Ending Support For Rival Claimants To The Throne Was The Greatest Success Of Henry VII’s Foreign Policy

Question 1

Arguments supporting this view

Answer 1

• successful intervention in Brittany managed to secure the french coast being used to attack england
• treaty of etaples 1492 resulted in Charles VIII withdrawing support for Perkins Warbeck
• managed to nullify the support that the earl of Kildare was giving to pretenders (simnel and Warbeck) through his actions in Ireland
• support given by James IV for Perkins warbeck threatened the security of the tudor dynasty and presented a military as well as a political threat. Henry met this with an army and treaty of ayton
• treaty of Windsor included handing over of earl of Suffolk, whom henry imprisoned. Earl of Suffolk had more secure claim to the throne than henry himself.

Question 2

Arguments challenging this view

Answer 2

• key aim of Henry’s policy was to increase trade. Although henry prepared to use an embargo to secure the dynasty, trade and custom duties successfully promoted through the navigation acts and support for developing markets
• international recognition was a key objective and military intervention in the Breton crisis established England in the european context
• possible to argue Henry’s foreign policy was not successful, particularly in later years following death of Isabella and failure to be included in league of cambrai

Question 3

Conclusion

Answer 3

Defeating the rival claimants for the throne determined the foreign policy in the years 1487-1509, but that ensuring that the tudor dynasty was established and recognised internationally was his underlying aim and this was the most successful outcome of his foreign policy on his death in 1509