Some families, like the de Veres and the Mortimers, and at a lower level the Askes and the Arthingtons, remained intimately involved with the religious houses of which they were patrons, right up until the Dissolution. In some instances these relationships, and the activities of successive members of a patronal family, are particularly well documented and grant an unusually personal insight into the interactions between a religious community and its lay patrons. This was the case with the five remarkable families who have been singled out here, all of whom held the patronage of more than one monastery: the Montagues, the Berkeley family, the de Clares, the Howards and the Scropes of Bolton.

The Montague family, first of all, from 1337 earls of Salisbury, expressed their personal preferences by favouring one of their religious houses above the others, by founding a monastery when they were already patrons of numerous other religious houses, and by showing a particular interest in this new foundation, and choosing to be buried in it. The Berkeleys are interesting as a family who were patrons of several monasteries and nunneries throughout the entire period, some of which were of their own foundation, while others they acquired at a later stage. The third family, the de Clares, are of special interest as patrons of numerous religious houses, located on both sides of the English–Welsh border, and also, more importantly, as particularly active patrons of the important Benedictine abbey at Tewkesbury.