Personalities 1515-29

(1509-47)

• wanted war with France
• glory -- like ancestor kings
• by Summer 1514, he had something to show:
  • the Battle of the Spurs 1514
  • but it wasn't much
• warfare was getting more expensive
  • more powerful guns, e.g. cannons
  • moving away from medieval-style battles, bows and arrows, etc.
• he had unreliable allies
  • Spanish -- Charles V untrustworthy and unreliable

Henry wanted glory in his Foreign Policy, but it was dependant on allies. No allies = no glory!

(1515-47)

• great personal rival of Henry VIII
• very ostentatious -- like Henry
• Renaissance Prince
• had gained glory already:
  • Battle of Marignano, 1515
  • French won the duchy of Milan
  • Henry very jealous
• Francis did not consider England to be a powerful enough ally

(1515-56)

[Holy Roman Emperor 1519-56]

• Hapsburg family
• Katherine of Aragon's nephew
• ruler of Spain but had territory in modern day Hungary, Austria, Germany and Italy
• threat to Francis as his land surrounded France
• had vast resources at his disposal

Wolsey had to get Henry what he wanted (glory) but with not too much money spent, as England was poor.

• had to teach Henry the concept of "Glory in Peace"
• needed to obtain an ally for England in either France or Spain, otherwise there was a danger of isolation
• needed a divorce
  • ally in Charles V?

• Leo X (1513-21), Medici family
• Adrian VI (1522-3)
• Clement VII (1523-34)

It would be Clement VII who would be instrumental in the divorce case, as after the sack of Rome he was held prisoner by Charles V, and thus unable to grant Henry a divorce.