Although Henry VIII was widely acclaimed to have been ‘reckless’ as quoted by some historians when it came to foreign adventures, I believe that Henry’s foreign policy could not be entirely labelled as a disaster. I am of the opinion that a number of Henry’s early foreign affairs certainly ended up being failures, however a few events would be more suited to being labelled as a success.
It is clear to see that at the inception of his reign, Henry VIII believed it was his chivalric duty to wage war on France – a country that had become the largest kingdom in Europe, and dreamed of reasserting England’s traditional claim to the crown of France, even as a 17 year old. He believed that this what he must do due to the fact that all English kings before him claimed the French throne for themselves, dating back to the reign of Edward III (1327 to 1377). If Henry was to fulfil another one of his ambitions to be known as ‘the most godliest prince that ever reigned over the realm of England’, then claiming the French throne was to be of the highest priority of a young, eager to impress monarch. However prior to an invasion of France in 1512, Henry was tricked by his royal councillors into signing a peace settlement with Louis XII – the king of France. This highlighted Henry’s inexperience as a new king and this treaty was soon broken by Henry. Parliament granted the necessary funds to wage war in April 1512. Henry knew that he could portray this war as a papal one in defence of the church. So Henry ordered 12,000 troops to join with Spanish troops and Ferdinand II. However this could be seen as a failure for Henry, as he was tricked by Ferdinand – his father-in-law, and he only wanted to use the British troops as a diversion so he could capture the autonomous community of Navarre. This was Henry’s first real step into foreign territory and could be seen as a failure due to his inexperience which led him to being tricked by Ferdinand. Henry’s disappointing outset onto the foreign scene did not improve in his first battle. Henry ordered his navy to initiate a siege at the French coastal town of Brest. This resulted in failure as the English suffered naval defeat at the hands of the French. This defeat capped England’s first serious continental campaign in 60 years and it had ended after only a few months in failure. This can be seen as a disaster because a huge amount of funds had been allocated to Henry for his attacks on France. The defeats meant that these funds were wasted as Henry had not made any progress in his quest to take the crown of France.
In 1513, Henry continued with his campaign to claim the French throne. The defeat in Brest the previous year made Henry only hungrier for success in France and so he personally led 30,000 troops across the channel to Calais, including a small army but with a good corps of horse, led by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian, who acted as a general to Henry in the battle. The battle resulted in a comprehensive allied victory, with the French towns of Therouanne and Tournai beign captured. The battle was soon called the "Battle of the Spurs" due to the haste of the French horseback soldiers to evade the battlefield. This victory was Henry’s first against France and could certainly be seen as a success. By capturing two French towns, it meant that Henry had locations to attack from and oversee future advancements into French territory. Whilst Henry was still in France, James IV, King of Scots declared war on England to honour the Auld Alliance with France by diverting Henry’s troops from their campaign against Louis in France. Over 30,000 Scottish troops were behind the King of Scots and he was met by around 26,000 troops from Surrey, led by Thomas Howard, the Earl of Surrey. The battle occurred in Northumberland and England recorded a comprehensive victory. Although Henry was not involved in this battle, it could still be seen as a success for him because it epitomised the strength of his England to be able to defeat their enemies even without their full strength and king. It signified how powerful Henry had made his army.
Another foreign objective of Henry VIII was to maintain the trade links between England and the Netherlands. In the 16th century, Netherlands was at the height of its cloth trades. The English cloth trade relied heavily on that of the Dutch, specifically the Antwerp market. Maintaining a good relationship with the Netherlands was vital for Henry because of two reasons. Firstly, it meant that Britain could trade with the Dutch and secondly because the Netherlands was under the control of Maximillian; the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Henry had previously allied with the Holy Roman Empire in wars against France. This was quite the opposite of a disaster because this was at the forefront of Henry’s objectives in order to bring wealth into his country and he succeeded in doing this.
A problem that surfaced due to Henry’s foreign adventures was simply the cost of such movements. It is claimed by numerous historians that aside from Henry’s claim to the French throne and honouring his predecessors, Henry regularly demanded for his pension from the French. His pension was the amount that the French had agreed to pay the English King annually as compensation for the English lands that had been lost in France. These demands were present in all wars between Henry and France. Despite his demands, he could not comprehend that the cost of war was simply much more than he received in pension. The overall cost of Henry’s campaigns in France was astronomical. The figure is believed to have been around £960,000 between the years of 1511 and 1513. In current worth, this figure in the current era would stand at well over £550 million. This huge sum of money used by Henry in his quest to succeed in France could be seen as disastrous and a huge risk for the English economy. This emphasizes that Henry’s character was underpinned by honour and it seems that this could have very easily been costly. Had he lost, Henry would have spent money without receiving any foreign benefits which would have resulted in him dropping in popularity and leaving England in a precarious economic position.
Overall, I have come to the conclusion that although Henry made mistakes; a few of which can be named as a disaster. I think that it is unfair to claim that all of Henry’s early foreign adventures were disastrous due to the fact that a number of his foreign objectives ended up in success such as the capturing of the French towns of Tournai and Therouanne.