Managing change in the English Reformation: the 1548 dissolution of the chantries and clergy of the Midland county surveys

Gill, Sylvia May (2010). Managing change in the English Reformation: the 1548 dissolution of the chantries and clergy of the Midland county surveys. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

The English Reformation was undeniably a period of change; this thesis seeks to consider how that change was managed by those who were responsible for its realisation and by individuals it affected directly, principally during the reign of Edward VI. It also considers how the methodology adopted contributes to the historiography of the period and where else it might be applied. Central to this study is the 1548 Dissolution of the Chantries, the related activities of the Court of Augmentations and the careers of clerics from five Midland counties for whom this meant lost employment. In addition to the quantitative analysis of original documentation from the Court, counties and dioceses, the modern understanding of change management for organisations and individuals has been drawn upon to extrapolate and consider further the Reformation experience. The conclusions show how clerical lives and careers were or were not continued, while emphasising that continuation requires an enabling psychological management of change which must not be overlooked. The evidence for the state demonstrates that its realisation of its immediate aims contained enough of formal change management requirements for success, up to a point, while adding to the longer-term formation of the state in ways unimagined.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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