Wars and treaties in Henry VIII's time

The Battle of the Spurs

• Henry VIII personally led an army of 30,000 men to Calais
• He managed to capture two small French towns: Therouanne and Tournai with little resistence from the French - it was a "victory"

The Battle of Flodden

• James IV, King of Scotland, took advantage of Henry's absence and invaded England
• The English army, led by the Earl of Surrey, fought and won a tremendous victory as they were outnumbered. It removed the Scottish threat for the foreseeable future.
• James IV was killed and Catherine was going to send his head to Henry as proof

Anglo-French treaty

• Between England and France
• Gave England possession of Tournai (which it had captured in the Battle of the Spurs)
• Louis VII agreed to pay off England's debt which it had had since the 1490s
• Treaty was sealed by the marriage between Henry's younger sister Mary and the elderly Louis VII

The Treaty of London

• Organised by Wolsey
• Bound together England, France, Spain, Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy against the Turk
• Guaranteed no aggression between them and security as if one started to be aggressive then the others rounded on them
• A success!

The Field of the Cloth of Gold

• A huge pageant to celebrate the Treaty of London
• Over 3,000 nobles attended
• Henry and Francis had a spontaneous wrestling match which Francis won
• Little of diplomatic value was achieved and a lot of money was spent, making Henry bankrupt

1522

• A raiding party, led by the Earl of Surrey, invaded Calais then Normandy to Picardy
• It made no terrotorial gains and received little support from Charles V

1523

• An English force, led by the Duke of Suffolk and costing £400,000, went to Calais to assist the Duke of Bourbon who felt he had been denied his rightful terrotorial inheritance and so waged open rebellion
• However, the English army fell apart and wasted lots of money