Chantry is a term for the English establishment of a shrine or chapel on private land where monks or priests would say (or "chant") prayers on a fixed schedule, usually for someone who had died. The same term is also used for the endowment itself, as well as for the monks or priests so endowed. Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... Eastern Orthodox shrine Buddhist shrine just outside Wat Phnom. ... A chapel is a church other than a parish church, often attached to a larger institution such as a college, a hospital, a palace, or a prison. ... A Roman Catholic monk A monk is a person who practices monasticism, adopting a strict religious and ascetic lifestyle, usually in community with others following the same path. ... Prayer is an effort to communicate with a God, or to some deity or deities, either to offer praise to the deity, to make a request of the deity, or simply to express ones thoughts and emotions to the deity. ...

Chantries date to the late medieval period, but they were not numerous in England until the 14th and 15th centuries. For the establishment of a chantry, a private person or organization would need to pay an endowment for the erection and upkeep and then would gain the consent of the ordinary, the consent of the King of England for taking lands from mortmain, and would offer a guarantee to the local priest that the chantry would not interfere with the diocesan priest's duties. Chantries were often appended to existing churches. While some chantries were established for the purpose of saying mass and prayers for the dead, they were also established on behalf of guilds. In ecclesiastical terms an Ordinary is the incumbent of a position of authority within the hierarchical organisation of the Church. ... This is a list of British monarchs, that is, the monarchs on the thrones of some of the various kingdoms that have existed on, or incorporated, the island of Great Britain, namely: England (united with Wales from 1536) up to 1707; Scotland up to 1707; The Kingdom of Great Britain... A church building is a building used in Christian worship. ... A guild is an association of persons of the same trade or pursuits, formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards of morality or conduct. ...

When Henry VIII initiated the Reformation, he issued an Act in 1545 that chantries were, in fact, misapplied funds and misappropriated lands. The Act stated that all chantries and their properties would belong to the King himself for as long as he should live. Along with the dispersal of the monasteries, this was designed to help Henry relieve the monetary pressures of the war with France. However, few chantries were closed or given over to Henry, as Henry did not live far beyond the passing of the act. His successor, Edward VI, had a new Act issued in 1547, completely suppressing 2,374 chantries and guild chapels and launched inquiries into any possessions they might have. Although the money was supposed to go to "charitable" ends and the "public good," most of it seems to have gone to Edward VI's advisors. However, the Act provided that the crown had to guarantee an pension to all chantry priests so displaced. Henry VIII King of England and Ireland by Hans Holbein the Younger His Grace King Henry VIII (28 June 1491–28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ... Events December 13 - Official opening of the Council of Trent (closed 1563) Births Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Italian (Ferrarese) composer of madrigals, also an organist and influential teacher Giulio Caccini, Italian (Florentine) composer, sometimes called the founder of opera Deaths October 18 - John Taverner, composer... Buddhist monastery near Tibet A monastery is the habitation of monks. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... Edward VI King of England and Ireland Edward VI (12 October 1537–6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. ... Events January 16 - Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Tsar of Russia. ...

The most significant effect of the chantries, and the most significant loss that resulted from their suppression, was educational. Chantries had provided education to their communities. Since chantry priests were not ordinaries and did not offer public mass, they could serve their communities in other ways. When Edward VI closed the chantries, the amount of education available to the poor and the rural residents was greatly diminished. Some of the chantries, however, were converted into the grammar schools that are now called "Edwardian." A grammar school is a type of school found in some English-speaking countries. ...