Chapter 9: Foreign relations and securing the succession

Question 1

What was Henry’s early FP like (1509-14) ?

Answer 1

• reign began with conflict of interests between Henry and some of the inherited councillors from HVII- the councillors sought a continuation of peace and negotiated the renewal of the Treaty of Etaples in 1510
• evident that Henry’s intentions were different, wanting a warlike FP like Henry V, H sent Chrisopher Bainbridge (Archbishop of York) to Rome to persuade the Pope, Julius II to enter an alliance against the French which bore fruit with the creation of the Holy League, Henry was being used by Ferdinand of Aragon (his father in law) and Emperor Maximilian (HRE)
  -❗️❌in 1512 Henry sent an army of 10,000 men to southwest France under the command of the Marquis of Dorset, it achieved nothing and was used by Ferdinand as a diversionary tactic while he successfully conquered Navarre
• ❗️✅in 1513 Henry himself led a force to northeastern France, this was successful in winning the ‘Battle of the Spurs’ (little more than a skirmish but claimed in propaganda to be a stunning victory) as well as capturing the towns of Therouanne and Tournai

Question 2

What was the Holy League ?

Answer 2

• an anti-French alliance between England. Spain, HRE, Venice and the Papacy

Question 3

What happened during the Anglo-Scottish conflict in 1513 ?

Answer 3

• ✅Battle of Flodden sept 1513: King James IV had crossed the border with a substantial force, but was defeated by a smaller English army, hurriedly put together and capably led by the Earl of Surrey
• James IV was killed, along with much of the Scottish nobility which left the throne of Scotland in the hands of the infant James V
  -❌ Henry did very little to build on the advantage which Flodden had given him

Question 4

What was gained from Henry’s military adventures of 1513?

Answer 4

🔔NOTHING !
- the war proved very costly and H was forced to liquidate assets inherited from his father to pay for it
- rumblings about taxation in Yorkshire, which only narrowly failed to turn into a full scale revolt
- the renegotiated French pension was lost
- Tournai was eventually sold back to the French for rather less than the English had paid to repair its defences after the siege

• a further campaign was contemplated in 1514 but was quickly abandoned once Maximilian and Ferdinand each made separate peace with France
• 🔔Wolsey left to pick up the pieces, which he did with considerable skill, recovering the Etaples pension and securing a marriage alliance between H’s younger sister Mary and the King of France, Louis XII

Question 5

What was the basis of policy making between 1514-1526 ?

Answer 5

• no clear theme to FP pursued by H and Wolsey from late 1514-26, alliances were made and just as quickly broken
  🔔🔔
  1. England remained a relatively minor power and could not really compete pm level terms with the major powers of France and Spain
  2. Henry significantly overestimated English power in which Wolsey had to frame FP based on the 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 fewer issues with Anglo-Scottish relations (vice versa when there was clashes)

Question 6

What were the major consequences of Henry running out of money by the end of 1514 ?

Answer 6

• 🔔could no longer continue a warlike FP:
  1. he was unable to exploit the weakness of Scotland following the death of James IV at Flodden
  2. he sought peace with France, the settlement being reinforced by the marriage of his younger sister Mary to the French king, Louis XII, however the marriage was short lived

Question 7

What was the impact of the death of Louis XII ?

Answer 7

• French throne left in the hands of Francis I (a charismatic young king) who Henry immediately saw as a personal and political rival
• his immediate response was to seek an alliance with Ferdinand of Aragon, however Ferdinand died in 1516 and his grandson and successor, Charles V, sought an alliance with the French
• 🔔in the following year Charles and his other grandfather, Emperor Maximilian agreed the Treaty of Cambrai with the French, leaving England dangerously isolated

Question 8

What were the consequences of England being left dangerously isolated after the HRE and France sought an alliance ?

Answer 8

• England’s isolation offered Frances I the opportunity to undermine Anglo-Scottish relations
• he was able to do so because the Duke of Albany (heir presumptive to the Scottish throne) was a member of the French nobility
• Albany was able to consolidate his position by being appointed as regent to the Scottish throne, which alarmed Henry and Wolsey who saw Albany as a French agent
• 🔔However any threat from Albany was minimised bcs of poisonous divisions among the Scottish nobility, although Henry showed himself incapable of exploiting divisions and weaknesses within Scotland
• Wolsey quickly ended England’s isolation with the Treaty of London in 1518

Question 9

What was the Treaty of London 1518 ?

Answer 9

• Wolsey ended Englands isolation very quickly with the Treaty of London in 1518, in which he emerged as the leading diplomat in Western Europe
• prompted by Pope Leo X, who desired a united Christian front against the threat of the Ottoman Turks
• started with peace negotiations between England and France but its SCOPE widened and eventually became a ‘treaty of perpetual peace’ a non-aggression pact agreed to by England, France, Spain, the HRE and numerous smaller states

Question 10

How successful was the Treaty of London/the treaty of perpetual peace ?

Answer 10

• successful in quickly ending England’s isolation\
• diplomatic coup for Wolsey + Pope’s need for a united Christian front meant that he appointed Wolsey as papal legate over England
  🔔 Wolsey was undoubtedly at the height of his power and prestige as HVIII’s chief minister in 1518
• however future conflicts suggest that the treaty was essentially meaningless (not how it appeared in immediate aftermath of its signing)

Question 11

What effect did the Treaty of London have on Anglo-French relations ?

Answer 11

• newfound friendship between England and France
• England agreed to return Tournai to France, but French once again agreed to pay the English a pension to compensate for its loss
• French agreed to keep Albany out of Scotland (ensured more peaceable relations on the Anglo-Scottish border)
• 🔔French concerned about the increased power which Spain could exert with the election of the Spanish king to the post of Holy Roman Emperor, rather than Wolsey’s diplomatic brilliance which encouraged the French change of attitudes
• Field of Cloth of Gold (1520), the most extravagant and expensive diplomatic encounter of the period

Question 12

What was the Field of Cloth of Gold ?

Answer 12

• meeting which took place over more than two weeks in June 1920 between HVIII and Francis I in France (held by the English)
• each king accompanied by a large retinue set up a base in a lavishly decorated pavilion which was used for dining and entertainment
• the event lost some attraction in Henry’s eyes as he was defeated by Francis in a wrestling match
• ❗️estimated the event cost Henry’s royal treasure about £15,000 (money Henry did not have)
• 🔔event was expensive and extravagant
• 🔔in diplomatic terms nothing really achieved by it

Question 13

What was the Treaty of Bruges with Charles V?

Answer 13

negotiated by Wolsey in 1521 after conflict arose between Francis I and Charles V, H had compelling motives to side with Charles:
- He could improve his relations with the 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, the Princess Mary

🔔consequently, English armies invaded northern France in both 1522 and 1523, the campaigns gained little but proved costly, with parliament proving reluctant to grant the extraordinary revenue necessary to cover the costs

Question 14

What was the Battle of Pavia ?

Answer 14

• 🔔a crucial moment in the recurring conflict of the Italian Wars (lasted from 1494 to 1559), which regularly involved conflict between France on the one hand, and Spain and the HRE on the other
• both sides saw Italy as their mains strategic focus (England merely a sideshow)
• 🔔Francis I was captured and held captive by Charles V

Question 15

What were the consequences of the Battle of Pavia ?

Answer 15

• 🔔fracturing Anglo-Imperial alliance led Henry and Wolsey in the direction of a pro-French foreign policy (once again)
• this became most evident when Henry lent support to the League of Cognac, which had been put together by the Pope in order to counterbalance what he considered to be the excessive power of the emperor in norther Italy following the victory at Pavia
• not the best time to be on poor terms with the emperor and the emergence of the problems created by the ‘King’s great Matter’ created a new complication in FP which not even a politician as skilful as Wolsey could resolve
• 🔔this would not only bring down Wolsey, it would also make Henry an object of suspicion to the whole of Catholic Europe

Question 16

How is the Battle of Pavia significant ?

Answer 16

• 🔔showed Henrys lack of strategic awareness by the crass way in which he attempted to benefit from the emperors crushing defeat of the French
• he suggested to Charles that they launch a joint invasion of northern France in order to achieve territorial gains
• historians considers that England’s contribution to the Imperial triumph was paltry
• it was no surprise that Charles would not agree to this + the controversy over the Amicable Grant showed that there was a lack of public support for the adventure

Question 17

What were the three major consequences of the Battle of Pavia ?

Answer 17

after the French defeat at the Battle of Pavia, Henry suggested to Charles that they launch an invasion of northern France but Charles did not agree to this and had major consequences:
1. Henry’s ego was bruised and was obliged to back down
2. H’s resentment towards the emperor was reinforces when Charles repudiated his marriage contract with Princess Mary
3. Wolsey’s domestic prestige never really recovered from the episode

Question 18

What was Henry’s later foreign policy like (1527-40) ?

Answer 18

• failure to resolve the ‘Great Matter’ by diplomatic means emphasises the extent to which 🔔England remained a relatively minor power in Europe
• H and w forced by their weak position to make an anti-Imperial alliance with the French in the ❗️Treaty of Amiens in 1527
• Wolsey sought to pressurise the emperor by imposing a ❗️trade embargo with Burgundian lands, but Charles’s retaliation created widespread unemployment and social problems in England, forcing W to backdown
• Charles V’s strength (exemplified by his victory over French at ❗️Battle of Landriano in 1529) his dominance over the Pope (demonstrated by the ❗️Peace of Cambrai 1529) ensured that H’s attempt to solve his marital issues by diplomatic means were doomed to failure
• 🔔H had to blame someone else for his failure, resulting in Wolsey’s fall from power in 1529

Question 19

What is the Peace of Cambrai (1529) ?

Answer 19

• required the French to give up their ambitions in Italy
• also reinforced the papacy’s political dependence on the emperor
• it made clear an international political context in which the dominant individual was Catherine of Aragon’s nephew, the emperor, who made his commitment to family honour very clear
• ensured that H’s attempt to solve his marital issues by diplomatic means were doomed to failure

Question 20

What was Henry’s motives for making an alliance with France in 1532 ?

Answer 20

• H attempted to shore up his position by making a frigile alliance with France, though France was also in a weak position, together they could put little pressure on the emperor
• the limited usefulness to H of a 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 21

How did Henry resolve his ‘great Matter’ ?

Answer 21

• by breaking with Rome (in the circumstances had little alternative)
• this horrified Catholic powers, but there were no repercussions in the short term, as Charles was primarily concerned with the threat posed by the Ottoman Turks to Christian Europe
• H tried to reinforce his position by making an alliance with the League of Schmalkalden which foundered amid mutual mistrust

Question 22

Why was pressure upon Henry reduced in 1536 ?

Answer 22

1. Death of Catherine of Aragon & the execution of Anne Boleyn opened up the possibility of a renewed alliance with the emperor
2. the renewal of fighting between the emperor and Francis I reduced the potential danger of England’s isolated position

🔔 H was fortunate however this relief was short lived

Question 23

How was Henry’s position once again weakened in 1538 ?

Answer 23

1. Charles and Francis once again buried their differences in the Treaty of Nice (end of Italian Wars) and they agreed to sever connections with England
2. Pope Paul III published a bull deposing Henry and thereby absolving English Catholics from the need to obey their ruler
3. the Pope sent envoys to both France and Scotland to rouse support for a Catholic crusade against Henry

🔔 in reality Henry’s position was more secure that it appeared- neither Francis nor Charles trusted each other and each had more important immediate priorities

Question 24

How did Henry attempt to secure his position in Europe 1538/39 ?

Answer 24

• helps to explain his enthusiasm for the Six Articles Act of 1539, which was intended to reassure Catholic opinion in England
• also helps to explain his decision to marry Anne of Cleves- his first encounter with Anne coincided with a meeting between Charles and Francis
• H’s natural fear was that they were conspiring to invade England and he believed that therefore marriage with Anne, accompanied by another attempt at an alliance with the League of Schmalkalden would be a useful insurance policy
• the marriage soon became as politically redundant as it was personally unsuitable once the short lived friendship between Charles and Francis broke down, leaving H in a more secure position

Question 25

What was Englands relation with Ireland during the first part of his reign ?

Answer 25

• English authorities remained in control of the Pale (area surrounding Dublin)
• at the same time Gerald Fitzgerald (ninth Earl of Kildare) was the dominant Irish nobleman, successful playing a complex double game in which he was both an English courtier and servant of the Crown and the most powerful of the Gaelic chiefs
• it proved difficult to sustain this ambiguous role, especially after the revival of the Geraldine-Butler feud, and the relationship between Kildare and the king broke down
• HVIII’s problem was that he found it difficult to govern Ireland with Kildare, but without him he found it impossible

Question 26

What problems did Henry face with Ireland ?

Answer 26

• Kildare’s dismissal led in 1534 to a major rebellion, led by his son Thomas Fitzgerald, Earl of Ossory, which was suppressed with difficulty and at considerable expense
• the attempt to refashion Irish government in 1534 by brining it more directly under English control failed utterly, it required royal govt through an English born deputy, supported by a substantial military presence, therefore Ireland became an increasing drain on the Crown’s resources
• made worse by the scale of resentment amongst the Gaelic lords, two of these nobles, Con O’Neill and Manus O’Donnell, invaded the Pale in 1539

Question 27

Was the problem in Ireland ever resolved ?

Answer 27

• the govt eventually regained control and tried to pacify Ireland by establishing it as a separate kingdom in 1541, imposing English law and creating counties out of the Gaelic lordship
• in return some Gaelic lords received peerage titles and the Irish were to be entitled to the same legal protections as their English counterparts
• however the govt lacked the resources to follow through the reforms, there was no residual Irish loyalty to the English crown and after 1534 the relationship between England and Ireland had become even more complex bcs of the religious differences that began to emerge

Question 28

What was English foreign policy like in Henry’s final years (1540-47) ?

Answer 28

🔔distinct contrast with the experiences of the previous decade:
- in 1530’s the focus of FP had been to minimise the response of foreign powers to the break from Rome - - whereas in the 1540’s H returned to the aggressive FP which had characterised the early years of his reign, launching attacks of both Scotland and France

Question 29

How successful was England’s invasion of Scotland in 1542 ?

Answer 29

• immediate military success, the Scots were forced into military action by being faced with demands which they could not possibly met
• ❗️as a result the Scots were heavily defeated at the Battle of Solway Moss + to make matters worse for the Scots, James V died shortly after hearing the news of defeat, leaving as his heir his one week old daughter Mary (Scottish position seemed hopeless)
• 🔔H may have launched a full scale invasion at this point which would have been virtually impossible for the Scots to repel, however its clear that H’s main interest was an invasion of France and therefore looked primarily into diplomatic pressure as a means of securing his Scottish objectives, while he himself sought military glory in France

Question 30

What was the Scottish policy of the ‘rough wooing’ ?

Answer 30

• H sought to marry the young Prince Edward to the even younger Mary, Queen of Scots
• for sometime this enjoyed the support of the Scottish regent, the Earl of Arran, though the English ambassador in Edinburgh Sir Ralph Sadler, reported that there was widespread suspicion of English intentions, and the Scots refused to allow H’s request that Queen Mary be brought up in England
• the children were betrothed according to the terms of the ❗️Treaty of Greenwich of 1543, however Arran deserted the English cause and the Scottish parliament refused to ratify the treaty
• this prompted an enraged H to order the Earl of Hertford to carry out a punitive raid on Edinburgh, Leith and St Andrews

Question 31

How can Henry be criticised for the failure of his Scottish policy ?

Answer 31

🔔
1. he neglected the opportunity to secure his policy by military force when he had the opportunity in 1542
2. he failed to heed Sadler’s warnings about Scottish hostility to his intentions
3. his ordering of Hertford into Scotland was simply a matter of retaliation, this gave no thought to possible strategic objectives and simply served to antagonise the Scots still further

Question 32

How did matters get worse for Henry in 1545 during his French invasion ?

Answer 32

• Francis I sent troops to Scotland to reinforce a possible invasion of England from across the Scottish border
• the English were defeated at the Battle of Ancrum Moor
• a separate French force landed in the Isle of Wight
• H’s flagship, the Mary Rose, sank in the Solent
• however the French failed to recapture Boulogne and the invasion of northern England never materialised, in the end both sides were happy to sue for peace as neither could afford to continue to conflict
  -❗️ peace was agreed in 1546 but paid a high price for his final and vain pursuit of glory

Question 33

What were the consequences of England’s invasions of France (1540’s) ?

Answer 33

🔔H paid a high price for his final and vain pursuit of glory:
- he was unable to fund the war from extraordinary revenue, he sold much of the Crown estate, borrowed large sums and debased the coinage, therefore significantly increasing the rate of inflation
- this was indeed a toxic legacy, ‘following the devices and desires of his own heart’ as put by Eric Ives, proved to be a complete disaster

Question 34

What theories are there to why Henry changed his approach to foreign policy in 1540’s ?

Answer 34

• Albert Pollard (1902) argued that Henry’s main purpose was the conquest of Scotland as part of a project to create a united British Isles
• 1966 R.B. Wernham saw henry’s policy making as being primarily about Scotland, HOWEVER believed his approach was fundamentally defensive (given the threat to English security which Scotland represented in the vent of full-scale war against France and the fear that King James V might threaten the English throne)
• John Scarisbrick (1968) argued that H was primarily motivated once again by the lure of glory and territorial gains in France, therefore the invasion of Scotland was essential to ensure that the Anglo-Scottish border remained secure once an invasion of France was launched
• Michael Bush attempted to disentangle Scotland from France by arguing that H was motivated mainly by his desire to punish his nephew James V for a number of presumed offences: harbouring English rebels, twice marrying French Princesses, ignoring pressure from H to break with Rome and failing to turn up for a meeting with Henry at York

Question 35

Key event of securing the succession ?

Answer 35

• 1516: Birth of Princess Mary (heir presumptive)
• 1532: pregnancy of Anne Boleyn
• 1533: annulment of marriage of Henry and Catherine of Aragon + Birth of Princess Elizabeth
• 1534: Succession Act confirms Elizabeth as heir presumptive and declares Mary illegitimate
• 1536: death of Catherine of Aragon and execution of Anne Boleyn + marriage of Henry and Jane Seymour + Succession Act repeals the 1534 Act, declares Elizabeth illegitimate and lays down that Henry can determine the succession by will in the absence of an heir apparent
• 1537: birth of prince Edward as heir apparent
• 1544: Succession Act receives the royal assent, repeals the 1536 Act, reinstates Mary and Elizabeth in the succession and reaffirms that Henry could determine the succession by will
• 1546: HVIII’s will confirms the terms of the 1544 Succession act and lays down that in default of heirs to Edward, Mary and Elizabeth the succession should pass to the heirs of his sister Mary

Question 36

What was the effects of the problem of succession (securing a male heir) ?

Answer 36

• ultimately lead to the Break with Rome
• helped cause rebellion (Pilgrimage of Grace) and contributed to many of the wider political problems which Henry faced
• in the end his attempts to rule from the grave was cast aside as the terms of his will were altered by Lord Protector Somerset

Question 37

How was securing the succession a problem for Henry ?

Answer 37

• failure of Catherine of Aragon to produce a healthy male heir (had two sons but one was still born and the other died at seven weeks old),had several miscarriages and only surviving child, Princess Mary was born 1516 ➡️ H believed that the lack of a son was God’s punishment for marrying Catherine contrary to cannon law
• essential Henry should remarry ➡️ eventually able to marry Anne Boleyn in Jan 1533 and have birth to Princess Elizabeth in Sept 1533 (her position as the heir presumptive was confirmed by succession act of 1534, declaring Mary illegitimate)
• H still had no male heir, Anne has two miscarriages leaving him wondering whether he was agin being afflicted with divine punishment
• Anne was executed for treason leading to the 1536 Succession Act which declared Elizabeth illegitimate
• H now had no legitimate heir but did have three illegitimate children so though to legitimating his son the Duke of Richmond
• Prince Edward born in 1537 (Jane Seymour) ➡️ legitimate as H didn’t marry her until the deaths of both Catherine and Anne
• ❗️ Succession Act 1643 (passed through the Commons and the Lords), re-legitimated Mary and Elizabeth, also reaffirming Henry’s right to determine the succession by will or by letters patent

Question 38

How did Henry confirm the succession ?

Answer 38

• he confirmed the succession agreements in his will which was dated 30th Dec 1546 ➡️ laid down the right to the heirs of Henry’s sister, Mary Duchess of Suffolk (if Edward, Mary and Elizabeth died without issue)
• also set up a regency council to act on Edward’s behalf (very little seen of the regency council in Edward’s reign)