Dissolution of the monasteries

The dissolution of the monasteries, also known as the suppression of the monasteries, was a set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541, by which Henry VIII disbanded all Catholic monasteries, priories, convents, and friaries in England, Wales, and Ireland, seized their wealth, disposed of their assets, destroyed buildings and relics, dispersed or destroyed libraries and provided for their former personnel and functions. Though the policy was originally envisaged as a way to increase the regular income of the Crown, much former monastic property was sold off to fund Henry's military campaigns in the 1540s.

Source: Wikipedia — Dissolution of the monasteries (CC BY-SA 4.0)