‘To what extent was Henry VIII himself responsible for the failures of English foreign
policy during his reign?’
The reign of Henry VIII was turbulent in terms of his relations with foreign nations, especially
the main players in European politics, France and Spain, soon becoming part of the ultra
powerful Holy Roman Empire. A main reason for the changes in relations was England’s
break with Rome causing the Catholic France and Holy Roman Empire to favour other
countries as allies over Henry’s England. One could characterise these relations as failures
due to England’s isolation for the most part of Henry’s reign, some of which was due to
Henry’s own decisions but some can be attributed to Henry’s advisors such as Cromwell.
As a ‘Renaissance Prince’ Henry was eager to follow one of his predecessors, Henry V, and
conquer more land, especially in France. This meant that fairly early in his reign, Henry was
waging war against France, in which during the Battle of Spurs, Henry managed to capture
the towns of Tournai and Therouanne, a good achievement within the first five years of his
reign. However by 1518, Henry had sold Tournai back to France for less than it had cost him
to repair the damage caused by the siege to capture it. This shows that Henry lacked vital
skills necessary for keeping good relations with foreign powers due to his naivety about
capturing more land for England in France.
Another way in which Henry VIII was responsible for the failure of English foreign policy was
his not taking the opportunities provided by Scotland’s near-constant weakness during his
reign. The Battle of Flodden in 1513 resulted in the death of James IV and many of his
nobles, leaving Baby James V as king, at this time - having already defeated Scotland with a
smaller army - it would have been relatively easy for Henry to conquer Scotland but instead
he remained obsessed with his bigger rivals; France and Spain. Later in his reign, in 1542,
further opportunity arose when James V died following the Battle of Solway Moss leaving his
1 year old daughter, Mary as Queen. Henry pursued a marriage alliance between the young
Queen and his heir, Prince Edward, however he should have listened to his ambassador in
Edinburgh, Sir Ralph Sadler, that the Scots were hostile to this arrangement. The Treaty of
Greenwich was not ratified by the Scottish Parliament, resulting in no alliance, rather than
sending the Earl of Hertford for a small raid on Edinburgh, Leith and St Andrews, Henry
could and should have launched a full-scale attack on Scotland while it was weak and
claimed the land for himself. Therefore, Henry missed the opportunity of invading Scotland
twice due to his obsession with the bigger powers in Europe, thus characterising his foreign
policy as a failure.
Henry’s relations with the Pope can also be seen as a failure of his foreign policy, most
notably through his failure to secure an annulment of his marriage. At the start of his reign
Henry and the Popes had good relations, especially when Wolsey was chief minister - Pope
Leo X even made Wolsey Papal Legate in England, the representative of him in England, a
position which was even higher than the Archbishop of Canterbury. However after this
relations deteriorated and by the end of the 1520s the ‘King’s Great Matter’ was causing
significant problems for Henry compounded by the Pope’s refusal to grant an annulment, a
main reason for this was the fact that the Pope was a relation of Emperor Charles, himself a
policy during his reign?’
The reign of Henry VIII was turbulent in terms of his relations with foreign nations, especially
the main players in European politics, France and Spain, soon becoming part of the ultra
powerful Holy Roman Empire. A main reason for the changes in relations was England’s
break with Rome causing the Catholic France and Holy Roman Empire to favour other
countries as allies over Henry’s England. One could characterise these relations as failures
due to England’s isolation for the most part of Henry’s reign, some of which was due to
Henry’s own decisions but some can be attributed to Henry’s advisors such as Cromwell.
As a ‘Renaissance Prince’ Henry was eager to follow one of his predecessors, Henry V, and
conquer more land, especially in France. This meant that fairly early in his reign, Henry was
waging war against France, in which during the Battle of Spurs, Henry managed to capture
the towns of Tournai and Therouanne, a good achievement within the first five years of his
reign. However by 1518, Henry had sold Tournai back to France for less than it had cost him
to repair the damage caused by the siege to capture it. This shows that Henry lacked vital
skills necessary for keeping good relations with foreign powers due to his naivety about
capturing more land for England in France.
Another way in which Henry VIII was responsible for the failure of English foreign policy was
his not taking the opportunities provided by Scotland’s near-constant weakness during his
reign. The Battle of Flodden in 1513 resulted in the death of James IV and many of his
nobles, leaving Baby James V as king, at this time - having already defeated Scotland with a
smaller army - it would have been relatively easy for Henry to conquer Scotland but instead
he remained obsessed with his bigger rivals; France and Spain. Later in his reign, in 1542,
further opportunity arose when James V died following the Battle of Solway Moss leaving his
1 year old daughter, Mary as Queen. Henry pursued a marriage alliance between the young
Queen and his heir, Prince Edward, however he should have listened to his ambassador in
Edinburgh, Sir Ralph Sadler, that the Scots were hostile to this arrangement. The Treaty of
Greenwich was not ratified by the Scottish Parliament, resulting in no alliance, rather than
sending the Earl of Hertford for a small raid on Edinburgh, Leith and St Andrews, Henry
could and should have launched a full-scale attack on Scotland while it was weak and
claimed the land for himself. Therefore, Henry missed the opportunity of invading Scotland
twice due to his obsession with the bigger powers in Europe, thus characterising his foreign
policy as a failure.
Henry’s relations with the Pope can also be seen as a failure of his foreign policy, most
notably through his failure to secure an annulment of his marriage. At the start of his reign
Henry and the Popes had good relations, especially when Wolsey was chief minister - Pope
Leo X even made Wolsey Papal Legate in England, the representative of him in England, a
position which was even higher than the Archbishop of Canterbury. However after this
relations deteriorated and by the end of the 1520s the ‘King’s Great Matter’ was causing
significant problems for Henry compounded by the Pope’s refusal to grant an annulment, a
main reason for this was the fact that the Pope was a relation of Emperor Charles, himself a
