HENRY VIII AND FOREIGN POLICY

Introduction

 Henry VIII was an ambitious aggressive monarch. Unlike his father Henry VII, whose interests were mainly defensive, Henry VIII was an interventionist. He wanted to raise England’s profile in European power politics and was prepared to go to war to capture French territory.

 He saw himself as the equal of Francis I of France and Charles V of Germany and wanted to show off England's power by claiming that England held the balance of power between them.

 His chief minister, Wolsey, the humanist, wanted the glory of international diplomacy but wished to avoid the waste of war. His quest for peace, helped to dampen Henry’s martial ambitions.

 During Wolsey’s period of high office, England only went to war once – in 1523. Wolsey probably spent more time on foreign affairs than on domestic issues.

Relations with France

1513 War with France: Why?

 Henry VIII wanted glory. He wished to renew the Hundred Years War with France. In 1422 Henry VI of England was proclaimed king of France; by 1453 the English had been expelled from France, except for the port of Calais. Henry wished to reassert his claim to the throne of France.

 Within weeks of his accession, Henry married Catherine of Aragon in order to renew England’s alliance with Spain. Spain might be the ally England needed.

What happened?

 Wolsey organized the expedition. Henry led 30,000 men and captured the towns of Therouanne and Tournai. The French were forced to flee after a skirmish known as the Battle of the Spurs.

Impact of war

 Henry’s success made him ambitious to continue with direct involvement in European politics. This set the tone for the future.

 The nobility received rewards and titles after the victories.

 Wolsey emerged as the man to whom Henry would entrust the running of the kingdom.

Peace and glory 1514-22

 After the success against France, Henry made peace in 1514 and married his younger sister Mary to the ageing Louis XII of France.

 Despite the accession of Francis I to the French throne in 1515, which brought about new rivalry between the two kings, Wolsey managed to continue his peace policy.

 Henry had wanted to launch a new invasion of France in 1516 but Wolsey persuaded him it would be better for England to join the coalition of powers opposing French intervention in Italy. In the end this idea petered out.

 In 1518 Wolsey devised a general peace the Treaty of London, which brought together the great powers of Europe in a ‘universal and perpetual’ peace.

 France paid 600,000 crowns for the return of Tournai and a marriage was proposed between the French Dauphin (the king’s eldest son) and Henry’s baby daughter, Mary.

 In 1520 Wolsey followed this up with the Field of the Cloth of Gold, where Henry and Francis met just outside Calais for feasting and jousting. It seemed to portend the end of the long hostility between the two countries and was a further triumph for Wolsey.

War with France 1523

 By the early 1520s, France was involved in a long series of wars in Italy against Catherine of Aragon’s powerful nephew, the Emperor Charles V.

 By 1523, Henry hoped to benefit from alliance with Charles and with the disloyal Constable of France to invade France once more. Wolsey was opposed but could not dissuade the king.

 English forces landed in France, captured the port of Boulogne and marched towards Paris before being forced back by bad weather and lack of supplies.

Peace maintained 1524-9

 Despite Henry’s hopes of campaigning again in 1524, the plans petered out, partly at Wolsey’s instigation.

 In 1525, Henry VIII again hoped to invade France after Francis I was captured by Charles V during the Battle of Pavia in Northern Italy. However Charles V was not interested in Henry's ambitions, so peace was made with France in 1525 and maintained until 1543.

 Henry's determination to divorce Catherine of Aragon by 1527 helped to undermine relations with Charles and to strengthen relations with France.

Relations with Spain

Before 1516

 Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon in 1509. Good relations with Spain were the cornerstone of Henry’s foreign policy, since he was normally anti-French.

 As France was more populous and wealthier than England, it was assumed that England would need an ally if she were to prevail in war.

 Relations with Spain cooled in 1512 when an English expedition to Aquitaine in France did not receive the Spanish help, which Ferdinand had promised.

 In 1513, relations again broke down as Ferdinand agreed a one-year truce with France after he had promised a joint attack on France with Henry and the Emperor Maximillian.

After 1516, the situation was transformed.

 In 1516 Charles V succeeded his grandfather Ferdinand of Aragon as king of Spain. Charles was also ruler of the Low Countries, centre of a great deal of English trade and bordering on France, therefore a convenient base for attack.

 In 1519 Charles succeeded his other grandfather, Maximilian as Emperor of Germany.

 For Henry VIII, Charles seemed an ideal ally against France as he was apparently so powerful and since the French were seriously concerned about Hapsburg encirclement.

 With relations worsening between Charles and Francis, Wolsey attempted to act as peacemaker. In 1521, he met Francis I in Calais and Charles V in Bruges.

 Failure of these negotiations. Henry agreed to an alliance with Charles against France. Charles visited England in 1520 and 1522 and England then declared on France (June 1522).

 1522-3 War against France as Charles V’s ally.

Relations with Charles worsen 1524-9

 The failure of the French campaign of 1523, and the failure to follow it up by England meant that relations were already cooling.

 In 1525, Charles rejected Henry’s new plan to conquer France, which were inspired by Charles’ decisive victory over Francis at the Battle of Pavia in Italy. Charles was angry because he knew that the English had been negotiating peace with France beforehand!

 1526, Wolsey helped to organize the League of Cognac against the Emperor.

 1527 Wolsey negotiated peace with France – Treaty of Greenwich.
 Charles further upset after 1527 as Henry begins his long campaign to annul his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, Charles’ aunt!

Relations with the Papacy

 Relations with Charles were also worsened when his troops sacked Rome and captured the Pope in 1527. This meant that the Pope had to do Charles' bidding.

 This represented a reversal of the good relations between Henry VIII and the papacy in the previous 20 years. Pope was influential in international affairs and Henry VIII liked to see himself as a loyal son of the Church.

Relations with Scotland

 Henry VII had bequeathed good relations with Scotland and had married his daughter (Henry VIII's sister Margaret) to James IV.

 Encouraged by France, James IV, in 1513, attempted to invade England, while Henry was away in France. The Scots were defeated decisively by the Earl of Surrey at the Battle of Flodden. James IV and eleven earls were amongst 10,000 killed.

 English success and the death of James IV meant that Henry’s sister Margaret was regent for the young James V. Although the French were still influential in Scotland i.e. James V would marry the French princess Marie de Guise, there was no further threat of invasion from Scotland during Wolsey’s ministry.

Conclusions

Successes

 Henry VIII's diplomacy did give him what he craved. It was frenetic, fast moving and changeable but it made England and her king seem important in European affairs.

 Because Francis and Charles (the greatest powers in Europe) were usually hostile to each other, England could play the role of 'honest broker' between them. Both parties usually wanted English assistance against the other.

 Henry twice invaded France and though there were no long-term gains, France was seen to be vulnerable and neither invasion was defeated by French arms.

 Wolsey's policy of international glory through peaceful means (Treaty of London and Field of the Cloth of Gold) was quite successful in elevating England's international standing. Limitations

 Naturally this active foreign policy was extremely expensive. The cost of warfare was rising very quickly and the endless diplomacy, major treaties and diplomatic missions cost a great deal as well. Throughout the 1520s Henry VIII had difficulties in funding these initiatives. The Amicable Grant of 1525 is perhaps the most famous example of problems associated with finances but there were also wrangles with the parliament of 1523.

 Militarily, England was seen as a second rate power. She still had no standing army and the government was constantly concerned about the limitations and lack of military training undertaken by Englishmen.

 England could not rely on a strong alliance with either of the main powers. Ferdinand of Aragon, the Emperor Maximilian and Charles V all let England down by making separate peace treaty with France.

B) The structure of government: the role of Wolsey to 1529 and his relations with the King, nobility and Parliament.

Introduction

 Wolsey was the son of an Ipswich butcher. His lowly origins made him unpopular with the nobility but it meant that he would never represent a threat to the king. Henry VIII made him and he could unmake him!

 He became bursar of Magdalen College, Oxford and then was appointed to Henry VII’s Council as almoner – the man who distributed food and money to the poor on the king’s behalf.