Chapter 8 - foreign relations and securing the succession

Question 1

beginning of reign - differing opinions

Answer 1

• conflict of interests between King and councillors (inherited from father)
• councillors sought a continuation of peace and negotiated renewal of Treaty of Etaples 1510
• Henry sent Christopher bainbridge (Archbishop of York) to Rome to persuade the Pope to enter alliance against the French
  = creation of Holy league (England, Spain, HRE, Venice, the Papacy) in anti-French alliance

Question 2

How was Henry used by Ferdinand of Aragon and Maximilian

Answer 2

• 1512 Henry sent substantial army of 10,000 to SW France under command of Marquis of Dorset
• but Ferdinand used this as a diversionary tactic while he successfully conquered Navarre

Question 3

Success in 1513

Answer 3

• Henry himself led force to NE France
• winning of Battle of Spurs
• captured Therouanne and Tournai

Question 4

Anglo Scottish conflict

Answer 4

• Battle of Flodden September 1513
• King James IV crossed border with substantial force, but defeated by smaller English army hurriedly put together and capably led by Early of Surrey
• James himself was killed, along with much of Scottish nobility
• this left throne of Scotland in hands of infant James V

Question 5

Was anything gained from the Battle of Flodden

Answer 5

• Henry VIII did little to build on the advantage which Flodden had given him

Question 6

Was anything gained from Henry’s military adventures of 1513

Answer 6

• nothing
• the war was very costly and Henry was forced to liquidate assets inherited from father to pay for it
• in a return of the problems of 1489, there were rumblings about the taxation in Yorkshire, which only narrowly failed to turn into full-scale revolt
• the renegotiated French pension was lost
• Tournai was eventually sold back to French for rather less than English had paid to repair its defences after the siege

Question 7

What did Wolsey do to improve relations with France

Answer 7

• left to Wolsey to pick up the pieces
• recovered Etaples pension
• secured marriage alliance between Henry’s younger sister Mary and King of France Louis XII

Question 8

Foreign policy 1514-26

Question 9

basis of policy making 1514-26

Answer 9

1 - England remained relatively minor power and could not really compete on level terms with France and Spain
2 - Henry significantly overestimated English power. Wolsey then had to frame the details of foreign policy based on this false assumption
3 - the ‘auld alliance’ between France and Scotland remained strong. Consequently, when England and France were on amicable terms there tended to be few issues with Anglo-Scottish relations. But clashes between England and France almost always led to increased tension between England and Scotland

Question 10

by end of 1514 what did Henry run out of

Answer 10

• money to continue a warlike foreign policy

Question 11

By end of 1514 Henry ran out of money. What were the consequences?

Answer 11

• he was unable to exploit the weakness of Scotland following the death of James IV at Flodden
• he sought peace with France, the settlement reinforced by marriage of Mary to Louis XII
  BUT marriage short-lived

Question 12

death of Louis XII

Answer 12

• Jan 1515
• Mary quickly remarried Duke of Suffolk
• which denied Henry opportunity to use her second time for diplomatic purposes n
  left French throne in hands of Francis I - Henry saw as personal and political rival

Question 13

Henry’s response to Francis becoming King
How did England become isolated

Answer 13

• immediate response was to seek alliance with Ferdinand of Aragon
• but Ferdinand died in 1516
• successor Charles V, sought alliance with French
• in the following year Charles and grandfather (Emperor Maximilian) agreed Treaty of Cambrai with the French, leaving England dangerously isolated

Question 14

consequence of this isolation of England

Answer 14

• offered Francis I opportunity to undermine anglo-sottish relations
• able to do this because the duke of Albany, heir presumptive to the Scottish throne, was member of French nobility
• Albany was able to consolidate position by being appointed as regent to Scottish throne
• this alarmed Henry and Wolsey who saw Albany as French agent
• However, any threat from Albany was minimised as divisions among Scottish nobility
• Henry showed himself incapable of exploiting divisions and weaknesses within Scotland

Question 15

Who managed to end England’s isolation

Answer 15

• Wolsey was successful in ending England’s isolation very quickly
• with the Treaty of London in 1518 he emerged as the leading diplomat in Western Europe

Question 16

Treaty of London

Answer 16

• 1518
• prompted by pope Leo X, who desired a united christian front against what he saw as the threat of the Ottoman Turks
• this treaty had its origins in the peace negotiations between England and France
• however, its scope widened and eventually it became a ‘treaty of perpetual peace’ = non-aggression pact between England, France, Spain, HRE and numerous smaller states

Question 17

what did the treaty of London mean for the different people involved (Wolsey)

Answer 17

• diplomatic coup fro Wolsey
• the pope’s need for a united Christian front meant that he appointed Wolsey as papal legate over England (gave control over English church)

Question 18

newfound friendship between England and France

Answer 18

• England agreed to return Tournai to France, but the French once again agreed to pay English a pension to compensate for its loss
• French agreed to keep Albany out of Scotland, which ensured more peaceable relations on Anglo-Scottish border

Question 19

why did France want England’s support

Answer 19

• French concerned about the increased power which Spain could exert with the election of the Spanish king to the post of Holy Roman Emperor
• this rather than Wolsey’s diplomatic brilliance encouraged French change of attitude

Question 20

the field of the cloth of gold

Answer 20

• June 1520
• meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I
• location in France but quite close to Calais (held by English)
• each king, accompanied by a large retinue, set up a base in a lavishly decorated pavilion which was used for dining and entertainment
• Henry defeated by Francis in wrestling match
• estimated event cost Henry’s royal treasury £15,000

Question 21

conflict between Francis I and Charles V

Answer 21

• conflict arose between Francis and Charles
• in August 1521 Wolsey negotiated the treaty of Bruges with Charles

Question 22

why did Henry side with Charles

Answer 22

• Henry had compelling motives
• he could improve his relations with pope, who was anxious to reduce French control over northern Italy
• he believed that he might gain more territory within France
• part of the deal entailed a marriage alliance between the emperor and Henry’s young daughter, Princess Mary

Question 23

England and France 1522 and 1523

Answer 23

• English armies invaded northern France
• campaigns gained little but proved costly - parliament reluctant to grant extraordinary revenue necessary to cover the costs

Question 24

what did Henry suggest to Charles

Answer 24

• Henry showed lack of strategic awareness by the crass way in which he attempted to benefit from the emperor’s crushing defeat of the French at the Battle of Pavia 1525
• suggested to Charles to launch joint invasion of northern France in order to achieve territorial gains
• Charles did not agree to this
• controversy over amicable grant shows lack of public support for adventure

Question 25

Three main consequences of this episode

Answer 25

• Henry ego bruised + forced to back down
• his resentment towards emperor reinforced when Charles repudiated his marriage contract with Princess Mary
• Wolsey’s domestic prestige never really recovered from this episode

Question 26

when did Henry begin to lean towards a pro-French foreign policy

Answer 26

• fracturing of anglo-imperial alliance led Henry + Wolsey in direction of pro-french FP
• evident when Henry lent support to league of cognac = put together by pope to counterbalance what he considered excessive power of emperor in northern Italy following his victory at Pavia

Question 27

complication in foreign policy

Answer 27

• not best time to be on poor terms with emperor
• emergence of problems created by kings great matter created new complication in foreign policy
• in the process, it would not only bring down Wolsey, but make Henry an object of suspicion to whole of Catholic Europe

Question 28

failure to resolve kings great matter

Answer 28

• failure of Henry to resolve great matter by diplomatic means shows England = minor power in Europe
• Henry + Wolsey forced by weak position to make anti-imperial alliance with French in treaty of Amiens 1527
• Wolsey sought to pressurise emperor by imposing trade embargo with Burgundian lands, but Charles’ retaliation created widespread unemployment + social problems in England, forcing Wolsey to back down
• Charles V’s strength = victory over French (battle of Landriano 1529) and dominance of pope = peace of Cambria 1529
• this meant Henry could not solve marital issues by diplomatic means

Question 29

fall of Wolsey

Answer 29

• Henry had to blame someone else for this failure
  =Wolsey’s fall from power in 1529

Question 30

peace of Cambria

Answer 30

• 1529
• required French to give up ambitions in Italy
• reinforced papcay’s political dependence on emperor
• it made clear an international political context in which the dominant individual was COA nephew = emperor who made commitment to family honour very clear

Question 31

alliance with France

Answer 31

• 1532 Henry tried to make fragile alliance with France
• France also in weak position so together could put little pressure on emperor
• limited usefulness of French alliance began to unravel as Francis sought to establish a marriage alliance between his son Henry and the pope’s niece - Catherine de Medici

Question 32

how was Henry going to resolve the kings great matter - would there be any repercussions

Answer 32

• Henry had no choice but to resolve great matter by breaking with Rome
• horrifies catholic powers but no repercussions in short term as Charles primarily concerned with threat posed by Ottoman turks to christian Europe

Question 33

how did Henry try and reinforce his position

Answer 33

• Henry tried to reinforce position by making alliance with League of Schmalkalden, which foundered amid mutual distrust

Question 34

why was the pressure on Henry’s position reduced in 1536

Answer 34

• death of COA and execution of Anne Boleyn opened up possibility of renewed alliance with emperor
• the renewal of fighting between emperor and Francis I reduced potential danger of England’s isolated position

Question 35

when did henry’s position once again weaken

Answer 35

• 1538
• Charles and Francis once again buried differences in treaty of Nice and they each agreed to sever connections with England
• pope Paul III published a bull deposing Henry = absolving English Catholics from need to obey ruler
• pope sent envoys to France + Scotland to rouse support for catholic crusade against Henry

Question 36

why was Henry’s position more secure than it seemed

Answer 36

• neither Francis nor Charles trusted each other and each had more important immediate priorities

Question 37

what proves that this situation was dangerous

Answer 37

• six articles act 1539 = intended to reassure catholic opinion one England
• decision to marry Anne of Cleves - first encounter with Anne coincided with meeting between Charles + Francis. Henry’s natural fear was that they were conspiring to invade England and he therefore believed the marriage with Anne, accompanied by another attempt at alliance with League of Schmalkalden, would be a useful insurance policy

Question 38

what happened to the marriage between Henry + Anne of cleves

Answer 38

• marriage soon became as politically redundant as it was personally unsuitable once the short lived friendship between Charles + Francis broke down
• leaving Henry in much more secure position