How successfully did Henry VII use foreign policy to secure his dynasty


Dynastic security Henry VII as a usurper with a weak claim to the throne, had to secure his dynasty by using foreign policy. Initially he found success in organising a marriage between Arthur and Catherine of Aragon, which meant he had the backing of Spain. He also secured a marriage for his daughter Margret to James IV, this resulted in the first Anglo-Scottish treaty in over 150 years and reduced the danger of a Scottish challenge to his throne and dynasty. He also secured his dynasty by imposing a trade embargo on Burgundy between 19493-96, when they were harbouring the pretender Perkin Warbeck. As a result Burgundy signed Magnus intercursus and promised to no longer harbour any rivals to Henry VII's throne. These successes were significant in securing his dynasty. However he did have some failures, when his son Arthur died, he tried to marry Catherine to Henry, Arthur's younger brother. While the marriage went ahead, Spain were not entirely happy about the situation. An even more significant failure was Henry VII supporting Phillip of Burgundy over Ferdinand of Spain. This completely backfired on him as Phillip of Burgundy died, and Ferdinand gained complete control of the Spain. This later resulted in Henry VII being excluded from the League of Cambrai which was an alliance of major European powers including Spain and France. This at the time would have been seen as a significant threat to his dynastic security. So overall while he did have many successes early in his reign and he was able to successfully pass on the throne to his son, there were major failings later into his reign which meant his foreign policy was not as effective as it could have been in securing dynastic security.

Answered by Abu L. History tutor

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