The Foreign Policy of Wolsey

Peacemaker of Europe, for two years

In October 1518 more than twenty European states signed a treaty in London that bound them all to keep the peace and to make war together on any one of them that broke it. The Pope had wanted a crusade; Wolsey turned it into a peace with England at the centre and himself as its author, and for a moment a kingdom of three million people looked like the arbiter of Europe. Eleven years later, in August 1529, France and the Empire made peace at Cambrai without asking England at all, and within two months Wolsey had fallen. Between the two dates lie the Field of the Cloth of Gold, two wars with France, the capture of a king at Pavia and the sack of Rome. The exam asks what Wolsey aimed at abroad, what he achieved, why the 1520s went wrong, and how far the policy was a success. This module gives you the dated evidence and the question shapes.

Five words the examiners use

Each definition ends with the moment it mattered, because a bare definition earns nothing in a 12-mark answer.

From Tournai to Cambrai, in order

Put these six events in the order they happened.

• Henry wins the Battle of the Spurs and takes Tournai in his first war with France
• The Treaty of London binds more than twenty states to a universal peace
• Henry and Francis I meet at the Field of the Cloth of Gold
• Wolsey signs the Treaty of Bruges, committing England to war on France beside the Emperor
• Charles V captures Francis I at Pavia
• The army of the Emperor sacks Rome and takes the Pope prisoner

Why switch sides in 1521?

Fourteen months after embracing Francis I at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, Wolsey signed the Treaty of Bruges with Charles V and committed England to war on France. Which explanation best accounts for the turn?

• Charles V had become Emperor in 1519 and ruled Spain and the Netherlands as well, so he was the stronger side to be on; the English cloth trade ran through his Netherlands; Henry wanted a war for glory and Charles would pay for it with a promised joint invasion; and Wolsey hoped that the Emperor would back him for the papacy.
• Francis I had insulted Henry by beating him at wrestling at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.
• The Pope ordered England to attack France.
• Catherine of Aragon demanded it because Charles was her nephew.

Successes and failures, with dates

The examiners reward answers that can put a date and an outcome beside every judgement. Both columns are true; the question is how to weigh them.

Why England mattered less by 1529

Five statements about the 1520s. Tap the TWO that explain why England had lost its influence, as opposed to describing what happened.

• In 1523 the Duke of Suffolk led an English army to within fifty miles of Paris and withdrew when the promised imperial support did not come.
• After Pavia in February 1525 Charles V held the French king prisoner and no longer needed English money or English troops, so the balance Wolsey had played between the two powers no longer existed.
• The Treaty of the More of August 1525 made peace with France in return for a pension.
• English wealth depended on cloth sold through Antwerp in the lands of the Emperor, so that a war on Charles in 1528 hurt England within weeks and had to be called off.
• The Peace of Cambrai in August 1529 was negotiated by the mother of Francis and the aunt of Charles.

1518 and 1520: which are true?

Select the THREE statements that are true of the Treaty of London and the Field of the Cloth of Gold.

• The Treaty of London began as a papal appeal for a crusade against the Turks, which Wolsey turned into a general peace with England at its head.
• Under the treaty Tournai, captured in 1513, was sold back to France for 600,000 crowns, and Princess Mary was betrothed to the heir of France.
• Henry met Charles V at Canterbury in May 1520 before the Field of the Cloth of Gold and at Gravelines in July after it.
• The Field of the Cloth of Gold produced a lasting military alliance with France.
• The Field of the Cloth of Gold was held in England.
• Only England and France signed the Treaty of London.

How far a success? Judge it with the dates

The 16-mark question on this bullet asks how far the foreign policy of Wolsey was a success. The strong answer sees that the answer depends on the date you judge it at. Judged in 1520: a triumph. England had beaten France in 1513, made a profitable peace in 1514, written the peace of Europe in 1518, and staged the most magnificent summit of the age in 1520. The aims of the king, glory and standing, and of the minister, influence and the credit for it, had all been met. Judged in 1529: a failure. The alliance of 1521 brought a war that emptied the treasury and gained nothing; Pavia removed the balance the whole policy depended on; the Sack of Rome wrecked the annulment; the war of 1528 had to be abandoned to save the cloth trade; and Cambrai was made without England. The judgement examiners reward is the one that explains the turn: England was a second-rank power that could matter only while France and the Empire were evenly matched. When they stopped being matched, no minister could have made England count. That is a defence of Wolsey and a limit on him at once.

In the shoes of the Cardinal, abroad

Four decisions Wolsey faced between 1518 and 1527. Choose as he chose, and notice what each choice bought and what it cost.

• 1518. Pope Leo X has asked every Christian ruler to sign up to a crusade against the Turks. England has no interest in a crusade. What do you do with the invitation?
• Spring 1520. The summit with Francis I is fixed for June. Charles V, newly Emperor, offers to visit England on his way from Spain to the Netherlands. What do you do?
• August 1521. France and the Empire are at war. Charles offers an alliance, a joint invasion of France, and a marriage between Princess Mary and himself. The king wants war. What do you sign?
• Summer 1527. The army of Charles has sacked Rome and holds the Pope. The king has just asked that same Pope to annul his marriage to the aunt of Charles. What is your foreign policy now?

From cause to consequence

Because the Pope wanted a crusade in 1518, Wolsey had the excuse to make a peace of _____ states with England at its head. Because Charles became Emperor in _____, England had to choose between two giants, and in 1521 it chose the stronger. Because Suffolk marched on Paris in 1523 without imperial support, the war brought debt and no land. Because Francis was captured at _____, the balance of power vanished and England mattered to nobody. Because the army of Charles sacked Rome in 1527, the Pope who could annul the marriage of Henry was a prisoner of the nephew of _____. And because France and the Empire made peace at _____ without England, Wolsey had nothing left to offer his king.

Flodden in numbers

At Flodden in September 1513 the Scots lost about 10,000 men, including King James IV, while English losses were about 1,500. How many Scots died for every English soldier killed, to the nearest whole number?

The 4-mark question

Question (a) might read: Describe two features of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. It is marked feature plus supporting detail, twice. Which answer scores all four marks?

• One feature was its scale as a display of wealth: for eighteen days in June 1520 the two courts met near Calais in a temporary palace with fountains running with wine, and Henry brought several thousand people with him. Another was that it settled nothing: no treaty of substance was signed, and Henry met Charles V both before and after it.
• It was expensive. It was pointless.
• The Field of the Cloth of Gold was a very famous meeting between two kings that everyone remembers.
• Wolsey arranged the Field of the Cloth of Gold because he wanted to keep the peace of 1518 alive and show that England could hold the balance between France and the Empire.

A 12-mark paragraph, marked

Question (b): Explain why the foreign policy of Wolsey ran into difficulties in the 1520s. One reason for the difficulties was the Battle of Pavia on 24 February 1525. Wolsey had spent a decade holding a balance between France and the Empire, siding with whichever was weaker so that England, a kingdom of three million people, counted for more than its size. At Pavia the army of Charles V destroyed the French and captured Francis I himself. This meant that the balance no longer existed: Charles had no need of English money or English troops and refused Henry any share of the victory, while France, with its king a prisoner, could offer only a pension. Wolsey switched to France at the Treaty of the More that August, but a policy built on being needed by both sides could not survive a Europe in which one side needed nobody. Pavia did not end the foreign policy of Wolsey, but it took away the ground it had stood on. What earned the marks: a cause named in the first sentence; specific support (the date, the balance, the capture, the refusal, the More); the link phrase this meant that; and a closing sentence that returns to the question and weighs the cause. Two more paragraphs, on the cost of the war of 1522 to 1523 and on the Sack of Rome, and the answer reaches the top level.

Write the 12-mark answer

Explain why the foreign policy of Wolsey had become less successful by 1529. You may use the following in your answer: the Battle of Pavia (1525); the Sack of Rome (1527). You must also use information of your own.

• Support that counts: a date, a treaty, a name or a figure
• Causes of your own: the cost of the war of 1522 to 1523, the cloth trade and the war of 1528, or the Peace of Cambrai

The 16-mark judgement

Question (c) might read: "The foreign policy of Wolsey was a failure." How far do you agree? A student has written the case FOR. Which is the strongest point to set AGAINST it?

• For a decade the policy achieved exactly what the king and the minister wanted: glory at Tournai in 1513, a profitable peace in 1514, the Treaty of London of 1518 that put a kingdom of three million at the head of Europe, and the display of 1520; it failed after 1525 because Pavia removed the balance no English minister could have restored, which is a limit on England rather than a fault in Wolsey.
• Wolsey was the richest man in England after the king.
• The Field of the Cloth of Gold was very impressive.
• Wolsey fell from power in 1529.