On this day in Tudor history, 23rd October 1538, Thomas Goldwell, prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, wrote to Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's chief advisor and vicar general.
Goldwell was frightened. The world he knew was collapsing due to the king and Cromwell's dissolution of the monasteries.
The prior begged to keep his “poor lodging” for life, adding the heartbreaking words: "I would rather die than live, if it were God’s pleasure."
Goldwell’s letter shows us the human side of the Reformation.
Behind every confiscated abbey and looted shrine was a person left wondering how to live in a changed world.
More information on the Dissolution of the Monasteries:
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