Henry VIII : Foreign policy success vs failure

Question 1

biggest success of foreign policy?

Answer 1

Henry recognised the importance of marriage treaties
- Treaty of Greenwich 1543 (attempt to unite the both kingdoms after Battle of Solway Moss 1542) ➡️part of the treaty was arranged
- marriage between Edward and Mary (daughter of James V)
- marriage of Louis XII to Hj’s sister Mary in 1514 BUT this marriage was short lived when Louis died in Jan 1515
➡️a strategic move by Henry to secure alliances with other international leaders through a connection which couldn’t easily be broken + essential to form relationship with Scotland due to threat of the Auld alliance

Question 2

early success of foreign policy?

Answer 2

• Treaty of London 1518 successful, Henry and Woolsey seen as the peacekeepers of Europe
• Field of cloth of gold 1520
  ➡️England centre stage in international politics by signing separate treaties with 24 other European countries HOWEVER shortlived as future conflicts undermined importance of treaty
• In the first french war (1512-1514) Henry won the battle of the spurs 1513 and captured territory (Therouanna and Tournal) from the french, and held it
  ➡️ensured renewal of the Etaples pension (an annual sum of 745,000 crowns directly to the king) BUT the battle was pointless and Henry lost more money than he gained

Question 3

military success of foreign policy?

Answer 3

• The Battle of Flodden 1513, 1000 englishmen killed but 10,000 scots including leading nobles and king James (weakened the scots for years)
• In the first french war (1512-1514) Henry won the battle of the spurs 1513 and captured territory (Therouanna and Tournal) from the french, and held it
• Built a powerful new royal navy of warships, purposely built to carry heavy guns as this was his first line of defence against invasions

Question 4

biggest issue of foreign policy?

Answer 4

Consistent overestimation of England’s position
- Henry invaded France in 1512 but achieved very little, rapidly increasing expenditure + demobilised soldiers they returned to England ➡️ embarrassment for England’s reputation
- attempted to benefit from the emperor’s crushing defeat of the French at the Battle of Pavia in 1525, tried persuading Charles of launch a joint invasion on Northern France ➡️ hurt H ego, resentment to emperor charles was reinforced when charles repudiated his marriage contract with Princess Mary and Woolsey’s prestige never fully recovered

Question 5

another failure of foreign policy? (2)

Answer 5

later foreign policy was disastrous
- Bad management and lack of communication meant Henry’s victory at Solway Moss (Scotland) in 1542 ultimately did little but fuel anglo-scottish tensions + Treaty of Greenwich failed to unite the two the following year
- Invasion of France in 1540’s was severely disorganised and under funded ➡️ defeat at the Siege of Montreuil 1544 + where Henry did see success eg. Boulogne in 1544 it was limited and costly
- War with France overall had cost around £2 million, which was ten years of royal income, and had bankrupted England as he was unable to fund it through extraordinary revenue
➡️ these failures caused England to become financially bankrupt, military insignificant and overly isolated

Question 6

another failure of foreign policy? (3)

Answer 6

Lack of funding + domestic support
- Henry struggled to raise money for his military adventures
- Amicable Grant in 1525 to fund Henry’s expedition caused rebellions ➡️ forced to half the rate of taxation
- Wolsey raised £322,000 in subsidies, £240,000 in clerical tax + £260,000 in forced loans which still could not finance war
Also caused the Cornish rebellion as they didn’t see it as fair to pay for scotland which was no threat to them
- Population resented increased taxation to fund his battles eg Cornish rebellion
- Had to sell monastic land(often at lower prices) in order to fund last attack on french as he could not raise money in taxes + debased the coinage