Résumé

We model the political economy of the English Reformation to show how the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1540) cemented Protestantism. Property rights over former Catholic monastic lands were insecure for as long as there was a possibility of return to Catholicism. Beneficiaries of monastic-land rents had a vested interest in preventing this. To provide evidence, we compile a new dataset of 16th-17th c. Members of Parliament (MPs) and their respective borough constituencies. We show that MPs representing boroughs with more monastic lands were more likely to support Protestantism during the reign of Mary I (r. 1553-1558). Those who had personal connections to such lands were also more likely to do so. In the reign of Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603), parishes with more monastic lands had fewer ‘recusants’ (Catholics). In 1679-1681, MPs from boroughs with more monastic lands were more likely to support the exclusion of the Catholic future king James II (r. 1685-1688) from the throne. Finally, we show that the transition to Protestantism was a long process. Even after the Glorious Revolution, boroughs with more monastic lands still had lower percentage of Catholics. This reveals that by the 18th century, England had not yet attained what the model calls a Complete Reformation Equilibrium but, rather, only a T-stable Reformation Equilibrium.

Référence

Mark Koyama (George Mason University), « Rents and Reformation », IAST General Seminar, Toulouse : IAST, 9 décembre 2025, 11h30–12h30, salle Auditorium 4 (First floor - TSE Building).