English Foreign Policy in the 1530s (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes

English Foreign Policy in the 1530s

Introduction

English diplomatic strategy in the 1530s remained shaped by continental European politics and shifting alliances. After years focused on securing the royal divorce and establishing royal supremacy over the Church, Henry VIII renewed his attention to foreign affairs in the late 1530s. England's geographical position and limited resources meant the country operated on the margins of European power politics, constantly adapting to events beyond its control.

The search for Protestant allies

European context and the Ottoman threat

During the 1530s, the major European powers concentrated their attention on events in southern and eastern Europe. Suleiman the Magnificent commanded the Ottoman Turkish forces, which had advanced deep into the eastern Mediterranean region. The Ottomans posed a direct threat to Habsburg territories, particularly those controlled by Emperor Charles V. In 1529, Turkish forces had reached Vienna itself and placed the city under siege. By the mid-1530s, Ottoman expansion threatened the strategically valuable islands and coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean, as well as parts of the North African coast, raising alarm in southern Spain.

Cromwell's diplomatic priorities

While Thomas Cromwell orchestrated the break with Rome and worked to satisfy Henry's matrimonial needs, European affairs received limited attention. After Pope Clement VII excommunicated Henry in 1538, any possibility of England returning to communion with the Catholic Church disappeared. Cromwell conducted some negotiations with the papacy, but these proved fruitless.

German Protestant princes and the Schmalkaldic League

England required allies to counterbalance the Catholic powers of France and Spain. In northern Germany, which formed part of the Holy Roman Empire, various princes had adopted Lutheranism, partly to preserve their autonomy from Emperor Charles V. These princes formed the Schmalkaldic League in 1531, creating a defensive Protestant alliance. Cromwell initiated discussions with the League, hoping to secure Protestant support against potential Habsburg or French aggression.

The European situation remained unstable throughout the late 1530s, complicating Cromwell's search for reliable allies. Henry and his government had antagonised Charles V through the divorce from Catherine of Aragon (Charles's aunt), making France the natural ally for the Emperor to seek. However, no substantial agreements materialised. In England, religious turmoil dominated as the Reformation proceeded. Then in 1538, the threat to England intensified when Charles V and Francis I agreed the Truce of Nice, temporarily ending warfare between the two Catholic monarchs. This created the danger of a coordinated Catholic invasion of England, backed by papal authority.

The failed marriage to Anne of Cleves

Henry's response to this threat involved publishing the Six Articles in June 1539, which restated conservative Catholic doctrine in an apparent attempt to placate the Pope and Catholic nations. To strengthen ties with Protestant Europe, Cromwell arranged a marriage between Henry and Anne of Cleves, sister of the Duke of Cleves in Germany.

Unfortunately, Cromwell had received inaccurate information about Anne's appearance. When she arrived in England in 1539, Henry reacted with extreme displeasure to her physical appearance. Although the marriage proceeded in January 1540, Henry refused to consummate the union. Divorce followed by summer 1540.

By this point, warfare had resumed between Charles V and Francis I, which reduced the immediate threat of Catholic invasion. The Protestant alliance no longer appeared necessary.

Henry's Scottish policy, 1540-47

Background to Anglo-Scottish tensions

During the 1540s, Henry returned his attention to the persistent problem of Scotland's threat to England's northern border. James V had adopted an actively pro-French foreign policy, intensifying the potential danger to England. In 1538, James married Mary of Guise, a relative of the French King. Henry attempted to negotiate an agreement with James that would guarantee England's security, but James refused these overtures, humiliating Henry by failing to attend pre-arranged diplomatic talks.

The Battle of Solway Moss, 1542

By 1542, Henry had grown sufficiently concerned about Scottish intentions to launch a pre-emptive military campaign. He dispatched the Duke of Norfolk to attack the Scots. The campaign achieved military success. At the Battle of Solway Moss in November 1542, English forces decisively defeated the Scottish army. Over 1,000 Scottish prisoners were captured. James V was not present at the battle but was suffering from illness, and he died within a week of the defeat. The Crown passed to his week-old daughter Mary, later known as Mary, Queen of Scots.

The Treaty of Greenwich and its collapse

Following this victory, Henry proposed strengthening English influence in Scotland through the Treaty of Greenwich, which would have arranged a marriage between his son Edward and the infant Mary. However, this proposal proved too threatening to Scottish independence. The treaty collapsed when Scottish nobles looked to France for assistance in maintaining their autonomy from English domination.

The 'Rough Wooing', 1544-45

Warfare resumed as Scottish nobles again sought French support. In 1544 and 1545, the Earl of Hertford commanded the English army in a series of brutal raids across the border region. The attacks targeted Edinburgh and Dunbar particularly severely, with buildings burned and civilians killed indiscriminately. Contemporary observers referred to these military operations as Henry's 'Rough Wooing' of Scotland, though the violence succeeded only in alienating the Scots further.

Financial and political consequences

Henry's Scottish policy prevented an alliance between Scotland and France, but at enormous financial cost. Parliament granted repeated subsidies, the government reduced the silver content of coins through debasement of the coinage, and monastic lands were sold to maintain the Crown's solvency. These emergency financial measures, whilst keeping the government solvent in the short term, contributed substantially to the economic difficulties that plagued the mid-Tudor and early Elizabethan periods.

Historiographical debate

The historian George Macdonald Fraser argued that Henry may have been Scotland's worst enemy, given the devastation inflicted during the 'Rough Wooing'. However, this assessment contains an apparent contradiction. Scotland never constituted Henry's primary concern. He did not pursue a consistent strategy aimed at uniting Britain. His occasional military interventions across the border represented merely one method by which he hoped to prevent the 'auld alliance' with France from threatening England. His policies had, in practice, driven Scotland closer to France rather than achieving his stated objectives.

English military intervention in Europe, 1540-47

Renewed Franco-Habsburg conflict

By 1541, Francis I and Charles V had returned to warfare. In 1542, France formed an alliance with the Ottoman Turks against the Habsburgs. Combined with the English victory over the Scots that year, these developments encouraged Henry to join the conflict. He chose to ally with the Habsburgs against France. Under the agreement, both parties committed to invade France within two years.

The 1544 invasion of France

In 1544, Henry mounted a large-scale military expedition to France, though he suffered from severely limited physical mobility (requiring mechanical assistance to mount his horse). He sailed with an army of 48,000 men to Calais. Both Henry and Emperor Charles V were supposed to coordinate their advance on Paris.

However, the campaign failed to achieve effective coordination. Henry and Charles pursued their own priorities, each blaming the other for not adhering to the agreed plan. Henry wanted to secure territorial gains and personal glory. He headed for Boulogne, which he captured successfully. Meanwhile, Charles and Francis signed a peace treaty at Crépy, leaving England isolated.

Defensive preparations and French counter-attack

Henry fortified Boulogne, and most English forces returned home claiming a triumph. Francis I threatened to invade England. The south coast was placed on full alert, with fortifications at locations including St Mawes and Pendennis hastily erected or reinforced. The French assembled their invasion forces.

The attempted invasion failed in 1545 due to a combination of French military incompetence, unfavourable weather conditions, and the absence of a suitable base for French operations (unlike the English who held Calais). Boulogne was successfully defended against French attack. Both exhausted parties were prepared to negotiate peace.

The Treaty of Ardres, 1546

The Treaty of Ardres was eventually signed in 1546. Henry retained possession of Boulogne and secured the renewal of payments of pension money from the French (an agreement dating from 1475 when Louis XI had promised to pay Edward IV $10,000 annually; by this time, pension arrears totalled over $200,000). The agreement stated that if the French paid all outstanding pension money, Boulogne would be returned to French control in 1554.

Henry remained confident this would not occur, given the previous payment record. Henry had gained some territorial success and moments of military glory after the earlier disappointments of his reign. However, the war against France had cost $2 million, a massive sum financed through large-scale borrowing, sale of monastic land, and debasement of the coinage (a process whereby silver coins had their silver content reduced by substituting cheaper metals such as copper; by March 1545 the silver content was only 50 per cent of what it had been, and by March 1546 only 33 per cent). Henry's expensive military campaigns left a legacy of increased inflation and government debt that burdened his children's reigns.

English involvement in Ireland during Henry VIII's reign

Henry VIII regarded Ireland as a troublesome, rebellious part of his territories, comparable to northern England but presenting greater challenges. However, English involvement in Ireland also connected closely with foreign policy considerations.

Background and the Fitzgerald rebellion

Henry VII had experienced difficulties with the Irish nobility. The leading Irish family, the Fitzgeralds, had supported Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck in their rebellions against the new Tudor King. Henry VII ultimately achieved success, but actual English authority in Ireland remained extremely limited, confined mostly to a small area surrounding Dublin.

In 1536, Thomas Fitzgerald (Tenth Earl of Kildare) led a rebellion against the English Crown. His rationale was that Henry had assumed headship of the Church and had consequently displaced the Pope. Fitzgerald announced his support for the Pope and for Emperor Charles V. At that time, any rebellion against the Crown could have little connection with protests against Protestant doctrines, as these had not yet been introduced in England.

Establishment of the Kingdom of Ireland, 1540

The rebellion was brutally suppressed, and a more secure basis of government was established to deter future rebellions and prevent the country being used as a base by foreign enemies of England. The Fitzgeralds lost their authority as Lord-Deputies.

In 1540, Henry advanced his Irish policy further. A new Kingdom of Ireland was declared, with Anthony St Leger appointed as its first English governor. All lands in Ireland had to be surrendered to the Crown, with the promise of their return to original owners following pledges of loyalty to Henry. Some Irish lords were included in the Parliament in London. In practice, the new governor properly controlled only a small part of the island around Dublin.

The Policy of Plantations

Henry therefore initiated a programme to establish royal authority across all of Ireland. Principles of English common law were to be extended throughout the country. This process of breaking down feudal territories proved slow and was not completed until the early seventeenth century. It became known as the Policy of Plantations, which started modestly in Edward VI's reign and during Elizabeth's reign involved sending thousands of Protestants from England to Ireland. Considerable brutality characterised the process, and executions were common.

Henry's reign thus marked an important stage in Irish history. Ireland was transitioning from a clan-based Gaelic structure to a more centralised monarchical state, following patterns typical across Europe. However, the Irish population retained their support for the Pope and their Catholic faith even as the Plantation settlers practised Protestantism.

Assessment of Henry's foreign policy achievements

Henry demonstrated considerable knowledge of foreign affairs, as all foreign ambassadors observed. He pursued successes at the beginning and end of his reign, though these proved limited. The lengthy middle period was dominated by his dispute with the Pope over the divorce question and the repercussions that resulted from this conflict in the 1530s when the Reformation process unfolded. The extent of his achievements in the 1540s remains debatable.

England lacked the status of a major European power, and its geographical position on the edge of the continent made it peripheral to most of the conflicts affecting areas such as Italy and the territories threatened by the Ottoman Turks. Henry (and also Wolsey and Cromwell) operated at the mercy of events and alliances occurring on the continent. England was also constrained by shortage of financial resources to fight expensive wars.

Henry's stated aims in foreign policy included:

• Pursuing an active foreign policy against France, reviving aspirations of conquering French territory
• Gaining honour and glory in the manner of medieval monarchs, especially against Francis I and Charles V
• Maintaining beneficial trade links with the Netherlands
• Acting as statesman and peacemaker in Europe
• Securing his dynasty through strategic marriages

Henry achieved limited territorial gains (Boulogne) and secured military victories (Solway Moss, Boulogne). He succeeded in preventing a Franco-Scottish alliance from seriously threatening England. However, he gained little enduring advantage. The priority of acquiring military glory formed an essential component of contemporary assumptions about kingship. Through military success abroad, he enhanced the reputation of Tudor rule, even if undesirable consequences resulted.