Chapter 2: Henry VII’s foreign policy

• England/Henry's position in 1485

  • not a major power
  • lost the Hundred Years War with France in 1450s
  • lacked a standing army (couldn't afford)
  • vulnerable to attack from Scotland (north) & France (across Channel)
  • insecure position - Yorkist threat & weak claim
  • foreign policy = subordinate to internal security
• Henry's foreign policy aims

  • maintain peace & avoid war
  • secure Tudor dynasty
  • improve trade
  • gain allies
• how Henry VII dealt with dynastic threats

  • needed support & allies
  • sought alliance w/ Spain (protection, recognition, & guarantee no support for other claimants)
  • Arthur's marriage to Catherine of Aragon (1501)
  • 7 year truce reached w/ Scotland (Peace of Ayton, 1497)
  • Margaret's marriage to James IV (1503)
• financial position

  • weak
  • avoided war (too costly)
  • French King restored French pension (Treaty of Étaples) after war in 1492
• French pension

  • SUCCESS
  • annual pension of £5000 per year paid to England by France (5% of Henry's income)
  • originally the Treaty of Picquigny (1475, where French paid to remove English army, known as French pension)
• Henry VII's foreign economic aims

  • increase revenue from trade (& strengthen monarchy)
  • maintain cloth trade w/ Burgundy (embargo when they supported Warbeck)
  • develop trading relations w/ other powers (trade agreements signed w/ Spain, Brittany & Florence)
• three time periods of Henry's foreign policy

  • 1485-92: diplomacy, main concern was to secure the throne
  • 1493-1502: peace w/ Scotland secured, Henry's position = stronger
  • 1503-09: less successful, Henry = more isolated
• The Brittany affair (1489)


  • FAILURE
  • France gave financial aid to Henry when he took the throne
  • France wanted to take Brittany (would be a kthreat to England - all Channel coast would be in French hands)
  • Brittany asked England for help, but England couldn't due to lack of £
  • HRE made peace w/ France so Brittany forced to accept defeat (Anne of Brittany married Charles VIII of France)
  • Henry had agreed to send 6000 soldiers to aid Brittany (Treaty of Redon) so was now in danger of attack from France
• war w/ France (1492)


  • SUCCESS
  • Henry asserted his claim to the French throne
  • gathered an invasion force, launched Oct 1492
  • campaigning season nearly over, & France = more concerned w/ Italy
  • France offered peace through Treaty of Étaples
• Treaty of Étaples (1492)


  • SUCCESS
  • France wouldn't aid English rebels (particularly Warbeck)
  • France would pay most of Henry's expenses for aiding Brittany
  • Henry would gain French pension of £5000 a year
  • France would pay arrears from Treaty of Picquigny (1475, treaty to remove English soldiers from French land)
• Treaty of Redon (1489)


  FAILURE

  where England agreed to aid Brittany agst invasion from France by sending 6000 soldiers
• relations w/ France after 1492

  • League of Venice (1495) initially established to drive France out of Italy, & excluded England
  • became Holy League (1496) when England was added
  • England = stayed neutral, didn't have to go to war w/ France
  • signed trade deal w/ France
  • Henry tried to develop three-way agreement btwn France, England & Netherlands, agst Spain (1508, League of Cambrai)
  • France pulled out last minute & joined Spain instead (England left isolated)
• League of Venice (1495)


  FAILURE

  initially established to drive France out of Italy, & excluded England (later became Holy League)
• Holy League (1496)


  SUCCESS

  developed from League of Venice when England was added
• League of Cambrai (1508)


  • FAILURE
  • three-way agreement (England, France, Brittany) agst Spain
  • France withdrew just before signing as they didn't want to antagonise Spain & joined them instead
  • England left isolated
• Scotland's relationship w/ England

  • traditional enemy
  • border region suffered regular conflict
  • much weaker than England but allied to France (more of a threat)
  • relations initially seemed to improve but James IV (came of age in 1495) wanted to assert himself agst England
• Scotland & Warbeck

  • James wanted to assert himself agst England by going to war
  • Warbeck arrived 1495
  • Warbeck married James' cousin & was given military aid
  • however - Warbeck's invasion = fiasco, so James took offer of peace w/ England (Truce of Ayton, 1497 - became full peace in 1499)
• Truce of Ayton (1497)


  • SUCCESS
  • 7 year truce, later extended to full peace in 1499
  • first peace agreement since 1328
  • marriage of Henry's eldest daughter Mary to James IV (1503) - further recognition
  • prevented full-scale war (but there were still skirmishes)
• England's relations with Burgundy

  • Burgundy gave support to Yorkists & pretenders, Simnel & Warbeck
  • embargo on cloth trade, 1493-96 (retaliation to Warbeck support) -> eventually ended w/ Magnus Intercursus (1496)
  • relations improved in 1506 -> Philip of Burgundy forced to seek shelter, wanted support agst Aragon (Castilian Succession Crisis), able to negotiate Malus Intercursus (more favourable to England)
  • able to convince Philip to hand over Yorkist de la Pole (eliminated final Yorkist threat)
  • Henry revoked Malus Intercursus (too favourable to English merchants) to pursue alliance w/ Burgundy (& potentially France) against Spain (League of Cambrai, 1508) but this failed when France pulled out
  • marriage agreement w/ Archduke Charles (Philip's son) & Mary Tudor (Henry's daughter) - DID NOT END UP HAPPENING
• Magnus Intercursus (1496)


  • ended trade embargo with Burgundy in 1496
  • allowed English merchants to sell goods anywhere on Philip's land, except Flanders, without tolls or customs
  • restored in 1507 after Malus Intercursus ended
• Malus Intercursus (1506)


  • trade with Burgundy = free
  • Philip was not to impose duties on the sale of English cloth
  • Philip was not to exclude English cloth from his land
  • Philip's subjects had to pay duties outlined in Magnus Intercursus
  • ended in 1507 & Magnus Intercursus restored
• England's relations with Spain

  • 1488, proposed marriage btwn Arthur & Catherine of Aragon (youngest daughter of F&I)
  • Treaty of Medina del Campo confirmed marriage & was agreed (1489)
  • very slow negotiations = final marriage agreement signed 1496, Catherine didn't arrive until 1501 (Spain concerned by Warbeck threat)
  • improving relations disrupted when Isabella died (1504) & caused succession crisis till 1506
  • Henry helped Burgundy in crisis until Philip's death, then Ferdinand became ruler of Spain again
  • following Arthur's death, Henry VII pursued marriage to Henry VIII instead -> Ferdinand declined
  • 1508, Henry fully abandoned Spain & tried to develop anti-Spanish League of Cambrai
• Treaty of Medina del Campo (1489)


  • FAILURE
  • agreed marriage of Arthur & Catherine of Aragon
  • Catherine's dowry = £40,000 (paid in instalments)
  • Spain wouldn't help English rebels
  • trade was to be improved
  • each would help the other in war agst France
  • both countries had same rights in each others' countries
  • trade duties fixed at low rate
  • slow negotiations due to Spain's concern over Warbeck threat
  • abandoned when Arthur died -> Ferdinand declined Henry VIII marriage to Catherine, & Henry VII moved towards anti-Spanish League of Cambrai
• Castilian Succession Crisis (1504-06)

  • Isabella of Castile died, rights over Castile debated
  • Ferdinand of Aragon vs Philip of Burgundy (married to Isabella's daughter, Joanna)
  • Philip's death allowed Ferdinand to regain Castile, became ruler again
• What did Henry do to celebrate the marriage of Arthur & Catherine of Aragon?

  minted a new gold sovereign on which he was wearing the imperial crown (suggesting he saw himself as more secure)
• How far into his marriage did Arthur die?

  5 months
• When did Catherine become betrothed to Henry VIII?

  after papal dispensation was obtained, in 1503 (but only married in 1509, after Henry VII's death)
• How did Henry anger Ferdinand during the marriage of Catherine & Henry VIII?

  kept her & her dowry, not proceeding with the marriage agreement (until after his death)
• Why would a marriage between England & Spain (Treaty of Medina del Campo, 1489) be beneficial to England?

  • alliance between England and Spain
  • potential allegiance with Burgundy (Catherine's sister, Joanna, was married to Philip of Burgundy)
  • gave Tudors major recognition from major European power
• marriage agreement with Scotland

  • signed 1499 (part of the Peace of Ayton)
  • marriage of Henry's eldest daughter Margaret to James IV
  • took place in 1503
• Why would a marriage between England & Scotland be beneficial to England?

  • improve relations with traditional Scottish enemy
  • potential allegiance with France (Auld Alliance)
  • would secure northern border security
• Who did Henry try to marry after Elizabeth of York died in 1503?

  • Joanna of Naples (Ferdinand's niece, encouraged by Spain as Ferdinand wanted to strengthen alliance w/ England agst France; ended with death of Isabella)
  • Margaret of Savoy (rejected proposal; wanted to remain a widow)
  • Joanna of Castile/Burgundy (to maintain English/Spanish/Burgundian alliance agst France; Ferdinand refused as he was now allied to France)
• When did Elizabeth of York die?

  1503
• When did Arthur Tudor die?

  April 1502
• When was the trade embargo with Burgundy?

  1493-96
• Why was there a trade embargo with Burgundy?

  their support of Warbeck concerned Henry
• When did Philip seek shelter in England & sign the Malus Intercursus?

  1506
• Navigation Acts (1485-86)

  • Henry imposed these on Spain
  • limited foreign control of English trade
  • Spain retaliated by forbidding export of goods from Spain on foreign ships
  • resolved by Treaty of Medina del Campo (both countries had same rights in each others' countries, & duties fixed at a low rate)
• agreement with Portugal

  earlier trade treaty renewed (Portugal = England's oldest ally, first treaty made in 14th century)
• agreement with Brittany

  1486, commercial treaty