"Henry VIII's intentions surrounding the Dissolution of the Monasteries were primarily religious." Assess the validity of this claim.

One could begin their answer with a short introduction revealing they are aware of the context of the question: what was the Dissolution of the Monasteries? In what year did it begin? And maybe a comment that it was one of the most decisive and prominent moments in the English reformation of the Church. Then a punchy line of argument that turns the language of the question on its head - Henry's intentions were to an extent religious, but to say they were "primarily" religious is to ignore the significance of his political and financial goals in going through with the Dissolution, which were perhaps far more important to him than were the religious goals of the Dissolution. First paragraph agree with the question, you're not denying he had some religious intentions and his actions had important religious consequences too. Some knowledge on Henry's personal religious persuasion - he was not totally on-board with the Roman Catholic Church and was a little liberal in terms of his beliefs - examples... Dissolution would allow him to properly cultivate his own English Church according to his own belief without Papal interference. But there is also plenty of room to argue that he was not by any means Protestant either - and his only real qualms with the Roman Catholic Church lay with the fact that he was technically politically inferior to the Pope - his people had a sovereign higher than himself, the King of England, and he resented this. Thus, the Dissolutions were very much political in their conception. Financial - biggest reason for the Dissolutions perhaps - follows on from political, as it makes him a stronger and more stable leader - he had been struggling financially before this time - debasement of the coinage... some evidence of expenditure and debt. Also some evidence of how much money was made from Dissolution and where it was then spent. - Evidence that this was probably the most poignant reason for the Dissolutions. Extra points for mentions of Cromwell's influence. Summarise.