Assessment of Henry’s foreign policy.
‘Relations abroad were subordinated by the need for the new dynasty to be recognised and respected, a necessity which usurpers had long recognised.’ John McGurk Henry Vii displayed good diplomatic skills when dealing with the Scottish, despite his hot headedness. With the lower countries, Henry was selfish and ready to sacrifice his people for his interests. With Spain he tried his best to tackle the country without the element of luck which all too often played a role in his ruling. With France Henry manipulated luck and diplomacy successfully to a large extent. And with Ireland, he tried to stretch his limited military force with limited success.
One of the main reasons for the collapse of the medieval English Monarchy had been the cost of the hundred year’s war against France. Neither Edward nor Henry Vii could afford to implement the English kings claim to the French throne’ Roger Lockyer. Henry was desperate to maintain good relations with France, so in the first few months of the reign, henry made a one-year truce with France, which was later extended from 1486 to 1489. Fortunately for him, the regency government of France wanted to be assured of English neutrality while it sought to take over the duchy of Brittany. Over the years, Brittany had been a thorn in France’s side as it tended to ally with England and France’s other enemy burgundy. For Henry the situation was rather difficult because he had spent so much of his exile in Brittany and he did not wish to see the whole of the French coast across the channel from England fall into French hands. However, the powerlessness of Henry’s position soon became clear. He made a commercial treaty with Brittany in 1496 and when Francis died in 1488, he signed the Treaty of Redon with the Breton government, promising military aid to defend the duchy from French incursions. April 1489, he dispatched 6000men to aid Bretons. The French soon bought off Maximilian the ruler of the lower countries who also joined forces in support of Brittany. With Maxillilian gone Henry knew he had to concede. This underlined England’s military weakness. In the light of this, it would clearly be too dangerous to antagonise France too much by giving continued aid to the lost cause of Brittany. Despite caving on over Brittany, Henry was soon at war with France. In October 1492, he led a large army of 26,000 men, which landed in Calais which was England's last possession in the continent. This war was caused by the appearance of Perkin Warbeck and the warm welcome Warbeck received on his arrival in the French court in 1491. The French allowed him to live honourably at court. This Upset Henry but many people thought Henry’s reason for invasion was financial and he wanted to emulate Edward IV’s invasion of France in 1475 to re-secure the French invasion of France in 1475 to re secure the French pension guaranteed to Edward but which lapsed since his death. Luckily for Henry the French were quick to offer terms .In the peace treaty drawn up by both sides of etaples in 1492, Henry was paid off by the French. Henry acknowledged that Brittany was now part of France. The fact that there was no further outbreak of war between the two countries was largely down to Henry’s good fortune. Luckily for Henry Vii, the French were keen to buy off the English late in 1492 because they wanted to invade Italy. Even more fortunate for Henry was the fact that the French conquest of Naples in 1494 set off a whole series of battles known as the Italian wars. This long term hostility between France and Spain in turn meant France and Spain wanted England as a friend of at least a neutral power. For the rest of his reign, the threat from France was lifted and Henry could have and most likely breathed a sigh of relief. In the matter of France, luck played a huge part and so did Henry’s ability to manipulate it which resulted in him keeping trading routes open by remaining on good terms with Antwerp, and his reputation as a ‘Big Player’ due to the treaty of etaples.
