Henry VIII's Early Foreign Policy, 1509-29
Jez Ross takes issue with the traditional view that sees the early foreign policy of the second Tudor monarch as a costly failure.
The common view of Henry VIII’s and Cardinal Wolsey’s foreign policy is that it was a failure. What are the main components of this view? Firstly, that Henry VIII failed to achieve his primary goal, which was to recover the French empire which had been conquered by Henry V. Secondly, that this aim was unrealistic: Henry’s high hopes were naive, given that his resources were tiny compared with those of France. Thirdly, that his foreign policy was often incoherent, thus allowing more wily operators, such as King Ferdinand of Aragon and the Emperor Maximilian, to manipulate him. In short, foreign policy under Henry and Wolsey was unaccomplished, anachronistic, naive and aimless.
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