King Henry : The Great King of England Who Defined Foreign Policy - Free Paper Example

Introduction

Ever wondered what a great king would look like? The life story and the work of King Henry on foreign policy matters without any doubt prove him to be one of the greatest kings in England. Henry was born in the year 1457 January; he was the only son of Edmond Tudor and Margret. King Henry was born almost three months after his father's death (Meyer,2014). Henry had restricted the Beaufort access to the throne, and thus, Henry has no way of becoming the king of England. The death of Edward, the only son of King Henry in the year 1471, left Henry as the single surviving male with the ancestral claim to the Lancaster (Meyer,2014).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Henry was brought up by his uncle after his mother, who was only fourteen, got married again. Henry grew up at the time when there was chaos and the battle of Tewkesbury when the Lancaster cause crashed, causing the disaster, so jasper Tudor, the guardian of Henry Tudor, flew to sought refuse to the duchy of Brittany (Meyer,2014).

Childhood Life

Henry childhood life happened when the war and fight for the throne were at its peak, the Yorkist at this time had overthrown the king Henry in a decisive battle which made Edward duke to become the king of England as King Edward after defeating king Henry (Cooper,1999). These forced Jasper Tudor, who was known to take care of Margret, the mother to Henry , to fly with them to seek refuge to the duchy Brittany. The Yorkist who had supported Edward in the battle was made the ruler of the Pembroke and took control of the Pembroke council. In the year 1469, Richard Nevile failed out; Helbert was captured and executed in 1470, which led to King Henry regaining his power, and jasper came back from exile with Henry Tudor (Meyer,2014). Henry took the daughter of Edward , Mary Elizabeth of York in 1483, as his wife which was a very significant step since this unified the house Lancaster and the York by promoting the Tudor rose, bringing down the conflict of the Lancaster and the Yorkist (Meyer,2014).

Achievements

King Henry is known for some significant achievements like foreign policy and creating peaceful coexistence between England and other countries. In the early years of king Henry , he had to fight hard against the incorporation of the duchy of Brittany in France; he played significant roles in fighting these where he was involved with the holly Roman Emporer and the Spains in the fight against the frame (Meyer,2014). King Henry Later, after getting engaged In the war, came to realize that he was only doing more harm to his crown than good and had to step out and seek reconciliations with the king of France.

There was a significant step that saw king Henry rise in the ruling dynasty and received a considerable amount of pensions in France who had now become his closest friends and supporters. Henry succeeded in convincing the Netherlands' people to make a treaty with him in the year 1496, which enabled his country to avoid war and attacks from the Netherlands (Meyer,2014). He was also able to create peaceful relations with the people of Scotland who were more hostile in the year 1499, where king Henry agreed to marry his daughter Margaret to James , which was another significant step in unifying England and Scotland. James's decision to marry King Henry's daughter was fostered by the arrival of Catherine to be married to Prince Arthur in the year 1501 (Meyer,2014). King Henry decision to Mary, his daughter to France, also ensured that he was in unity with one of the countries with higher power since France had sprung in power so the dynasty of king Henry was secure and his crown was now safe (Meyer,2014).

The regime of King Henry , the Tudor, was now witnessed to grow even in the eyes of the European power. King Henry used the scheme of matrimonial diplomacy to ensure that he got the protection against his enemies and was more confident in the position that he held (Currin,2000). King Henry was a smart person who used his skills to create good relationships with other states, and the schemes of matrimonial helped the king in enriching his country. King Henry used every opportunity to make a treaty with his enemies, which made England the most prosperous country during his reign. He was able to safeguard his dynasty and ensure that England could trade well with the other countries(Meyer,2014). King Henry had the other significant achievement. He managed to marry Charles, the archduke after the death of the emperor Charles v to his daughter, which continued the peaceful relations with the other Sofolk (Lander,1976). The wedding between Mary and Charles took place after the man whom Mary had been married to also died, and so she honored the promise that she had made to his father and Charles, who she had fallen in love with (Lander,1976).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the work of King Henry has impacted a lot in the modern-day peaceful coexistence of England with other countries. King Henry legacy still stands out when one considers the roles that he played in ensuring that England had free trade with other countries such as Scotland, in modern-day Scotland, and England still conducts some significant trade deals. King Henry was able to establish power stability when there were wars, fights, and attacks on England with other countries. King Henry showed great power in building an alliance with other states and was the pioneer of England's current relations with Spain and France, where he married some of his daughters as a quest for the alliance. King Henry impact on the present-day international relationship of England and other countries cannot be ignored as King Henry laid the foundation for the peaceful coexistence between states with his ideology that war was not the solution to every conflict that faced countries during times of disagreements. King Henry was great at creating neutrality between all the nations; thus, England was most secure and was the least country that was mostly engaged in battle with other countries.

References

Cooper, J. (1959). Henry 's Last Years Reconsidered. The Historical Journal, 2(2), 103-129.

Currin, J. (2000). 'The King's Army into the Partes of Bretaigne': Henry and the Breton Wars, 1489–1491. War in History, 7(4), 379-412.

Lander, J. (1976). Bonds, coercion, and fear: Henry and the peerage. In Crown and Nobility, 1450-1509: 1450-1509 (pp. 267-300). Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.

Meyer, A. (2014). The Politics of Queenship in Francis Bacon's "The History of the Reign of King Henry " and John Fordss's "Perkin Warbeck." Studies in Philology, 111(2).