Edward's Reign Was An Ignominious Failure Essay

‘Foreign policy in Edward’s reign was an ignominious failure’ assess the validity of this view?

Foreign policy in Edward VI’s reign is often regarded as an overall failure for England for many reasons by a number of historians. This period is often split due to the fall from political power of Edward Seymour and John Dudley’s role as Lord president.

The appointed Lord Protector Somerset had to deal with the crumbling legacy of Henry VIII which left him with a number of problems both in England and abroad. Somerset was left with wars against both Scotland and France and couldn't be in two places at once so placed his focus upon Scotland. This could have been for a number of reasons such as to continue the previous King’s war and ultimately

to united both Scotland and England by marrying Edward to Mary Queen of Scots as the Treaty Of Greenwich under Henry VIII had intended to do. In June 1547, Henry II sent 4,000 troops into Scotland. Being a great warrior, Somerset had a good start and defeated the scots at the battle of pinkie which was seen as a great success. In fact, his victory stirred up a sense of Scottish nationalism and soon after the Scottish nobles met in Stirling and decided to ask Henry II of France for more help. The Scottish offered Mary, queen of scots as the future wife to Henry’s son Francis in return. The Garrisoning policy turned out to be a failure as they became unworkable after the second arrival of the french troops. The majority of the strongholds were just camps situated in harsh conditions, which caused most of the troops to leave. Somerset incorrectly assumed that maintaining a number of permanent garrisons would be cheaper than launching regular raids. In spite of this Somerset spent £580,000 in 2 years, double the cost of Henry’s 5 years of war against the Scots!
and caused the continued debasement of the coinage and the inflation after-effect. This is seen as a complete failure concerning foreign policy under Edward as Somerset continuing the war was a very expensive option which crippled the economy and caused both relations with Scotland and France to become hostile.

At this time, Somerset had to deal with a large number of domestic issues facings England so foreign policy became less of a priority. Both the commanders of the English armies placed in southern Scotland needed some direction but Somerset gave none. This lack of input lead to the Scottish forces attacking many of the English garrisons in Scotland. 5000 English troops were attacked at Haddington Castle which completely turned the tables on Somerset. He knew that he could not just send more troops into Scotland with the current situation he had with Henry II placing an army just outside Boulogne. Left with no option, Somerset knew that the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V would not tolerate the French occupying an important port such as Boulogne. Somerset used this time to send 14,000 men to Haddington Castle, however this wasn't thought through very well and soon after He had to call the army back as the Government was unable to support its costs. This gave the Scottish more than enough time to attack many of the key strongholds held by the English, which made clear that the Scottish nobility were far from happy with the current situation. Regardless of this, Somerset withdrew the garrison and soon after the French had found they could not afford to keep a force in Scotland, so withdrew. Scotland was in no position to attack but neither was the now crippled England after the poor leadership under Somerset. The lack of involvement and commitment by Somerset was eventually held against him when he was arrested. This made him be seen as responsible for the detrimental shortcomings of foreign policy

Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset was removed as Lord protector in 1549, and replaced by John Dudley the Duke of Northumberland. Scotland and France had been alienated and the rise of Protestantism from the church of England had angered the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. Northumberland’s main internal aim was to restore law and order in England after the rebellions and ongoing economy hardship, something that needed peace with France. England at the time was in a weak position and Henry II knew this and in August 1549, Henry declared war and took personal lead of the siege of Boulogne. Northumberland entered talks with France in January 1550. The war had driven England to the brink of bankruptcy and Dudley as the Lord President of the Privy Council knew the war could not continue. The treaty of Boulogne was written in March 1550 and saw England give up Boulogne, which had been won by Henry VIII in his final invasion of France. France only paid half of the ransom amount of 400,000 crowns for Boulogne and promised England to remove all their remaining men from Scotland. Northumberland was seen by the population as selling out the nation as the public opinion wasn't positive about the treaty. Historians such as A F. Pollard have labeled the treaty as ‘the most ignominious treaty signed by England in recent times’ and Dudley’s position in the Privy Council became at risk it is seen as the most humiliating experience against a traditional enemy.

Only months after the treaty of Boulogne, the Duke of Northumberland was back making deals with France. Dudley formed another treaty, The treaty of Norham, in order to arrange that Edward VI would marry Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry II, once she reached the age of twelve. France would give a dowry of 200,000 crowns. This agreement was confirmed in December 1550 with the clause that England remained neutral in continental wars. This helped relations with France somewhat but infuriated Charles V impacting relations with the Holy Roman Empire. Since 1469, with the Intercursus Magnus’, England was guaranteed trade with Northern Europe but after the treaty with France Charles V allowed this to breakdown, having a direct effect of England. Charles V then ordered that the Catholic Inquisition could arrest any heretic including foreigners in the Netherlands and planned to invade England. The invasion never materialised but this caused many to flee to England for safety but this ultimately caused the collapse of the Antwerp cloth trade. This caused much economic hardship as all English trade to Antwerp had ceased losing a lot of revenue. Northumberland may have smoothed things over with France but as a direct result of his foreign policy, he had now caused many workers in the cloth trade to lose their jobs all across England. This overall can be seen as failure under foreign policy as even though relations with France had improved, national hardship caused by the breakdown of trade with Northern and Central Europe and angering the Holy Roman Empire put England in a more precautious position within Europe than before.

Under Edward VI, not all of the Duke of Northumberland’s foreign policy actions as Lord President of the privy council had negative consequences, when faced with the broken trade links, he resorted to a completely new measure.

Much to the rest of the Privy members discontent in case of further angering the Spanish, Dudley encouraged the development of new trade links. In 1552, Northumberland approached the London-based Merchant adventurers and proposed a plan and with an investment from the privy council members progression was made. Trade links were made with Ivan IV, the Tsar of Muscovy which lead in 1555 to the modernisation of dockyards in England and the navel forces. They aimed at finding a northeast passage to China to facilitate further trade and even attempts to further trade with Morocco, although these links were later discouraged by Philip of Spain. This was great for both England’s international trade and prestige. At the same time Northumberland has successful in Scotland when an agreement was reached that established the border at the line of what is once was before Henry VIII’s Scottish campaign. The French Observer claimed ‘He was an intelligent man, who could explain his ideas’. This overall aspect of foreign policy is seen as great success during Edward’s

reign.

In conclusion, some aspects of foreign policy during Edward VI’s reign can be seen as a failure but whether it on the whole can be labeled as an overall failure is a different matter. The view of both the Duke of Somerset and Northumberland have changed throughout history and certainly in Northumberland's case, he often made the best of a bad situation in regard to foreign policy such as the treaty of Boulogne which was seen as a bitter pill to swallow for the England at the time. Whereas the Duke of Somerset, was a poor leader in regard to foreign policy due to his selfish motives, which lead to some embarrassing events. For this foreign policy in Edward’s reign can be seen an ignominious failure.