Elizabeth Zouche facts for kids
Elizabeth Zouche was an important English abbess. An abbess was the leader of a group of nuns in a place called an abbey. She was the very last abbess of Shaftesbury Abbey. This abbey was a Benedictine nunnery, which means it was a home for nuns who followed the rules of Saint Benedict. It was founded by Alfred the Great a very long time ago. Shaftesbury Abbey was one of the biggest and richest abbeys in England. Elizabeth Zouche had to sign a paper on March 23, 1539. This paper, called a deed of surrender, ended the abbey's 650-year history. It also gave all its land and money to Henry VIII.
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Elizabeth Zouche's Life
Elizabeth Zouche came from a noble family. This means her family had a high social rank. Their lands were near Shaftesbury. We know she was a novice at the abbey in 1496. A novice is someone new to a religious order. They are still learning the rules.
Becoming the Abbess
Elizabeth Zouche was chosen as the abbess in 1529. She took over after Elizabeth Shelford passed away in 1528.
When she became abbess, big changes were already happening. These changes led to the Dissolution of the Monasteries. This was when King Henry VIII closed many monasteries and abbeys. In 1534, Elizabeth Zouche and the nuns agreed to the Act of Supremacy. This act made the King the head of the Church in England.
The next year, two groups visited Shaftesbury. They were checking the abbey's wealth and how the nuns lived. At this time, Shaftesbury was the second richest nunnery in England. When the process of closing abbeys began in 1536, Shaftesbury was not immediately affected. It was a larger abbey. However, Elizabeth Zouche did take in some nuns. These nuns came from a smaller Benedictine house in Somerset that had been closed.
The Abbey's Closure
In 1538, the larger abbeys like Shaftesbury faced closure. Elizabeth Zouche tried to make a deal. She offered the King 500 marks. She also offered £100 to Thomas Cromwell, a powerful advisor. She hoped she and her nuns could stay in their abbey. She even suggested they could live "by some other name and apparel."
But the deal was not accepted. The abbey's end came in March 1539. Elizabeth Zouche officially gave the abbey to John Tregonwell. This happened on March 23, 1539. She signed the deed of surrender. This was a sad moment for the abbey. However, the day before, she had arranged good pensions for herself and the other nuns. A pension is money paid regularly after someone stops working.
The total of all the pensions was £431. Elizabeth Zouche's pension was the largest. She received £133 6s. 8d. This was a very large sum of money for that time.
Her Later Life
Records show that Elizabeth Zouche stayed in touch with her former nuns. In 1553, she gave fifty of them a small gift. It was worth the price of a goose. In 1552, it was decided that her pension could pass to Sir John Zouche of Ansty after her death. He was likely a relative. He later became a Member of Parliament for Shaftesbury. Elizabeth Zouche was still alive in 1553. We do not know exactly how much longer she lived.
Fictional Portrayal
Elizabeth Zouche appears in a novel called The Butcher's Daughter. This book was written by Victoria Glendinning in 2018. It tells a story based on the closing of Shaftesbury Abbey.
Elizabeth Zouche also appears in The Mirror and the Light. This is the final book in a series by Hilary Mantel. The series tells the story of Thomas Cromwell's life. This book was published in 2020.
