Short answers, pulled from the story.
Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries between the 2nd of May 1536 and the 1st of February 1541. The process began with the First Suppression Act in 1535 and concluded with the Second Suppression Act in 1539, which led to the final closures in early 1540.
Henry VIII targeted over 800 religious houses for dissolution across England, Wales, and Ireland. The First Suppression Act dissolved around 243 houses, while the Second Suppression Act dissolved the remaining monasteries, including all friaries and nunneries by 1540.
Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries to seize their wealth to fund wars and secure his dynasty. The Crown used the dissolution to increase regular income, transfer economic power from the church to the state, and undermine papal authority through humanist critiques of monastic life.
Monks received pensions averaging £5 per annum, while nuns received less generous pensions averaging £3 per annum. Friars were not given pensions and were dismissed with a gratuity of around 40 shillings each, leaving many to fend for themselves as secular priests.
The Pilgrimage of Grace was a massive uprising in the north of England in 1536 that demanded the restoration of the monasteries and the removal of Thomas Cromwell. Henry VIII responded with brutal force, executing the rebellion leaders and using the uprising to justify the destruction of all remaining monasteries.
The dissolution led to the destruction of many libraries, such as the 646 volumes at the Augustinian Friars at York and the 600 books at Worcester Priory. It also caused the closure of hospitals, almshouses, and educational institutions, creating a social catastrophe that lasted for 50 years.