Henry vII - relations with Scotland and other foreign powers - foreign policy

Question 1

Why did relations between England and burgundy deteriorate and why was this significant ?

Answer 1

• was ruled over by Margaret of burgundy who was the sister of richard III and Edward IV
• blamed henry for the death of richard III and would do anything in order to overthrow henry VII
  -much of England’s export trade went. Through burgundy
• Margaret had the support of her stepson in law Maximilian the leader of the HRE therefore there was a significant level of threat in burgundy for Henry.
• HRE was one of the largest superpower in Europe at the time
• had been offering hospitality to perkin warbeck and training him as a prince

Question 2

What were Henry VII’s main foreign policy aims?

Answer 2

• national security
  -recognition of the Tudor dynasty
  -defence of English trading interests - defence of trade

Question 3

What was the Breton crisis ?

Answer 3

The Breton crisis was when Brittany which was classed as a fiefdom ( a territory controlled by a duke) which had been largely independent from France was invaded by the french in 1487

Question 4

Why did Henry feel that he needed to intervene with the french invasion of Brittany in 1487?

Answer 4

• felt a sense of obligation to the Bretons as he had been banished to Brittany for 14 years with his uncle jasper before he backed king of England and Richard III’s successor in 1485
• fearful that if France controlled Brittany as well as France they would have control of the whole of the coast off the channel therefore incracing the element of threat which France posed to England as a result of the Auld alliance with Scotland - would make it easier for them to springboard an attack to England

Question 5

Who was in charge of Brittany in 1487? And why was this key to the Breton crisis ?

Answer 5

Duke Francis II
- daughter was duchess Anne and he had no sons therefore france felt that it would be easy for them to sieze control of Brittany and strip it of it’s independence

Question 6

What was the treaty of Redon and when was it signed ?

Answer 6

• the treaty of Redon was an agreement between England and Brittany
• signed in 1489
• duchess Anne would pay a small amount of money for an English army to defend Brittany from the french threat
• Henry wanted to strengthen his position even further diplomatically and therefore wanted to form an alliance with Maximilian of the HRE as he had a marriage by proxy with duchess anne of Brittany and therefore didn;t want france to have control of Brittany

Question 7

What were the events of the Breton crisis ?

Answer 7

• English army went to Brittany in 1489 two years after the first french invasion of 1487
• Anne of Brittany agreed to marry french King Charles VIII as she was afraid of what would happen if Brittany resisted he french for a long period of time
  -English army was marooned in france
• Maximilian’s of the HRE lost interest in the matter and was therefore no longer willing to led any help to Henry VII
  -perkin warbeck began to seek french backing in his claim to the English throne which made the situation even worse for Henry VII

Question 8

When was the treaty of Etaples signed and what did it do ?

Answer 8

• 1492
• was a treaty signed between Henry VII and Charles VIII of france which was essentially seen as a trey of perpetual peace
• was a result of Henry VII launching an invasion of france in 1492 as he had information that Charles VIIi would quickly back down as he had a conflict of interest in Italy and that was more important to him than invading Brittany
• agreed to withdraw support from pretender perkin warbeck and pay henry VII a pension to cover the costs of sending an army to france

Question 9

When did the trade embargo with burgandy come to an end and why?

Answer 9

The rate embargo with burgandy came to an end in