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Summary of Henry VIII's foreign policy
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In depth summary of Henry VIII's developments in foreign policy. Including the help he was gave by cardinal wolsey.
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Foreign policy under WolseyChallenges it gave England;
The campaigns had been expensive and had wiped out the surplus of money that Henry VII
had gathered in his later years. It also had little achievement beyond the satisfaction of
defeating France. Tournai and Therouanne were not impressive spoils of war.
The difficulty facing Wolsey was how to establish an effective role for England in European
affairs, the resources at his disposal were limited. England could not compete in size and
wealth with the French and Habsburgs monarchies. Wolsey’s survival as chief minister
depended on him building Henry’s reputation and delivering further victories.
England was populated with new, young monarchs who could compete personally with
Henry to be the centre of attention. The death of Ferdinand of Aragon and Maximillian I
meant that Charles was king, Henry could not compete with Charles as he lacked resources.
Wolsey established England as the peacemaker between them.
Key developments up to 1529;
Treaty of London,1518; Leo X, who had become pope in 1513, had called for a general
crusade to stop the spread of Ottoman power, muslims who were keen to spread the
religion, in Eastern Europe. Wolsey saw in the scheme an opportunity to place England at
the centre of European diplomacy, rather than focusing on the crusade he called for all major
powers of Europe to settle their differences and live under ‘universal peace’. Over two dozen
countries signed the resulting treaty which committed them to avoid war or risk being
attacked by the rest of the signatories. A crude balance of power was to be established
across western Europe which would prevent conflicts. The treaty was a ‘glittering success’
because it brought immediate fame to Henry, upstaged the pope and dispelled English
isolation. Henry and Wolsey attempted to play out their roles of power-brokers in European
politics for the next couple of years but Charles becoming Holy Roman Emperor wrecked
their plans.
Charles was officially elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 which completed his dominance
over Europe and the treaty of London began to look shaky. The problem lay in the change
that Charles’ election brought to relations with France. He was now ruler of the Netherlands,
King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor. His lands encircled France and threatened to
choke any efforts Francis made to win more glory through conquest. His election also
threatened French control in Northern Italy. Charles also inherited his grandfather's
commitments, one of which was to pursue the imperial claim to control over Milan, which
was currently in French hands after Francis’ victory at Marignano. Francis and Charles were
now in direct opposition to each other and war was only a matter of time.
Support for the Habsburgs,1520-25; Henry and Wolsey were gripped with the dilemma of
having to choose one side over the other when both choices carried risks. They tried to
preserve their image as neutral power-brokers by arranging meetings with both sides.
Ultimately though Henry could not afford to remain shackled to a peace treaty that was so
obviously collapsing, he couldn’t lose prestige by allowing England merely to stand on the
sidelines and watch during any Franco-Habsburg war. Of the two sides Spain was the more
attractive for a potential English alliance, Henry was married to Catherine of Aragon,
Charles’ aunt, and he still dreamed about making substantial territorial gains in France. In
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