Essay
“Henry VII ultimately failed in achieving his foreign policy objectives”. Assess the validity of this view. (25 marks)
An A* graded History essay on the debate of the success/failure of HVII's foreign policy aims.
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“Henry VII ultimately failed in achieving his foreign policy objectives”. Assess the validityof this view. (25 marks)
During his reign (1485-1509), Henry VII had no grand plans to assert English power in Europe.
Instead, he sought to maintain positive relations and to form alliances with foreign powers to ensure
his objectives were met securing a dynasty, prestige and legitimacy, avoiding expensive wars, strong
trade. Henry’s policies were certainly defensive and pragmatic but the success of them can be
questioned. In regard to securing a dynasty and avoiding expensive wars Henry was successful,
however, in comparison his objectives of obtaining prestige, legitimacy and strong trade were not
necessarily met. Overall, Henry VII did significantly improve foreign affairs over his reign despite
some failures, and he ultimately succeeded with most of his foreign policy objectives.
In terms of securing a dynasty, Henry VII did meet this foreign policy objective overall. Between 1487
and 1492, the Breton Crisis occurred in which Britanny lost its independence due to the French
invasion. Henry opted for an aggressive stance and sent 26,000 men to besiege Boulogne in 1492 in
response to French annexation of Britanny. Henry and Charles VIII of France signed a peace deal
named ‘Treaty of Etaples’ 1492 which agreed France could keep Britanny but would not support any
more Yorkist claimants and would pay Henry £5000 a year known as the ‘French Pension’. This
secured Henry’s dynasty as he had made a long-term peace deal with England’s biggest foreign
enemy and had gained a substantial annual income from them also. In doing this Henry managed to
assert himself in continental affairs and increase his fortune which strengthened his future dynasty.
Later in his reign, Henry signed the ‘Treaty of Medina del Campo’ 1489 which agreed a betrothal
between Henry’s eldest son Prince Arthur and Spanish rulers, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of
Aragon’s youngest daughter Catherine of Aragon. This was another step in securing his dynasty as
Henry had secured his son a marriage with a huge foreign power while simultaneously establishing
the Tudors as a leading royal family in Europe. However, it can be argued that Henry did not meet his
aim of securing a dynasty as in 1502, after one year of marriage to Catherine, Prince Arthur dies. His
death threatened Henry’s dynasty as he had lost his eldest male heir to the throne. Despite the future
discussions with Spain of Henry’s younger son Prince Henry marrying Catherine, in 1506 Ferdinand of
Aragon refused the idea. Nevertheless, Prince Henry and Catherine would later marry in 1509.
Therefore, despite a few setbacks, Henry did ultimately meet his objective of securing a dynasty as he
had a constant financial income from France and a foreign marriage with Spain.
Henry failed to meet his foreign policy objective of gaining prestige and legitimacy during his reign.
Despite Henry’s effort to gain prestige and legitimacy in his reign, it was never fully met by 1509.
Henry did gain legitimacy in 1485 when the Pope granted papal dispensation for Henry VII to marry
Elizabeth of York which showed foreign powers Henry was the legitimate king in the eyes of the most
powerful religious leader, the Pope. Simultaneously, Henry had united the Yorkshire and Lancashire
houses of the family, supposedly narrowing the amount of future dynastic threats to his reign.
Similarly, he gained prestige in securing a betrothal with Spain, in the Treaty of Medina del Campo
1489. However, Henry’s efforts were still not sufficient as in 1487, Henry faced the dynastic rebellion
led by Lambert Simnel which was supported by foreign powers such as Ireland and Burgundy. This
shows the tenuous and vulnerable relationship Henry had with foreign countries so early in his reign,
despite his marriage to Elizabeth. Moreover, the deaths of his son Prince Arthur 1502 and his wife
Queen Elizabeth 1503 jeopardised Henry’s alliance with Spain. Ferdinand had lost his wife Isabella in
1504 and now half of his country was in the hands of his daughter Joanna and her husband Phillip of
Burgundy. By this point Henry had strong alliances with both countries, which were both threatened
as Spain and Burgundy were pitted against each other. His skills at foreign policy were tested and he
risked losing all had built. Henry tried to regain some legitimacy and prestige in pursing marriage
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