4.1 Mary I - Foreign Policy

Question 1

what happens with Calais under Mary?

Answer 1

• Philip puts Mary under pressure to invade France to distract them so he can win the Habsburg-Valois war so she does so in 1557
• the nobility were naturally quite happy with a war
• to begin with the English do ok at the battle of St quentin, successfully sieging it but they are prevented from going any further due to a lack of money
• in January of 1558 the French launch an attack on Calais and England loses it
• this is the worst and most disastrous case of foreign policy in the whole of the Tudor period

Question 2

what was Mary’s initial approach to foreign policy

Answer 2

• her Catholic stance meant she’d be assumed to have a more conciliatory approach to European powers opposed to the Protestant policies of Edward
• her marriage to Philip meant she was a natural expected ally of the Spanish
• she restored the Pope and brought back papal supremacy
• unfortunately for her the Pope was very anti-Spanish

Question 3

what was the effects of the Calais situation?

Answer 3

• everyone who told Mary she would get dragged into Spanish foreign policy was right
• showed weaknesses of England who were now fully severed from the rest of the continent
• there was no attempt to retake Calais but they instead tried to take the Port of Brest which failed
• Mary died in 1558 before a formal peace treaty could be signed

Question 4

what naval and milita reforms does Mary instate?

Answer 4

• £14,000 per annum into the navy
• 6 new ships
• this was helpful in the reign of Elizabeth in the buildup to the Armada
• in 1558 she introduced a militia act that set up the comissioners of muster that was an individual who ‘mustered’ troops and made sure they received training
• she also introduced the arms act to make sure weapons could be supplied to armed forces if needed