foreign policy

• positive French relations

  1518 Treaty of London - non aggression

  1520 Field of the Cloth of Gold

  1525 League of Cognac - counter Charles V in Battle of Pavia

  1527 Treaty of Amiens

  1546 peaceful - could no longer afford continuation of conflict
• tense French relations

  targeted them in first half of reign

  1510 Holy League alliance excluded France

  1517 Treaty of Cambrai - isolated by Francis I (his rival)

  1522 invaded NE France

  1538 Treaty of Nice weakened his position; 1539 Pact of Toledo severed connections with England

  1545 French troops supported Scotland in invading England
• aims 1510-14

  military glory

  target France

  major player in international affairs
• aims 1532-40

  annulment

  diminish Charles V's power
• aim 1540-47


  be aggressive
• Spanish relations


  initially good because of 1509 marriage with Catherine of Aragon and were both in 1510 Holy League Alliance against France. it soured once he sought a divorce which meant the relationship from Medina Del Campo never came back. 1512 Ferdinand failed to support England at Gascony, causing their defeat. 1514 Ferdinand joined Maximilian I in peace with France.
• Henry's invasions of France

  • 1512-13
  • 1522-25
  • 1544-46
• Henry invaded France

  Lost to them at Gascony in 1512 but won against them in 1513 Battle of Spurs and captured territories Therouanne & Tournai
• Henry lacked resources for a full scale invasion so he relied on Spain and HRE - failed as they allied with France
• Francis I becomes new king of France who married Mary Tudor, Henry's sister - he was his political rival


  1515
• French relations part 1

  inherited a peaceful relations due to Treaty of Etaples but became obsess with targeting them - he invaded them 3x. He lost to them at Gascony 1512 but won against them in 1513 Battle of Spurs and captured territories Therouanne & Tournai. 1515 Francis I becomes new king of France who married Mary Tudor, Henry's sister - he was his political rival. they had a successful treaty: 1520 Field of the Cloth of Gold - a peace summit meeting that was expensive but it allowed Henry to flaunt his wealth. 1527 Treaty of Amiens was against Charles V (new Spanish king).
• French relations part 2

  Henry tried furthering peaceful relations with them to pressure Charles V into accepting annulment but failed once Francis I allied with him: 1538 Treaty of Nice and 1539 Pact of Toledo. As a result, Henry was isolated. This led him to pursue an Anglo-German Protestant alliance, which became unnecessary once FR-HRE broke down. 1544 he was able to capture Boulogne, help from Charles V. After Henry's Rough Wooing of Scotland, French troops supported them in invading England 1545, though ended with peaceful relations in 1546 as neither could afford to continue conflict.
• HRE relations

  initially had no intentions to target HRE due to 1510 alliance but their increasingly positive relations with France (1517 Treaty of Cambrai) intimidated Henry. Despite this, Wolsey's 1521 Bruges & 1518 London treaties solidified relations. However, he refused Henry's joint invasion of France after defeating them in Battle of Pavia 1525, which led Henry to support League of Cognac to counterbalance his power.
• League of Cognac - France and Pope, supported by Henry


  1525
• HRE relations part 2

  he was determined to secure annulment and diminish Charles V's power as he was blocking it. Charles allied with France to sever ties with Henry. once their relations broke down, Henry saw it as an opportunity to seek an alliance in 1544 to undermine France but Charles made a separate pact with Francis I.
• excommunication by Pope Paul III


  1539
• Pope Paul III sent cardinals Pole and Beaton to rouse support for crusade against Henry


  responded by marrying German Protestant princess Anne of Cleves in Schmalkden alliance - didn't like her
• Scottish relations part 1

  sour due to Henry's desire for military glory - 1513 Battle of Flodden which killed James IV and left Queen Margaret as regent. their invasion of England was due to England invading France - allyship made England a target.
• Scottish relations part 2

  Henry became more aggressive - 1542 he invaded and defeated Scots at the Battle of Solway Moss which left James V dead. though it weakened the Scots, Henry didn't mount a full scale invasion. his son was betrothed to Mary Queen of Scots by 1543 Greenwich treaty which the Scots refused to ratify - Henry retaliated by ordering a 'Rough Wooing'. overall, it achieved little. 1545 England was defeated at Battle of Ancrum Moor but the Scots failed to invade England - France sent troops to do so which led to Henry's Mary Rose flagship sinking.