In the autumn of 1536 three sets of royal commissioners were at work， one superintending the suppression of the lesser monasteries， a second charged with communicating Cromwell's instructions to the clergy， and removing those priests who were unwilling to accept them， and a third entrusted with the collection of royal taxation on ecclesiastical benefices. By these commissions the entire face of the country was changed. The monastic institutions were suppressed and the servants and labourers in their employment were turned adrift， the relief to the poor and the wayfarer was discontinued， and the tenants awaited with nervousness the arrival of the new grandees. The possessions of the religious houses， instead of being spent on the development of education and the relief of the taxes， found their way for the most part into the royal treasury， or into the pockets of the officials charged with the work of suppression. Oxford and Cambridge were reduced to sullen submission， and obliged to accept a new set of statutes， to abolish the study of canon law in favour of civil law， to confine the divinity courses to lectures on the Scriptures， and to place in the hands of the students the classical authors together with the Humanist commentaries thereon， instead of the tomes of Duns Scotus or St. Thomas. Such changes， as has been shown， led to rebellion in different parts of the country， but especially in the north， where loyalty to Rome was still regarded as compatible with loyalty to the king.
After the suppression of the rebellions in the north and the failure of Cardinal Pole to bring about an European coalition against Henry， the war against the greater monasteries was begun (1537). Those situated in the northern counties were charged with having been implicated in the rebellion. Many of the abbots were put to death or imprisoned， and the goods of the communities were confiscated. Several others in order to escape punishment were induced to surrender their property to the king's commissioners. In some cases the abbots were bribed by promises of special favours for themselves， in others they were forced to yield up their titles to avoid charges of treason on account of documents supposed to have been discovered in their houses or evidence that had been extracted from some of their monks or retainers. During the years 1538 and 1539 the monasteries fell one by one， while during the same period war was carried on against shrines and pilgrimages. The images of Our Lady of Ipswich and of Our Lady of Walsingham were destroyed； the tomb of St. Thomas à Becket was rifled of its precious treasures， and the bones and relics of the saint were treated with the greatest dishonour. Everywhere throughout the country preachers inspired by Cromwell and Cranmer， the latter of whom aimed at nothing less than a Lutheran revolution in England， were at work denouncing images， pilgrimages， invocation of saints， and Purgatory.
So long as money poured into the royal treasury from the sale of surrendered monastical property and of the ecclesiastical goods， or so long as a blow could be struck at the Papacy by desecrating the tomb of a saint who had died as a martyr in defence of the Holy See， Henry looked on with indifference if not with pleasure.
But the news of such outrages could not fail to horrify the Catholic world， and to prove to Paul III. that there was little hope of any favourable change in Henry's religious policy. It was determined to give effect to the Bull of excommunication that had been prepared for years， and to call upon the Catholic powers of Europe to put it into execution either by a joint declaration of war， or by an interruption of commercial relations with England. The time seemed specially favourable for the publication of such a sentence. After years of active or smouldering hostility the two great rivals Charles V. and Francis I. had arranged a ten years truce (June 1538)， and Cardinal Pole was sent as legate to Spain and France to induce the Emperor and Francis I. to take common action. James V. of Scotland promised his assistance， and a papal envoy was dispatched to Scotland to bear the cardinal's hat to Archbishop Beaton， and to encourage the king to co-operate with the Catholic rulers of the Continent.