Who controlled English foreign affairs in 1515-1529 - Henry or Wolsey?
Clare Worsfold Who controlled English foreign affairs in 1515-1529 – Henry or Wolsey? A common view of Henry VIII’s and Wolsey’s foreign policy is that it was a failure. Reasons for this view are that Henry failed to achieve his primary goal, which was to recover the French empire, which had been, conquered by Henry V. This aim was unrealistic. Henry had high objectives, which were inexperienced. Henry’s policy was often illogical, which allowed more cunning operators, such as Ferdinand of Aragon and Emperor Maximilian, to manipulate him. Henry unlike Wolsey wanted war and glory whereas Wolsey was trying to gain peace. Henry’s first success in glory was in 1514 with the peace with France after the battle of spurs, the war was too expensive to continue but Henry has glory and gets recognised as a “player” in Europe. As king, Henry inherited from his father a budget surplus and a precedent for autocratic rule. In 1511, Henry joined Pope Julius II, King Ferdinand II of Aragon, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and the Venetians in their Holy League against France.Historians have argued about Wolsey’s motives for his foreign policy and many believe that there was not one foreign policy but two, i.e. Wolsey’s policy and Henry VIII’s. Wolsey’s aims in foreign Policy were, balance of power, Wolsey tried to stop France or the Hapsburgs being dominant, he tried to stop war between them. Yet France was clearly weaker than the Holy Roman Empire yet Wolsey supported Charles V, not France, which did not achieve any sort of balance. Another idea was that Wolsey wanted prestige, [Elton 20th Century gave critical view of Wolsey]. Much of Wolsey’s foreign policy was about winning status for both himself and Henry
VIII. Henry wanted Wolsey to win him prestige. Wolsey’s foreign policies were about show and spectacle e.g. 1518 the Treaty of London and 1520 Field of the Cloth of Gold. Wolsey and Henry were only occasionally successful in winning prestige as they were often shown as fools. For example when Maximilian and the Swiss defect to the French taking Henry’s money and sign the Treaty of Cambrai with Francis in 1517, this left Henry “The laughing stock of Europe”, as Scarisbrick states. A main aim Wolsey wanted was peace, the marriage treaty in 1514 between Mary, Henry’s sister, and Louis ...
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VIII. Henry wanted Wolsey to win him prestige. Wolsey’s foreign policies were about show and spectacle e.g. 1518 the Treaty of London and 1520 Field of the Cloth of Gold. Wolsey and Henry were only occasionally successful in winning prestige as they were often shown as fools. For example when Maximilian and the Swiss defect to the French taking Henry’s money and sign the Treaty of Cambrai with Francis in 1517, this left Henry “The laughing stock of Europe”, as Scarisbrick states. A main aim Wolsey wanted was peace, the marriage treaty in 1514 between Mary, Henry’s sister, and Louis XII of France made a immediate peace with England and France after the battle of Spurs.While Wolsey still worked for peace, Henry’s ambitions turned to war against France, given France’s weakness in comparison with the Empire. The likelihood of real English commitment waxed and waned and Wolsey was still in quest of peace with France when France was defeated at Pavia, the natural response was then to propose alliance with Charles to take advantage of France’s weakness. In the early years of policy (1511-1514) this was clearly Henry’s policy, yet Wolsey just made them happen. Henry used Wolsey for diplomatic missions from 1515 because Wolsey looked impressive and was capable of negotiation, Henry relied on him to be successful. Henry was prepared to be personally involved in affairs so long as they were successful for example in 1513 when Henry believed he was soon to be King of France. However from 1515 onwards Henry lost interest in day-to-day diplomacy. He had become very impatient with the hard work that it involved. Yet Henry was still keen to win glory, but he was content for someone else to arrange it for him, this was Wolsey. Yet Henry did become involved in anything that affected his personal rivalry with Francis as Henry encouraged the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1521, where Henry meets with Francis I. Wolsey directed his foreign policy at preserving peace and trying to make England into a mediator between other countries. The treaty of London seems to be Wolsey’s greatest moment of triumph, Scarisbrick believed Wolsey’s aim was peace. Therefore Wolsey believed the Treaty of London would bring peace. This was a successful attempt at bringing peace as all the powers of Europe signed and agreed yet it was considered only a “breathing space” for the great powers of Europe. Peace, however, was far from lasting. Encouraged by Charles V, Henry VIII [against Wolsey's advice] invaded France in 1523. The English invaders were soon forced to withdraw, and Francis I of France was confident enough to invade Italy in 1525. The peace treaty collapsed in 1521 due to Francis capturing Navarre from Charles V. The rivalry between Charles V and Francis I was useful for Wolsey and Henry. In 1522 Henry again wanted glory as he tries again to defeat France, Thomas Howard led the invasion of France. Yet this was failure the English armies were beaten and the war achieved nothing and was unpopular in England. In 1525 Wolsey creates a taxation to pay for Henry’s foreign campaign, the “Amicable grant” causes riots in East Angelica and the Duke of Wolfolk was sent to put down the rebellion. Wolsey was then forced to abandon this taxation and publicly apologise to Henry. In addition Charles captures Francis at Pavia, and Henry hope Charles will produce “Grand Enterprise” and split France between Charles and himself. However this idea is rejected. The league of Cognac is formed in 1526 to go against the emperor, a treaty with the French against Charles V is the Anglo-French treaty, and Wolsey changes sides due to the “Treaty of the More”. However the league of Cognac was funded by England but England did not join the league formally. By this time Henry was married to Catherine Of Aragon [Charles V’s Aunt] and wanted to divorce her yet they needed to get the popes approval, Wolsey and Henry did not achieve this. In 1527 Charles’s armies make the “sack of Rome” and capture the pope, this shocks Catholics in Europe. Wolsey makes an attempt to become Deputy Pope [adding to Pollards view that Wolsey’s aim was for him to become the pope]. After the sack of Rome and capturing of Clement VII, Henry wanted to reduce power of the emperor and re-establish peace, this was show England’s support for the pope, Henry thought that by showing support he could perhaps get the divorce he still needed from Catherine. Here the Anglo- French treaty was ineffective in reducing the Emperor’s strength, but peace was accomplished. In 1529, Henry dismissed Wolsey, and in 1530 set up charges of treason against him. Wolsey died on the way to London to answer these.Wolsey's failures in foreign policy indirectly contributed to his fall from power. Henry desperately wanted Wolsey to obtain from the pope a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. But Pope Clement VII was entirely under the control of his captor, Charles V. Wolsey could find no way to persuade Clement into granting the divorce.Wolsey very much had power over Henry at times, which allowed him to have power over the policy. Wolsey's rise to power was also aided by the kings annoyance at his councillors left from his father's reign who pressured him to maintain the same policies and who actively discouraged him from going to war. Henry and Wolsey’s friendship was often clearly shown to the public, for example the building of Hampton Court was requested by Wolsey to Henry and Henry agreed to build it for him. Wolsey wanted Hampton Court to be a visible sign of his power and prestige Henry VIII's jealousy was finally aroused, and he stripped Wolsey of his wealth and titles [Cardinal and Lord Chancellor]. Wolsey knew that he was on the way out, so as a final strategy he gave Hampton Court to the king as a gesture of good will. This didn't help, but it staved off the final disaster for a time. Foreign Policy was Henry VIII’s work. It was Wolsey’s task to fulfill his master’s aims, which, to an extent, he successfully accomplished. What Wolsey understood was that, when there was peace between France and Spain, England became isolated, and it was pointless for England to ally with one of the two, Enlgand was considered unneeded. Therefore, it was beneficial for England, in the hope of gaining new territory and influence, that there be continual conflict between the two powers. Between 1515 and 1517, England was very much isolated because of the peaceful relations between France and Spain. Wolsey had to assert English influence through another means, so he conveniently chose peace. The Treaty of London [1518] showed Wolsey as the arbiter of Europe, organising a massive peace summit involving twenty nations. This put England at the forefront of European diplomacy and drew it out of isolation, making England a desirable ally. This is well illustrated by the Anglo-French treaty signed two days afterwards. Both Henry and Wolsey failed in practical diplomacy, but over the time both gained what each of them wanted. Wolsey gained legatus a later and Henry gained the prestige and the opportunity to be the chivalrous king of the Middle Ages. From this we could say that foreign policy was both Hnery’s and Wolsey’s even though it seems Wolsey did the majority of the work.
