s divorce front, 
queen Catharine ; and thefe circumltances operated, in 
concurrence with the king’s want of a fupply, and the 
people’s defire to fave their money, to forward a motion 
in parliament, that, in order to fupport the king’s' ftate 
and fupply his wants, all the religious houfes might be 
conferred upon the crown which were not able to fpend 
above 200I. a-year; and an aft was palled for that pur- 
pole 27 Hen. VIII. c. 28. By this aft about 380 houfes 
w r ere diffolved, and a revenue of 30,000k a-year came to 
the crown ; befides about 100,oool. in plate and jewels. 
The fuppreffion of thefe houfes occafioned difeontent, 
and at length an open rebellion. When this was appeafed, 
the king refolved to fupprefs the reft of the monafteries, 
and appointed a new vifitation ; which caufed the greater 
abbeys to be furrendered apace ; and it was enafted by 
31 Hen. VIII. c. 13'. that all monafteries, &c. which have 
been furrendered lince the 4th of February, in the 27th 
year of his majefty’s reign, and which hereafter ffiall be 
furrendered, ffiall be veiled in the king. The knights 
of St. John of Jerufalem were alfo fuppreffed by the 32 
Hen. VIII. c. 24. The fuppreffion of thefe greater houfes 
by thefe two afts produced a revenue to the king of above 
100,oool. a-year, befides a large fum in plate and jewels. 
The laft aft of diffolution in this king’s reign was the aft 
of 37 Hen. VIII. c. 4. for diffolving colleges, free-chapels, 
chantries, See. which aft was farther enforced by Edw. VI. 
c. 14. By this aft were fuppreffed 90 colleges, iso hof¬ 
pitals, 2374 chantries and free chapels. The number of 
houfes and places fuppreffed from firft to laft, fo far as 
any calculations appear to have been made, feems to be as 
follow : 
Smaller Monafteries, of which we have the valuation 374 
Greater Monafteries - - - - 186 
Belonging to the Hofpitallers 48 
Colleges and Hofpitals ... - 200 
Chantries and Free Chapels - - - 2374 
Total 3182 
Befides the friars’ houfes and thofe fuppreffed by Wolfey, 
and many fmall houfes of which we have no particular 
account. 
The fum total of the clear yearly revenue of the feveral 
houfes at the time of their difl'olution, of which we have 
any account, feems to be as follows : 
Of the greater monafteries - £104,919 13 3-g 
Of all thofe of the fmaller monafteries of 
which we have the valuation - 29,702 1 10J 
Knights Hofpitallers head houfe in London 2,385 12 8 
We have the valuation of only 28 of their 
houfes in the country - - 3,026 9 5 
Friars houfes of which we have the valuation 751 2 of 
Total ,£140,786 19 3J 
If proper allowances are made for the fmaller monafteries 
and houfes not included in this efthnate, and for the plate. 
See. which came into the hands of the king by the diffolu¬ 
tion, and for the value of money at that time, which was 
at leaft fix times as much as at prefen t, and alfo confider 
that the eftimate of the lands was generally fuppofed to 
be much under the real worth, we muft conclude their 
whole revenues to have been immenfe. 
It does not appear that any computation hath been 
made of the number of perfons contained in the religious 
houfes. 
8 B Thofe 
