Henry VIII Treaties Timeline

Henry VIII renewed this 1502 peace treaty with King James IV of Scotland. A new clause was added to the treaty which promised excommunication by the Pope if either king broke any of the clauses in the treaty.

Henry renewed the peace with France which had been signed by his father. The peace was extended for a further year.

A peace treaty was agreed with Ferdinand of Spain.

This League was formed by The Pope, Venice and Spain, all of whom wished to remove the French from Italy. The aims of the League were:
to protect the church
to recover Bologna from the French
to restore to Venice all her conquered territories.
A clause was included in the treaty which gave Papal backing to all Spanish conquests outside Italy.

Henry VIII joined the Holy League of Spain, Venice and the Pope. He hoped this move would help him to conquer lands in France.

This was signed by Henry VIII and Ferdinand of Spain. The Treaty agreed that both England and Spain would attack France before the end of April 1512. Ferdinand would attack the French in Italy while Henry would invade northern France. A joint Anglo-Spanish force would also attack Aquitaine, a former English vassal state.

Scotland and France renewed this treaty of mutual support.

Louis XII of France told James IV of Scotland that the terms of the Auld Alliance meant that Scotland was now at war with England.

Henry’s ally and father-in-law, Ferdinand of Spain, secretly agreed a year-long truce with France. He used knowledge of Henry VIII’s upcoming invasion to secure a better deal for Spain.

This treaty was signed by the Pope, Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian, Ferdinand of Spain and Henry VIII of England. The terms bound them to declare war on France within the month.

A treaty was signed in London by Ferdinand of Spain and Henry VIII. The Spanish agreed to invade Guienne in Henry’s name for a payment of 100,000 crowns. At the same time the English would begin an invasion of northern France.

Ferdinand of Spain was forced to admit to his secret treaty with France and withdraw from this treaty.

With winter fast approaching, further hostilities in France were abandoned. This treaty was signed by Henry, Maximillian and Ferdinand. It bound them to make a combined invasion of France before June 1514. The treaty was to be sealed with the marriage of Ferdinand’s grandson, Charles, to Henry’s younger sister, Mary.

Thomas Wolsey was not happy with the terms of the treaty. In particular he felt that Henry’s sister, Mary could make a better marriage. Wolsey knew that the French King’s wife was ailing and felt that a match with France could bring favourable terms.

Holy Roman Emperor, Maximillian, joined the truce of Ferdinand of Spain and Louis XII of France. The Council of Flanders also refused to accept Henry’s sister, Mary, as a bride for Maximillian’s son, Charles.

Having learned of Maximillian’s actions, Henry began negotiating a peace with France. He offered Louis, aged 52, the hand of his widowed sister, Margaret, however, Louis would only agree terms if he was offered Henry’s younger sister, Mary.

Arrangements for Mary’s marriage to King Louis XII had begun. Mary did not want to marry the aged King. She had been betrothed many times and hoped that this arrangement would go the way of the others. She was in love with Henry’s friend Charles Brandon and hoped that they would be able to marry.

King Louis XII agreed the terms of this treaty which had been negotiated by the General of Normandy, the Duke of Suffolk and Thomas Wolsey. The French King agreed to increase by one million, the 750,000 crowns already owed to England, with payments being made at six-monthly intervals. The treaty was to be sealed with the marriage of Henry’s sister Mary.

This treaty detailed the terms of the marriage of Louis XII and Princess Mary of England. Louis agreed to pay half of Mary’s travelling expenses and half the cost of the wedding. He also agreed to give Mary all lands owned by his late wife, Anne of Brittany and all of her jewels.

This treaty detailed the terms of a peace between the two countries. Each country agreed to return any prisoners of the other country. They also agreed mutual support in the event of either being at war. Therouanne would be returned to France and the English would be given trading privileges. The French also agreed to prevent John Stewart, Duke of Albany, from leaving France to stop him taking control of the Scottish regency from Henry’s sister Margaret.

Charles Brandon, Nicholas West and Richard Wingfield had been sent to France to negotiate a peace with the new King. Francis stated that he would like the return of Tournai in return for payment of costs Henry had incurred in the taking of the town. The English ambassadors turned this down stating that payment of costs was not sufficient. They demanded that Francis also return all jewels and plate that had been given to Mary while she was Queen of France.

This treaty renewed the peace between England and France made in 1514. The chief English negotiators were Thomas Wolsey, the Duke of Norfolk and the Bishop of Winchester while Peter de la Guiche and John de Selva were the French representatives. Francis I had refused to acknowledge all the terms in the earlier treaty and so new terms had been agreed, namely: A peace to last the lifetime of both Kings; All prisoners of the other country were to be released and allowed to return home; Neither country would harbour the others’ enemies but would extradite them for trial; that each would come to the other’s aid if any invasion was threatened.

Thomas More, Cuthbert Tunstall, Richard Sampson, Thomas Spinelli and John Clifford were sent to the Netherlands to negotiate terms for a trade deal between the countries.

A Scottish delegation arrived in England to discuss a truce between the two countries. It was agreed that a truce would be held until the end of November.

The truce between England and Scotland was extended to the end of January 1517.

The Truce with Scotland, first agreed in April 1516, was further extended to the end of November. It was agreed that Margaret Tudor would be allowed to return to Scotland but that she would have no power and Albany would continue as Governor of Scotland.

The Duke of Albany travelled to France to negotiate a renewal of the Auld Alliance. The Treaty of Rouen agreed that if England were to invade Scotland then France would provide aid to Scotland in a counter invasion.

Two French ambassadors arrived in England to begin secret peace negotiations.

The truce between England and Scotland was further extended for two years.

The French ambassadors returned to France as no agreement between the two countries had been reached.

Peace negotiations were re-opened between England and France.

Bonnivet, the Admiral of France, and the Bishop of Paris arrived in England to discuss peace terms. They were accompanied by a huge entourage that included 600 horsemen.

A Peace agreement was reached between England and France. Tournai was to be returned to France in return for a payment of 600,000 crowns for the city and 400,000 crowns for the castle that Henry built in the city. Wolsey agreed to give up his bishopric of Tournai in return for a pension from the French King.

The Treaty of London, also known as the Universal Peace, provided for the signatories of the treaty to live in peace and to not invade the others’ territories. No country was to harbour the others’ enemies and all requests for rebels to be handed over were to be complied with. It was also a treaty of mutual defence and any aggressor refusing to curb activities would find themselves at war with the other signatories. The treaty also reaffirmed the return to Tournai to France as per the provisions of the peace between England and France. The treaty was initially signed by England and France but ultimately was signed by most European powers including the Pope, Maximillian Holy Roman Emperor, Charles of Spain, as well as the leaders of Denmark, Scotland, Portugal, Hungary, the Italian States and the Swiss Confederation.

English and French negotiators agreed terms for the marriage of Francis I’s son, Henri and Princess Mary. The couple would wed when Henry turned fourteen years.