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foreign policy part 2 - Coggle Diagram
foreign policy part 2
1527-40
- failure to resolve great matter by diplomatic means - England as a relatively minor power in Europe
- 1527 - Henry and Wolsey forced to make an anti-imperial alliance with the French in the treaty of Amiens in 1527
- Wolsey sought to pressurise the emperor by imposing a trade embargo with the Burgundian lands, but Charles' retaliation created widespread unemployment and social problems in England, forcing Wolsey to back down.
- Charles V strength ensured henry's attempts to solve his marital problems by diplomatic means were doomed to failure - resulting in Wolseys fall from power in 1529
- 1532 - made a fragile alliance with France - together they could put pressure on the emperor - alliance began to unravel with Francis seeking to establish a marriage alliance between his son Henry and the popes niece.
- Henry had to resolve his great matter by breaking with Rome - horrifying the catholic powers although there was no short term repercussions because Charles was concerned with the threat from the ottoman turks.
- Henry was fortunate that the pressure on his position was reduced in 1536 - the death of Catherine of Aragon and the execution of Anne Boleyn opened up the possibility of a renewed alliance with the emperor - the renewal of the fight between the emperor and Francis reduced the potential danger of Englands isolated position
- the relief was short lived - 1538 - Charles and Francis made the treaty of Nice and agreed to sever connections with England, Pope Paul III published a bull deposing Henry and thereby absolving English catholics from the need to obey their rules, the pope sent envoys from both France and Scotland to rouse support for a catholic crusade against Henry
- Henry's position was actually stronger than was perceived - neither Francis nor Charles trusted each other and had more important priorities - enthusiasm for the six articles act of 1539 which intended to reassure catholic opinion in England
ireland
- English authorities remained in control of the Pale
- Gerald Fitzgerald, ninth Earl of Kildare was the dominant Irish nobleman who managed to play a complex double game where he was an English courtier and the most powerful of the Gaelic chiefs.
- HVIIIs problem was that he found it was difficult to govern Ireland with Kildare but without him, he found it impossible
- Kildare's dismissal in 1534 led to a major rebellion led by his son the Earl of Ossory, which was only suppressed with difficulty and at considerable expense
- the attempt to refashion the Irish government in 1534 by bringing it more directly under English control failed utterly. it required military presence and Ireland became an increasing drain on the crown's resources
- this was made worse by the scale of resentment amongst Gaelic lords. two nobles invaded the pale in 1539, the government eventually gained control and tried to pacify Ireland by establishing it as a separate kingdom in 1541, imposing English law and creating counties out of Gaelic lordships. in return some of the Gaelic lords received peerage titles and the Irish were to be entitled to the same legal protections as their English counterparts. - government lacked resources to follow through with the reforms and there was no residual Irish loyalty to the English crown - religious differences caused tension
France 1540-47
- to facilitate a French invasion, Henry had agreed an alliance with the emperor
- Henry was desperate for military glory and set off at the head of his army despite his health problems
- the army besieged Montreuil unsuccessfully but captured Boulogne but by this time the emperor had already made peace with Francis
- matters got worse in 1545 when Francis sent troops to Scotland to reinforce a possible invasion of England from across the Scottish border, the English were defeated at the battle of Ancrum Moor , Henry's flagship the Mary Rose sunk in the solent
- the French failed to recapture Boulogne and the invasion of northern England never materialised. both sides were happy to sue for peace as neither could afford to continue the conflict
- Henry had paid a high price for his rather vain pursuit of glory - he was unable to fund the war from extraordinary revenue, sold much of the crown state, borrowed large sums and debased coinage increasing rates of inflation
securing the succession
- brought about the break from Rome, helped cause rebellion, and contributed to some wider political problems
- problems came from first marriage - Catherine of Aragon could not give Henry a male heir
- Anne Boleyn had Princess Elizabeth - the Succession act of 1534 declared Mary illegitimate
- had son with third wife Jane Seymour - 1537
- henrys health problems 1543 made it more likely Henry would be a minor when he succeeded the throne
- the succession act passed through the commons and laws in 1543 re-legitimised Mary and Elizabeth
foreign policy 1540-47
scotland
- invasion in 1542 met with immediate military success. Scots forced into military action by being faced with demands which they could not have met. Scots heavily defeated at the battle of Solway Moss
- shortly after hearing the defeat, James V died, leaving his one week old daughter Mary - the Scottish position seemed hopeless
- Henry wanted to invade France and ignored the opportunity to capture Scotland
- known as the rough wooing - Henry sought to marry the young Prince Edward to the even younger Mary - although there was a widespread suspicion of the English intentions - the children were formally betrothed according to the treaty of Greenwich of 1543 however, the regent Earl of Arran deserted the English cause and the Scottish parliament refused to ratify the treaty - prompted to carry out a raid on Edinburgh
- Henry can be criticised for his failure of the Scottish policy - neglected the opportunity to secure his policy, failed to heed warnings about Scottish hostility to his intentions