Foreign Wars Under Henry VIII

Henry came to the throne desiring glory in war against France. His father's reign had been limited to diplomatic manoeuvres. Henry wanted an active role in Europe against the Franch. However, during his entire reign it is important to recognise that England was neither a powerful or influential country in Europe. Henry and Wolsey would always be at the mercy of changing events on the continent
The War with France 1512
1. Causes
  1. Catherine of Aragon encouraged her new husband to declare war against France
    1. She knew such action would reinforce her father's position as he annexed the kingdom of Navarre from France
  2. By 1511, the Earl of Surrey had won an arguement in favour of war against France in Counsel
  3. Lady Margaret Beaufort died a few months after her son, she was the biggest anti-war faction influencing Henry
  4. Change in international situations
    1. The League of Cambrai formed in 1508 by the Pope to attack Venice had been too successful
      1. The French had considerable success in northern Italy, and the Pope now saw the French as a threat
        He resumed previous policy of playing off France and Spain against each other by forming the Holy League in 1511
        The Holy League was a papal, Spanish and Venetian alliance against France, which England joined in November 1511
        The league was diplomatic preparation for Henry's first war against France
        By 1513 he provided Henry with several desired victories in northern France, but proved to be a short lived success
        In 1514, Henry was deserted by both his allies Ferdinand and Maximilian so had to make terms with France
2. The war
  1. By February 1512, Henry was in a position to move towards a declaration of war against France by restating the ancient claim of King of England to the Kingdom of France.
    1. He called his second parliament to approve a subsidy for the war
  2. The war had two distinct phases, beginning badly but then becoming much more successful after the project was re-engineered by the rising star of Henry VIII's government, Thomas Wolsey
    1. Phase one
      1. Henry was guided by his father-in-law Ferdinand of Spain under whose guidance he sent an expedition, led by the Marquis of Dorset, to help the Spainish with 12,000 men
      2. The English army landed near Bayonne in south-west France but proved ill-disciplined and achieved little more than to distract the French while Ferdinand achieved his objective of taking Navarre
      3. Henry's fleet was defeated off Brest
        During this Admiral Edward Howard, one of Henry's close friends, was killed
    2. Phase 2 (Battle of the Spurs)
      1. Wolsey prepared and equipped a new army of 30,000 to be led by the King himself when it set out from Dover bound for Calais
        Henry personally led this and the campaign was successful as it resulted in the capture of Therouanne and Tournai with little French resistance
        A French cavalry force, sent to relieve the fortress was easily defeated by a superior number of English soldiers
      2. The war continued after the King's departure but proved costly, so pressure for peace grew; especially after Ferdinand, then Maximilian settled their differences with the King of France
        Henry was especially pleased with this military victory
The Battle of Flodden 1513
1. In 1513 a victory of huge proportions took place in Scotland whilst Henry was away leading forces in France
2. Under the command of the Earl of Surrey, the English Army defeated the Scottish King James IV who had tried to take advantage of Henry's absence in France to launch and attack on England
3. In September 1513 the two armies confronted each other on the border of Scotland and England. The English army was outnumbered but despite this they won a memorable victory which removed the Scottish threat for the foreseeable future
  1. The core of the Scottish Nobility lay dead in Flodden Field including King James himself
4. Catherine of Aragon was a prominent figure in this battle and wanted to post James' head to Henry to show him her conquest
5. James V, new King, was only 17 months old so Queen Margaret became regent but had little support so she handed the regency over the to the Duke of Albany
  1. In 1523 there was a 16 year truce and marriage between James V and Princess Mary on condition that Albany war removed. The Scot refused so Henry sent and English army to ravage the borders
    1. 1524- Albany departed
Anglo-French Relations after 1514
1. In 1515 Francis I came to the French throne after the death of Charles VIII and a 'new gun' was brought into European politics
2. Francis stirred unrest in Scotland against the English regent, Queen Margaret, who was Henry's sister
3. Francis soon confiremd his status as a dynastic power in Europe. By September 1515, he had won a sweeping victory over the reputedly invincible Swiss at the Battle of Marignano in 1515, forced a treaty on the Pope, taken control of Milan and forced Queen Margaret to flee from Scotland
  1. Wolsey searched for allies against the expansion but failed
    1. Francis gained substaintial land when he signed the Treaty of Noyon with Ferdinand's successor, Charles' and Maximilian made peace with Francis I
      1. England was isolated and diplomatically insignificant
4. In 1518 Wolsey seized his moment as the Anglo-French tension became the spring-board for his greatest diplomatic triumph in the Treaty of London 1518, also known as the Treaty of Universal Peace
  1. The treaty was made possible by Pope Leo X who called for peace between warring states of Europe and international cooperation in crusade against the Moslems who had been attacking Italy
    1. Wolsey joined on the papal bandwagon and suggested the core of European peace should be an Anglo-French peace treaty, but it should be strengthened by a non-aggression pact signed by the other nations who would collectively guarantee future peace
      1. In securing this treaty, Wolsey demonstrated astute diplomatic judgement that brought glory on the King and built his own international reputation as peacemaker of Europe
5. The Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520 was a demonstrate of the evident improvement in relationships. It was named after Henry's magnificent marquee made of cloth of gold.
  1. There was jousting, wrestling, music and ostentatious wealth at this magnificent meeting between Henry and Francis although nothing of diplomatic value was achieved
    1. It cost Henry and estimated £15,000 and it took the French ten years to pay their share of it
    2. Put pressure on Charles I
To the Hapsbury-Valois wars
1. Outbreak of war, April 1521
  1. Francis I declared war on Charles V in April 1521 by invading Luxembourg
  2. August 1521
    1. A conference was called at Calais, attended by representatives from France and the Empire, to find a way to avoid further conflict
      1. Wolsey was chosen, as international peacemaker, to negotiate a peace deal, though both sides, were in reality playing for time
        Henry wanted to be part of the wars so was deciding on which side to chose, Wolsey met Charles V and they secretly agreed to declare war on France is Francis refused to make peace
        This treaty was to be kept secret until Francis had paid the next installment of the French pension, after which Charles agreed to compensate England for pensions payments lost during the ward
        At this time Charles also confirmed his intention to marry Princess Mary, Henry's 5 year old daughter with Catherine of Aragon
    2. In 1522 England declared war on France
      1. English troops were sent to Picardy where it soon became apparent that Charles V was much more committed to the fighting in Northern Italy, especially after he successfully recovered Milan, than to the fighting in northern France
      2. English fortune improved in 1523 when the Duke of Bourbon, a powerful French nobleman, raised his army against Francis
        Plans were drawn up for a three-pronged attack on Paris by the Dukes of Suffolk and Bourbon, and the imperial forces from the Netherlands. Only Suffolk came close to Paris but was abandoned by his allies so had to return to England in disarray. Henry lost interest int the war and Wolsey went back to the negotiation table
      3. Between the autumn of 1523 and early 1525 Wolsey made no positive contribution to the Hapsburg-Valois wars. He resisted Charles V's requests to send another English army to northern France while he opened secret negotiations with the French, although these achieved little/ Charles V knew, through his agents, that his ally was likely to desert him
The diplomatic revolution English response to the wars 1525-9
1. In the years to 1525 Wolsey had pursued the traditional line in English foreign relations, which was, essentially, pro-Imperial and anti-French. From 1525, however, the alliance with Charles V did not serve English interests for several reasons and Wolsey looked to build an alliance with France
  1. This was a risky policy reversal because many Englishmen, particularly the conservative faction at court, opposed this new direct in foreign relations and it threatened diplomatic isolation if Francis and Charles settled their enmity at England's expense
2. The creation of the anti-Hapsburg League of Cognac in 1526 confirmed the shift in dilomatic policy
  1. The League included France and the Italian states (Venice, the papacy, Florence and the Duke of Milan and England gave financial support
3. The diplomatic revolution was more marked in 1527 after the Sack of Rome, when the Pope effectively became the emperor's prisoner. Wolsey realised that he had even less chance of securing Henry VIII's marriage annulment so became more committed to the anti-Hapsburg position.
  1. Firstly he signed the Treaty of Wesminster, which declared perpetual peace between England and France, even with plans for the recently widowed Francis to marry Princess Mary
    1. Later, in the same year, Wolsey travelled to Amiens to sign the Treaty of Amiens, an Anglo-French agreement to attack Charles V
4. In January 1528, England declared war on Charles V
  1. Wolsey imposed a trade embargo on the English cloth trade with Burgundy, as Henry VII had done, planning to put pressure on Charles to negotiate. In retaliation, Charles V ordered English merchants to be held hostage
    1. The trade embargo lead to widespread unemployment, and coincided with a very poor harvest, economic conditions that culminated in trouble across the south west, south east and East Anglia by March 1528
5. In 1529 the Treaty of Cambrai was negotiated by Margaret of Austria and Louise of Savoy to settle the conflict between France, the Empire and the Pope. The Treaty excluded English interests leaving England diplomatically isolate, and therefore unable to influence negotiations between Charles and Francis. This Treaty confirmed Charles' victory over Henry VIII.
6. The diplomatic revolution was pushed through by the King. Wolsey preferred to be flexible, to keep his options open and to negotiate with both Francis and Charles. After 1525, however, he lost this flexibility because the King inisited on a rigid policy; oppose Charles
Henry VIII had good relations with the papcy until their disagreement over the annument of the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon
1. Pollard (historian) argued that Wolsey, as cardinal and papl legate, actually conducted foreign relations in the interests of the Pope. He also argues that Wolsey was ambitious and aspired to become Pope himself. This is shown when in 1527 when Charles V held the Pope as a prisoner, Wolsey put himself forward as temporary pope
  1. Potter, states that Wolsey's immesne efforts to secure the marriage annulemt show that he put the King's interest first

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Foreign Wars Under Henry VIII

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