Charles I: Foreign Policy

Question 1

How was England prepared for war by 1625

a) because of James?
b) because of Charles?

Answer 1

a) James had used the £300,000 granted by the 1624 plmt to refurbish the fleet and assembled a force of 10,000 men at Plymouth
b) Charles had told 1624 the war would be a cheap, naval on - committed to a land campaign too getting James to send 12,000 man army to Palatinate in January 1625 under Count Mansfeld

Question 2

How was the land campaign to regain the Palatinate doomed?

Answer 2

Army was in an awful state with a shortage of arms, outdated tactics and weaponry, and untrained men - over 4,000 died from disease or starvation

Question 3

What was the objective of the Cádiz campaign?

Answer 3

Fleet of 100 ships and 15,000 men set sail in Oct 1625 to capture the port town and the Spanish treasure fleet to fund war without plmt

Question 4

Why did the Cádiz campaign fail?

Answer 4

Stormy weather caused the fleet to miss the treasure, and inaction once they had reached the port allowed merchant vessels to escape - could be blame on Buckingham

When soldiers landed they began to loot the wine vats and became drunk - 1,000 were still there when the Spanish army arrived

Question 5

What did the failure of the Cádiz campaign entail?

Answer 5

Expedition cost an estimated £250,000 and forced Charles to call another plmt

Question 6

What concessions had Charles made to France to secure his marriage contract?

Give 2 points

Answer 6

He had to suspend recusant penalties

Gave Louis English ships to suppress the Huguenot rebels at La Rochelle

Question 7

What did Charles do as relations deteriorated with France?

Answer 7

He reversed his policy and declared war in 1627 - sent a fleet of 100 ships led by Buckingham to aid the rebels, who had to help finance the expedition from his own pocket

Question 8

Why did the La Rochelle campaign fail?

Answer 8

After months of sieging the stronghold of St. Martin they attempted to infiltrate the castle but found the scaling ladders to be too short

Question 9

What were the consequences of La Rochelle?

Give 2 results.

Answer 9

English were forced to retreat in Oct 1627, with only 3,000 left of the 7,800

Spent all of Charles’ funds forcing him to call the 1628 plmt