insist upon Communion under both kinds. Apparently two different
measures were introduced, which were merged ultimately into one Act,
whereby it was decreed that all who spoke irreverently against the
Blessed Eucharist should be punished by fines and imprisonment, and
that Communion should be administered under both kinds except
necessity otherwise required. The linking together of these two Acts
was a clever move to ensure the support of the bishops who desired to
put down irreverence against the Eucharist, and it is noteworthy that
out of the eleven bishops present five voted against the measure even
in its improved form.[49]

Already an Act had been passed in the previous reign against colleges,
chantries, guilds, etc., but since most of these remained as yet
undisturbed, it was determined to replenish the royal treasury by
decreeing their immediate dissolution, and by vesting their property
in the king. This was done with the avowed object of diverting the
funds from superstitious uses to the erection of grammar schools, the
maintenance of students at the universities, and the relief of the
poor; but in reality the property of the guilds, and of the free
schools and chantry schools, was confiscated, and little if anything
was done for the improvement of education or for the relief of the
poor. Edward VI. is represented generally as the founder of the
English grammar schools and colleges, but it would be much more
correct to say that through his greedy ministers he was their
destroyer. True, indeed, he established a few colleges and hospitals,
but such beneficence was only a poor return for the wholesale
overthrow of more than four hundred flourishing educational
establishments, and for the confiscation of thousands of pounds
bequeathed by generous benefactors for the education of the poor.[50]