 Much of this wealth was spent by Henry on maintaining his court and household , including many of the building works he undertook on royal palaces . Henry hung 2 @,@ 000 tapestries in his palaces by comparison , James V of Scotland hung just 200 . He took pride in showing off his collection of weapons , which included exotic archery equipment , 2 @,@ 250 pieces of land ordnance and 6 @,@ 500 handguns . Tudor monarchs had to fund all the expenses of government out of their own income . This income came from the Crown lands that Henry owned as well as from customs duties like tonnage and poundage , granted by parliament to the king for life . During Henry 's reign the revenues of the Crown remained constant ( around £ 100 @,@ 000 ) , but were eroded by inflation and rising prices brought about by war . Indeed , it was war and Henry 's dynastic ambitions in Europe that meant that the surplus he had inherited from his father was exhausted by the mid @-@ 1520s . Whereas Henry VII had not involved Parliament in his affairs very much , Henry VIII had to turn to Parliament during his reign for money , in particular for grants of subsidies to fund his wars . The Dissolution of the Monasteries provided a means to replenish the treasury and as a result the Crown took possession of monastic lands worth £ 120 @,@ 000 ( £ 36 million ) a year . The Crown had profited a small amount in 1526 when Wolsey had put England onto a gold , rather than silver , standard , and had debased the currency slightly . Cromwell debased the currency more significantly , starting in Ireland in 1540 . The English pound halved in value against the Flemish pound between 1540 and 1551 as a result . The nominal profit made was significant , helping to bring income and expenditure together , but it had a catastrophic effect on the overall economy of the country . In part , it helped to bring about a period of very high inflation from 1544 onwards . 
