STUARTS: Charles I Foreign policy

• 1625
• Charles is looking for a new ally in Europe after the failed spanish match(1623)
• The french are scared of the sucess of the Hapsburg Spanish and Imperialist in the Thirty Years War and might be persuaded to take part against them
• A dowry of £240,000 was paid to finance the war and the agreement of the marriage was that there would be a toleration of Roman Catholics in England( this was kept a secret)
• Charles married Henrietta Maria who was Roman Catholic and the daughter of the King of France

• 1626-27
• Charles needed parliament subsidies so he tried to keep the Roman Catholic deal a secret by NOT giving roman catholic toleration and expelling most of his wife's french servants
• Henrietta hated Buckingham and saw him as a rival for charles affection
• French minister saw Charles and Buckingham as unreliable and had no intention of joining them in a war against the Hapsburgs
• Charles changed his mind about the french alliance and decided to help the Hugenots who were besiged by French Royal forces in their stronghold( Port of La Rochelle)

• I625
• The aim was to march through France to liberate the Palatinate and take it from the Hapsburg
• Charles wants to preserve the Divine Right Of Kings because the King had been deposed in Palatinate
• Also once Spain's honour has been damaged, Englands reputation is elevated

What happend?

• 6,000 troops raised largely by impressment were shipped off to Holland
• there was a lack of motivation, resources such as water and food
• Poor planning because they didnt realise the river would be frozen so the had to move onto the land
• 9/10 of the troops died
• Buckinghams was accountable as he was the Chief Advisor to Charles

• 1625
• The aim was to win the war with spain and parliament would then grant them money
• Buckingham conviced him that this would be a great victory if they won

What Happend?

• The soldiers landed near Cadiz and were about to attck BUT found a farm full of wine , got drunk and the attack was abandoned
• They were drunk so were unfit to fight and there was a lack of essentials like water
• The subsides that parliament granted them were not enough £140,000
• Buckingham was the Lord Admiral and allowed them to drink
• Charles was upset that his fav, Buckingham let him down again BUT due to his undying loyalty he stuck with buckingham which meant he still had the power to make more mistakes

• 1627
• Aim was to capture the Island of Rhe which surrounded La Rochelle whcih was a Hugenot Stronghold

What Happend?

• Buckingham has a fleet of 80 ships tries to take over the fortified city of St Martin but were repulsed after 3 months  because french royal boats managed to supply St Martin despite the English Blockade
• ran out of money and supplies, everyone got sick
• when they went to storm Citadel the ladder was too short ( poorly planned)
• Buckingham lacked experince in military affairs
• This showed that Britan was at war with Spain and France
• All his money was gone so he had to call Parliament back