In what ways was dynastic marriage important in Henry VII’S relations with foreign power in the years 1487-1509 free essay sample

Throughout his reign of 1487 to 1509, Henry VII looked to dynastic marriage to establish England as a significant power broker in Europe in and seal the future of the Tudor dynasty. The results were mixed Regarding Henry VII’s relations with Spain the dynastic marriage between his son Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon, a Spanish princess in 1501, worked well in Henry’s favour. This dynastic marriage, which was established by the Treaty of Medina del Campo, provided Henry VII with recognition on the international stage and valuable security. Such a union meant that the king of Spain Ferdinand and Henry VII agreed on mutual support to defend their countries against any enemy, assurance that neither king would make any peace, alliance or treaty with France without the other’s agreement and that neither country would assist or harbour rebels or pretenders. All these terms gave Henry a source of significant foreign power. We will write a custom essay sample on In what ways was dynastic marriage important in Henry VII’S relations with foreign power in the years 1487-1509? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The means to Henry VII’s power with Spain was cemented by the dynastic marriage between Prince Arthur and Princess Catherine – the fact that the two countries were conjoined by marriage made it less likely that the terms of the treaty would be broken. In 1497 Anglo-Scottish harmony was established as it suited both King James IV of Scotland and Henry VII to make peace. By 1501 Henry further strengthened this peace by making an agreement for his daughter Princess Margaret to marry James IV. By 1502 this matured into a formal peace treaty, the dynastic marriage was to be held accountable for this newfound harmony between Scotland and England. The dynastic marriage between James IV and Princess Margaret stopped the frequent border warfare between Scotland and England it also eradicated the persistent danger of a Franco-Scottish alliance. Due to the peace treaty being solely based upon the Anglo-Scottish marriage it gave Henry VII long-term foreign power. Although some dynastic marriages worked to Henry VII’s advantage not every dynastic marriage necessarily worked in his favor. After many diplomatic fluctuations between the Anglo-Spanish relations Ferdinand signed the Treaty of Blois with France in 1505 within the next year he married Louis XII’s niece. In 1506 Philip died and Ferdinand reclaimed the upper hand succeeding hime as sole ru ler of united Spain and power thanks to his dynastic marriage he  possessing a strong French alliance. This meant Spain no longer needed English support because of the dynastic marriage between Ferdinand and Louis XII’s niece so Henry VII now longer had Spain as an ally and there was a stronger chance France could potentially attack England. Another occasion where dynastic marriage was quite disastrous for Henry VII was the marriage between Anne of Brittany and Charles VIII of France. This dynastic marriage caused colossal issues for Henry such as war. In 1489 Henry signed the Treaty of Redon making agreements with Ferdinand and Maximilian to build an anti-French alliance. In 1491 Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany were married at the same time as the French taking control of Brittany. Due to Henry VII’s obligation to Brittany he seized an army of 12,000 troops to fight the French. The dynastic marriage between Anne of Brittany and Charles VIII caused Henry VII conflict with France due to obligations that came along from the dynastic marriage. Dynastic marriage held great importance and significance to Henry VII’s relations with foreign power whether it was positive or negative repercussions. With marriages such as Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon or Princess Margaret and James IV dynastic marriage had many positive outcomes for Henry VII securing him good relations and foreign power. However marriages such as Ferdinand and Louis XII’s niece or Anne of Brittany and Charles VII had negative outcomes stripping Henry VII of alliances and causing conflict between other countries. Overall dynastic marriages had importance in many different ways for Henry VII regarding relations with foreign power. YOU NEED A STRONGER MORE SPECIFIC SIGN-OFF SENTENCE THAN THIS