The Duke of Brittany also however signed the treaty of Sablé with France. Within this treaty it states that Anne of Brittany would only marry with the consent of the French and as France wished to arrange a marriage between Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany this effectively ended the independence of Brittany. With the signing of this treaty Henry was forced into taking action against the French. Henry was very clever about the way he acted. Although Henry wished for the glory of winning a war he was unable to afford the cost of a full campaign. He also encountered the problem of the pope as he was attacking another catholic country and thus also had to give reason for the pope to be in support of England’s attack. This he dealt with through his papal ambassador who stressed the support which Henry had given the pope in the form of speeches as well as promising to go on a crusade once the situation in Europe calmed down. The ambassador also stated that Henry had some obligation to defending Brittany after their kind treatment to him when he was living in exile; as well as the interests of the safety of his kingdom as France would have more control over the channel and gain more power. With the death of Duke Francis of Brittany, Henry acted. He gathers troops and planed an invasion, but he went to fight late in the year which is at the end of the fighting season. This was an excellent decision by Henry as he couldn’t afford a drawn out campaign and this meant that could fight a short campaign and keep his dignity as well as supporting Brittany. This tactic worked well for Henry and resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Etaples. This treaty allowed both sides to feel satisfied. Henry gave up his claim to the French throne but in return received 50 000 crowns as an annual pension, France paid for all of Henry’s expenses of the English expedition to Brittany in 1489-90 and also not to harbour any pretenders to the English throne. In this situation Henry used foreign policy to his advantage although Brittany was lost to France Henry himself benefited greatly as he gained money as well as security from France and this as a result made Henry’s position more secure and increased the wealth of the crown.
Burgundy also proved a problem. In 1485, Burgundy was under the regency of Margaret of Burgundy who was the sister of Edward IV and Richard III. This meant that she was naturally anti-Henry VII as he killed her brother Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. Burgundy was a strong trading partner with England and Henry was able to use this to his advantage as he could threaten trade embargos with Burgundy. Even this proves that Henry valued security more than money and trade because he was willing to reduce his income drastically by cutting off trade with Burgundy. Henry used this tactic when Margaret harboured Perkin Warbeck. Later in Henry’s Reign, Burgundy was inherited by Phillip Arch Duke of Burgundy. Philip was the son of the Mary of Burgundy and the Holy Roman Emperor Maxilian. At the beginning of Henry’s reign he was too young to rule but during the last years of Henry’s reign he became more important. When Edmund de la Pole fled England Phillip sheltered him. This was a problem for Henry as Edmund de la Pole was a legitimate heir to the English throne and thus posed a threat to Henry. Henry tried many times to secure Edmund but Phillip refused. Henry threatened Philip with a trade embargo when Burgundy harboured Edmund but this was not implemented. Henry though had some luck when both Philip and his wife encountered a storm and landed at Weymouth. This allowed Henry to sign the Treaty of Windsor with Philip. As well as Philip agreeing to hand over Edmund on the condition that he will not be harmed the other conditions where that Henry recognised Philip and his wife Joanne as rulers of Castile, and Philip agreed to promote Henry’s attempts to marry his sister, Margaret of Savoy. Whilst Philip was also in the company of Henry, the Magnus Intercursus, a very favourable trade commercial treaty, was also signed.
With Edmund de la Pole sent to the tower, this further secured Henry’s position on the throne as it eliminated another threat to the crown. Henry also established strong trade agreements as well and this further strengthened his position on the throne.
Scotland was a traditional enemy who had close alliances with France. Scotland normally carried out border raids and during Henry’s reign also harboured Warbeck. But at the beginning of Henry’s reign a truce with Scotland was needed as there was a risk of a pincer move from both Scotland and France. During July of 1486 early on in Henry’s reign a proclamation of truce was drawn up with the hope of an alliance with James III by the suggestion of a marriage to Edward IV’s widow as well as suggested marriages of James’ sons to Edward IV’s daughters. This though came to nothing as James III was murdered. After the situation with Warbeck, Henry was able to negotiate the terms of a treaty with Scotland. This was the treaty of Ayton and was concluded in 1497, after Warbeck was executed this became a full treaty of peace. In this treaty a truce was agreed for 7 years and Scotland would not support any pretenders to the English throne. This treaty was sealed by the marriage of James to Margaret who was Henry’s oldest daughter in August of 1503. Scotland did not abandon its old pact with France this meant that peace depended on the continuation of good relations between France and England. The Treaty of Ayton did help Henry to be more secure as it reduced the treat from Scotland which, even from the start of Henry’s reign, was a problem. This peace did depend on the good relations with France so although peace and security was achieved with Scotland it was not as secure as it could have been.
Henry also had relationships with the newly formed Spain which was formed from the union of Castile and Aragon by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. Spain was a potential ally as they where fighting France over land and this fitted in well with England as they were traditional enemies with France. On the 27th of March 1489 the treaty of Medina del Campo was signed with Spain. In this England was not to make a separate peace treaty with France although Spain reserved the right to do so if France restored certain lands. Between October 1496 and July 1497 negotiation about the marriage of Henry’s son Prince Arthur to Catherine took place. This marriage took place around May of 1499. But Arthur died suddenly from an illness in 1502 which was soon after his wedding. This death threatened to jeopardize the Spanish alliance but instead the ambassadors worked hard to organise the re-marriage of Catherine to Henry’s second son who would later become Henry VIII. In February 1503 Henry’s wife Elizabeth died after giving birth to a daughter and thus Henry decided to look for another wife. His first choice was Queen Joanna of Naples the niece of Ferdinand and Isabella. Spain wished to strengthen their links as their relationship with France worsened. This possibility came to an end because of the death of Isabella of Spain in 1504. This made Henry and Ferdinand rivals for marriage but also the questioned the unity of Spain due to the position of Castile. It now appeared to Henry that his major ally may now be the king of Aragon not Spain. Philip of Burgundy looked as if he would have to be regent of Spain as he was married to Joanne and this meant Henry struggled to keep good relationships with his allies Burgundy and Spain. This reduced his security as he was on the verge of loosing two of his allies. But he had secured the marriage of his son Henry and so as long as nothing major happened he would pass on the crown to his son. This shows how important it was to Henry to secure his dynasty.
Overall Henry’s use of foreign policy did involve a lot of trade treaties however the main use was to make himself more secure on the throne and to secure his dynasty thereafter. Henry’s Foreign Policy was not always completely successful but if he hadn’t used foreign policy as effectively as he did during his reign to secure his position on the throne then he may never have ended his reign the way he did passing the crown down to his son Henry.
