In the month of May, a few days before the beheading, I rode with Thomas Cromwell to see one of the great monasteries sacked. I pointed at its splendid sanctuary, and the roof came off. At my command, men heaved the lead roofing up in rolls. Now I was head of the English Church—no more foreign interference by the Pope—and it was entirely my right to dissolve the monasteries in my own kingdom and seize their property for the Crown. The Pope should never have defied my wishes, for now I took out my revenge on each and every shaved-headed English monk I kicked out and sent to pasture. My will
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