Wolsey's Foreign Policy

Wolsey's Foreign Policy Aims

Henry VIII was eager to gain glory for Tudor England. Wolsey wanted to achieve this through diplomatic alliances and aggressive military action.

Relationship with France and the HRE

Wolsey wanted to improve England's relationship with France and the Holy Roman Empire so that England didn't become isolated.
The biggest risk was France and the Holy Roman Empire uniting against England.
Henry's desire for military glory ran against this principle.

Military glory

Henry VIII wanted to gain military glory.
Wolsey warned Henry against expensive wars but knew his job depended on keeping Henry happy.

Peacemaker

Wolsey tried to have Henry perceived as the peacemaker, rather than the troublemaker in Europe.

Foreign Policy Timeline (1512-1525)

Foreign policy, between 1512 and 1525 was dominated by England's relationships with France.

1512-1513

Invasion of France 1512:
- Ended in humiliation as Henry’s army was too drunk and diseased to achieve anything.
Second Campaign in France 1513:
- Henry captured two French towns.
- Therouanne and Tournai and defeated the French at the Battle of the Spurs.
- Henry saw it as a huge success, but the two towns were of little value, the battle was only small, and the war cost a lot of money that Henry couldn’t really afford.

1518

Treaty of London 1518:
- A ‘Universal Peace’ between France, England, and Spain. Each promised not to attack any of the others.
- The 20 top leaders in Europe signed up to it, including the Pope.
- It brought prestige to Henry and Wolsey, and England was seen as an important country at the centre of European politics.

1520

Field of the Cloth of Gold 1520:
- A diplomatic meeting between Henry and Francis I of France. It was a fortnight of feasting and jousting with no expense spared as both kings wanted to show off.
- They even had an unplanned wrestling match!
- However impressive it was, no agreements were actually made, and it simply made Charles V suspicious that England was taking sides.

1521

Treaty of Bruges 1521:
- An alliance between Henry and Charles V. It agreed a one-year delay in sending an English army to France, so could save money and gain prestige.
- Henry decided to ally with Charles V because of strong trade links and Henry’s marriage to Charles’ aunt, Catherine.

1522-25

War against France 1522-25:
- Henry declared war on France in 1522 and agreed to attack Paris with Charles and the Duke of Bourbon in 1523 with 11,000 English troops.
- However, Charles’ and the Duke’s troops never showed up and the English were forced to retreat.
- Charles had used the English to distract the French, so he could defeat them at the Battle of Pavia.
- The war had cost Henry over £400,000 but he had nothing to show for it after three years of fighting.

Foreign Policy Timeline (1525-1529)

Foreign policy, between 1525 and 1529 was dominated by alliances and wars with Charles V.

1525

Battle of Pavia 1525:
- Charles V fought Francis I in Pavia, in northern Italy.
- The French army was destroyed, and Francis was captured. Henry wanted to use this to take advantage of France and invade, but Charles released Francis and wouldn’t share any of his spoils from the battle with Henry.
Treaty of More 1525:
- After Pavia, Charles had shown he didn’t value or respect Henry as an equal ally, so Henry decided to ally with France instead.
- Henry agreed to give up his claim to the throne of France in return for Francis giving him an annual payment.

1526

League of Cognac 1526:
- Wolsey organised but didn’t join an alliance against Charles’ expansion into Italy, alongside France, the Pope, Venice and Florence.

1527

Treaty of Westminster 1527:
- England and France threatened to fight Charles if he didn’t improve relations with neighbouring countries.
Henry’s decision to seek a divorce in 1527:
- Henry wanted to get an annulment from his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, who was the aunt of Charles V.
- Henry’s alliance with France and Charles’ family connection to Catherine meant that he was unlikely to help Henry with this.
- This shows how foreign policy could affect domestic policy.

1527 continued

Capture of the Pope by Charles V 1527:
- Charles’ troops had attacked Rome and basically imprisoned the Pope during their campaign in Italy.
- The Pope was the only person who could grant Henry his annulment, and would not do so while he was under the control of Charles V.

1528

War against Charles V 1528:
- France and England declared war on Charles in Italy, but no English troops were sent to fight.
- Wolsey introduced a trade embargo with the Habsburg controlled Netherlands, but protests forced him to call it off.
- This made England look like it wasn’t a serious European power.
Treaty of Cambrai 1529:
- Francis made peace with Charles, and Wolsey was only informed about this at the last minute.
- England wasn’t seen as an equal by either country anymore.

1Henry VIII & Wolsey, 1509-1529

1.1Henry VIII & Wolsey, 1509-1529

1.1.1Henry VIII, Renaissance Prince

1.1.2The Rise of Wolsey

1.1.3Wolsey's Domestic Reforms

1.1.4Wolsey's Foreign Policy

1.1.5Evaluating Wolsey's Foreign Policy

1.1.6The Succession & Annulment

1.1.7Fall of Wolsey

1.1.8End of Topic Test - Henry VIII & Wolsey

1.1.9End of Topic Test - Henry VIII & Wolsey 2

2Henry VIII & Cromwell, 1529-1540

2.1Henry VIII & Cromwell, 1529-1540

2.1.1The Rise of Cromwell

2.1.2The King's Annulment

2.1.3Cromwell & the King's Marriages

2.1.4Cromwell & Government

2.1.5Cromwell & Parliament

2.1.6Fall of Cromwell

2.1.7End of Topic Test - Henry VIII & Cromewell

2.1.8End of Topic Test - Henry VIII & Cromwell 2

3The Reformation & its Impact, 1529-1540

3.1The Reformation & its Impact, 1529-1540

3.1.1The Break with Rome

3.1.2Opposition to the Reformation

3.1.3Impact of the Reformation

3.1.4Role of Religious Houses

3.1.5Dissolution of the Monasteries

3.1.6Impact of Dissolution

3.1.7The Pilgrimage of Grace

3.1.8Evaluating the Pilgrimage of Grace

3.1.9End of Topic Test - The Reformation

3.1.10End of Topic Test - The Reformation 2

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