France and Henry after Treaty of Etaples

Cards (18)

  • The League of Venice was established in 1495 with the aim of driving France out of Italy
  • At first, Henry was excluded from the League of Venice, probably because the area of war was outside of England's area of activity
  • When the League was renamed as the Holy League in 1496, Henry was invited to join
  • Ferdinand of Aragon was concerned that it was dangerous to exclude England and feared by doing so that England would support France - shows England's position is changing
  • Its importance in European affairs is also shown when Henry was only allowed to join the League if England wasn't going to go to war against France, showing that the League wanted a neutral England - not one allied to France
  • Henry also secured a trade agreement with France, but didn't lose his relationship with the League
  • Henry was able to preserve his improved relations with France after the Treaty, but also negate the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland.
  • Improvements in relations shown through Henry trying to create a three-way agreement between England, France, and the Netherlands - An Anti-Ferdinand alliance
  • By 1508, it appeared as if Henry had succeeded in developing this agreement through the League of Cambrai
  • The League of Cambrai was supposed to be a league to finance a crusade against the Turks, but the reality was that it was an anti-Spanish alliance
  • Just before the conclusion of the agreement, Louis XII, King of France, decided he dared not join for fear of antagonising Ferdinand
  • Louis and Ferdinand had reached an agreement over Italy and Louis didn't want to put it at risk by signing an anti-Spanish alliance
  • Louis then bribed Ferdinand to join him in establishing a new agreement
  • The new agreement in the League of Cambrai was anti-Venice, not anti-Ferdinand as Henry hoped
  • Henry was excluded from the League of Cambrai
  • Therefore, by the end of Henry's reign he had failed, he was diplomatically isolated and his attempt to create an alliance with England at the centre failed.
  • Although the League excluded England, the members still supported Henry and the League didn't threaten any of England's interests
  • Also, relations with France improved which lessened the threat of Scotland.