Henry VIII - Foreign Policy 1509-1529

Question 1

Difference between H7 + H8?

Answer 1

H7 - Insecure adult. H8 - Confident teenager. H7 - no money + violent accession. H8 - £1.5m + peaceful.

Question 2

H8’s Aims

Answer 2

Show authority in Europe. Relive spirit of Agincourt, H5 as role model. Good trade relations. Uniting Scotland + England.

Question 3

Renewal of Truce with France

Answer 3

Wareham + Foxe trick H8 into signing peace treaty.

Question 4

1st French Expedition

Answer 4

Joined Holy League - Pope, Ferd, Venetians. June 1512 - Expedition to Guienne failed - Ferd backstabbed H8 + captured Navarre, army returns diseased + mutinous.

Question 5

2nd French Expedition

Answer 5

1513: Wolsey organises 25k men under H8. Captures Tournai (ungracious doghole - Wolsey, Bishop of Tournai) + Therouanne (burned down by C5 in 1553 as revenge for failed Siege of Metz against France). Battle of Spurs/Guinegate against 7k French horsemen, 3k French casualties. H8 had spent all of his inheritance + the captures benefitted Max more, because they were located on the Burgundian side.

Question 6

Peace

Answer 6

F1 + Max make peace with L12 + Henry does too in Aug 1514. H8 keeps Tournai + Therouanne. H8 - recognised as having claim to French throne + receives pension arrears. Mary (H8’s sister) marries L12. England - minor player.

Question 7

Battle of Flodden

Answer 7

1513: Auld Alliance - Scottish border raids to distract H8 from France. Sept: Battle of Flodden: 26k vs 35k - 10k Scots, lots of nobility (9 earls, 13 barons) + J4 killed. Only 1.5k English killed. Margaret, H8’s sister, was regent to 17 month old J5. But, C of A and Earl of Surrey led army, not H8. Short-term success, long-term fail. Short military adventure + defeat French to gain popularity back home.

Question 8

New kings

Answer 8

1515: L12 to F1 (21 yrs, captures Milan from Habsburgs.), 1516: Ferd to C5 (age 16), 1519: Max to C5 (age 19). H8 can’t compete on an equal footing, esp with C5.

Question 9

Oct 1518: Treaty of London

Answer 9

Pope had called for a crusade against Ottomans. Wolsey hijacked initiative + signed individual peace treaties with over two dozen countries, putting England at the centre of politics + bringing H8 glory. However, new HRE, C5, wants Milan back from France, so, Habsburg-Valois wars continue.

Question 10

Second French War

Answer 10

H8 tried to keep peace with Field of Cloth of Gold - failed 2 week peace talks, and meeting C5 before + after the Field. H8 supports C5 in Treaty of Bruges in 1521-22 (married to C of A, C5’s aunt, + better trade with Netherlands, wants land in France, who’s the traditional enemy). But, after Pavia in 1525, where F1 is captured, C5 declines H8’s proposal to halve France + reinstates F1. H8 can’t raise army - Amicable Grant, rebellion in Lavenham (10k men).

Question 11

Aug 1525: Treaty of the More

Answer 11

H8 switches sides after Pavia + gives up French claims in return for a pension.

Question 12

1526: League of Cognac

Answer 12

Anti-Habsburg alliance: England, France, the Pope, Venice + Florence.

Question 13

1527: Sack of Rome

Answer 13

Mutinous Habsburg armies leave Pope a virtual prisoner + Pope can’t allow H8’s divorce.

Question 14

1527: Treaty of Westminster + Treaty of Amiens

Answer 14

Westminster: alliance between H8 + F1, Amiens: agreement to attack C5. England declare war in 1528, but they’re ineffectual.

Question 15

1529: Battle of Landriano

Answer 15

C5 defeats F1, England invited @ last minute to resulting Treaty of Cambrai (Aug 1529). Wolsey fired 2 weeks later