Sir John Tregonwell was a Cornish jurist, a principal agent of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. He served as Judge of the High Court of Admiralty from 1524 to 1536.
Tomb of Sir John Tregonwell
Detail of tomb, showing heraldry (right of picture) for marriage to Newce of Oxford, and (left) for marriage to Kelloway of Rockbourne.
Dissolution of the monasteries
The dissolution of the monasteries, occasionally referred to as the suppression of the monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541, by which Henry VIII disbanded Catholic monasteries, priories, convents, and friaries in England, Wales, and Ireland; expropriated their income; disposed of their assets; and provided for their former personnel and functions.
King Henry VIII c. 1537 by Hans Holbein the Younger. Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid.
Desiderius Erasmus by Holbein; Renaissance humanist and influential critic of religious orders. Louvre, Paris.
Thomas Cromwell by Hans Holbein: Chief Minister for Henry VIII and Vicegerent in Spirituals; created the administrative machinery for the dissolution
Stogursey Priory in Somerset. An alien priory dissolved in 1414 and granted to Eton College
