8420763
Description
How (un)successful was Henry VIIs foreign policy?
- INTRODUCTION: Henry would not have known what foreign policy meant. To him, it was all part of
consolidating his throne. However, it is possible to derive four broad aims of Henry's "foreign policy"
- Aim 1: Secure the throne by avoiding conflict
with powerful European neighbours
- SUCCESS: Signing one and three
yearpeace treaties with France and
Scotland respectively in 1485-1486
helped stave off any imminent threat
from his neighbours.
- SUCCESS: The Breton
Crisis 1487-92 was both
a success and a failure,
Henry lost Brittany – a
large chunk of English
territory in France, but
the Treaty of Etaples in
1492 gave him a huge
pension (745,000 gold
crowns!) and a promise
not to shelter
pretenders to the
throne, meaning he was
more secure on the
throne.
- SUCCESS:The Treaty of Medina del
Campo in 1489 was a diplomatic
masterstroke (in my view), Henry
made an alliance with the European
superpower, the newly united Spain.
Along with this was a promise for
Spain to not shelter pretenders, a
marriage alliance between Arthur and
Catherine of Aragon with a dowry of
100,000 crowns. Fulfilling many of
Henry’s aims!
- SUCCESS: In 1496, Henry managed
to join the top table of European
diplomacy by not only being
invited to join the Holy League in
1496, but to feel bold enough to
negotiate entry with the condition
he would not have to go to war
with France. Not only did this offer
him security of being allied with
the rest of the Continent, it was
also international recognition of
his kingship!
- SUCCESSFUL AND UNSUCCESSFUL: He managed to stave off
the threat from pretenders to the throne. For example,
Simnel posed the most real threat to Henry’s security, given
the support he received from Burgundy, to lead a force
which included highly trained German mercenary, Martin
Schwartz and an army of 8,000 into battle at Stoke Field in
1487, Henry was able to rely on his nobles to help him
defeat this serious threat to his power to secure his
dynasty.
- SUCCESSFUL: The Truce of Ayton
1497, and the marriage of James IV to
Henry’s daughter Margaret, finally
secured the Scottish border following
the Warbeck imposture. This was
important to secure the throne as it
stopped pretenders gaining access to
England through the “back door” of
Scotland.
- SUCCESSFUL: Even when events did
not go his way, Henry still managed to
find a way to secure his throne.
Following the death of Arthur and
Elizabeth in 1502-03, he rode his luck
when Ferdinand and Isabella were
shipwrecked to negotiate the Treaty of
Windsor in 1506.
- UNSUCCESSFUL: Between 1502-1509, Henry is
dangerously isolated from European affairs
after the death of his son Arthur (no marriage
alliance with Spain) and does not remarry.
Foreign policy costs a great deal after 1502
(eg enforcing Poynings Law in Ireland) and
the League of Cambrai set up in 1508 sees
England excluded from an alliance of major
European powers meaning the dying Henry is
leaving an insecure throne to his son.
- SUCCESS: Signing one and three
yearpeace treaties with France and
Scotland respectively in 1485-1486
helped stave off any imminent threat
from his neighbours.
- Aim 2: Achieve international
recognition of his kingship
- SUCCESSFUL: This was achieved early on in continental terms by
the Treaty of Medina del Campo. Allying with the new superpower
of Europe was a masterstroke
- SUCCESSFUL: Pope Innocent VIII officially recognising Henry as the true King of
England in 1486 was a huge boost to his recognition and possibly helped
negotiations for the Treaty of Medina del Campo
- UNSUCCESSFUL: Constant threat to his throne from
Margaret of Burgundy (sister of Richard III who
Henry defeated at Bosworth) never truly dealt with.
Margaret hosted pretenders to the throne and was
a thorn in Henry's side until the Magnus Intercursus
was signed in 1496
- SUCCESSFUL: This was achieved early on in continental terms by
the Treaty of Medina del Campo. Allying with the new superpower
of Europe was a masterstroke
- Aim 3: Promote prosperity and trade in England
- SUCCESSFUL: Magnus Intercursus in 1496 is the best example of promoting
prosperity. Not only did it include a clause forcing Margaret of Burgundy to
recognise Henry's kingship (see aim 2), it also granted extremely favourable
duties to English merchants exporting wool to Bugundian lands - helped to
promote the work of the Merchant Adventurers.
- SUCCESSFUL: In the same year as Magnus Intercursus (1496),
Henry also concluded a commercial treaty with France that
was favourable to English merchants.
- UNSUCCESSFUL: Shows that securing the English throne is more of a priority in 1493
when he establishes a trade embargo with Burgundy once he understands the threat
that Warbeck poses to his throne. English merchants are the ones who suffer most,
but it does have an impact on Crown income as they aren't collecting Customs
Duties for trade with Burgundy.
- SUCCESSFUL: Magnus Intercursus in 1496 is the best example of promoting
prosperity. Not only did it include a clause forcing Margaret of Burgundy to
recognise Henry's kingship (see aim 2), it also granted extremely favourable
duties to English merchants exporting wool to Bugundian lands - helped to
promote the work of the Merchant Adventurers.
- Aim 4: Maintain prestige while keeping costs down
- SUCCESSFUL: The Breton Crisis is the best example of
success in this area, by invading France late in the
campaigning season (October 1491) and full in the
knowledge that France was distracted in Italy and
wouldn't want a war with England, the Treaty of Etaples
was a perfect example of how Henry maintained his
prestige at a low cost
- SUCCESSFUL: Taking advantage of Phillip of Burgundy being shipwrecked to negotiate
the Treaty of Windsor is another good example of how, even as late as 1506, Henry was
looking to maintain prestige at a low cost. The Malus Intercursus that was negotiated
as part of this also ensured massive trade revenue for England and so links with
prosperity.
- UNSUCCESSFUL: Ireland is always a good example to use here. Apart from sheltering pretenders (crowning
Simnel as King of England etc), whenever Henry attempted to intervene in Ireland it always cost the Crown a lot
of money while having very little effect. Eg the institution of Poynings Law in 1494 meant more work for Tudor
government and a higher cost to enforce it. There's evidence as well that laws and bills were added after
permission had been granted for the Irish executive to meet to discuss certain issues.
- SUCCESSFUL: The Breton Crisis is the best example of
success in this area, by invading France late in the
campaigning season (October 1491) and full in the
knowledge that France was distracted in Italy and
wouldn't want a war with England, the Treaty of Etaples
was a perfect example of how Henry maintained his
prestige at a low cost
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