Elizabeth I: Early Foreign Policy (AQA A Level History: Component 1: Breadth study): Revision Note

Summary

• Elizabeth's early foreign policy was dominated by one priority: removing French power from Scotland without triggering a war that England could not afford

• The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (April 1559) ended the war with France but confirmed the permanent loss of Calais

• The Treaty of Edinburgh (1560) secured the withdrawal of French troops from Scotland, effectively weakening the Auld Alliance and removing French military influence from Scotland

  • This was the most important diplomatic achievement of the early reign

  • Cecil was central to this success

• The Le Havre intervention (1562–1563) was a failure

  • England gained nothing and Calais was permanently lost

• By 1563, England was more secure than in 1558, but the succession remained unresolved and Spain was becoming less friendly

Relations With France & Spain in Elizabeth’s Early Reign

• Elizabeth inherited a dangerous foreign policy situation in 1558

  • The French threat was the most pressing

The European power balance

Mary Queen of Scots: the dynastic threat

• Mary Queen of Scots was already Queen of Scotland and married to Francis, heir to the French throne

• When Henry II died in 1559 and Francis became king, Mary became Queen consort to France as well

  • France now had its own candidate for the English throne tied into the Franco-Scottish alliance

• For those who regarded Elizabeth as illegitimate, Mary was the rightful Queen of England

  • This dynastic threat shaped every foreign policy decision Elizabeth made in these years

The Le Havre intervention, 1562–1563

• In 1562, France descended into civil war between the Catholics (led by the Guise family) and Huguenots (French Protestants, led by the Prince of Condé)

• A weakened France removed the immediate threat, but tipped the balance of power towards Catholic Spain

• Robert Dudley pushed strongly for English intervention to support the Huguenots

• The Treaty of Hampton Court (September 1562) promised English loans and military aid to the Huguenots

  • English troops under the Earl of Warwick captured Le Havre

• Elizabeth hoped to use control of Le Havre as a bargaining tool to recover Calais in any future peace settlement

What went wrong?

• The English focus shifted from helping the Huguenots to using Le Havre as a bargaining chip for Calais

• The Huguenots realised England's primary aim was recovering Calais, not supporting Protestantism

• They reached a truce with the Catholics and turned against the English

• Plague broke out in Le Havre and devastated the English garrison

  • Le Havre was surrendered in June 1563

• The Peace of Troyes (1564) confirmed that Calais was lost

Significance of Le Havre

• A clear failure

  • England gained nothing and confirmed the permanent loss of Calais

• Elizabeth recognised that there had been no clear thinking in the policy

• The episode made her permanently more cautious about military intervention abroad

• However, the weaknesses it exposed in the army were addressed

  • The forces that faced the Spanish Armada in 1588 were stronger as a result

The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, 1559: Impact on England

• The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis was signed in April 1559

  • It ended the war between England and France that Mary I had entered into to support Philip II of Spain

Terms

• France and Spain made peace between themselves

• England and France also made peace as part of the wider settlement

  • England formally recognised the loss of Calais

    • It would remain French

  • France agreed to pay England a pension over eight years, though payments were irregular and the final settlement did not result in the return of Calais

Impact on England

The death of Henry II: an unexpected complication

• Henry II of France had organised a tournament to celebrate the peace

  • He was killed in the tournament in July 1559

• His son Francis II became king, with Mary Queen of Scots as his queen

  • This made the French threat to England more serious, not less

• France now had its own candidate for the English throne as Queen of France and Scotland

Elizabeth & Scotland: The Treaty of Edinburgh, 1560

• The Treaty of Edinburgh was the most important diplomatic achievement of Elizabeth's early reign

  • It broke the Auld Alliance and expelled French power from Scotland

Why Scotland mattered

• Scotland was ruled by Mary of Guise as regent, on behalf of her absent daughter Mary Queen of Scots

  • Mary of Guise was French, Catholic and committed to maintaining French military power in Scotland

  • French troops were stationed in Scotland, posing a direct military threat to England's northern border

• A Protestant rebellion, the Lords of the Congregation, was growing against French Catholic rule

  • They appealed to England for support

Elizabeth's dilemma

• Elizabeth faced a genuine conflict between strategic logic and political principle

• Strategic logic

  • Intervening would remove French power from Scotland and serve England's interests directly

• Political principle

  • Intervening meant supporting rebels against their legitimate ruler

• Elizabeth was deeply uncomfortable with this

  • It was a dangerous precedent for her own position as a monarch facing potential rebellion

• Cecil had to work hard to persuade her to act

  • His persistence was decisive

What did England do?

• Cecil persuaded Elizabeth to send secret arms and money to the Lords of the Congregation initially

• December 1559:

  • An English fleet was sent to the Firth of Forth to prevent French reinforcements reaching Scotland

• March 1560:

  • An English army crossed the border to besiege Leith, the main French garrison

• June 1560:

  • Mary of Guise died, removing the key figure of French authority in Scotland

  • The French position in Scotland collapsed

Terms of the Treaty of Edinburgh

• Both French and English soldiers were to withdraw from Scotland

• Francis II and Mary Queen of Scots were to stop using the English royal arms

  • As this implied Mary's claim to the English throne

• A Scottish Parliament was to meet to determine Scotland's religious settlement

  • The Parliament promptly established Protestantism in Scotland

Significance

• The Auld Alliance between France and Scotland was effectively broken

  • French military power in Scotland ended

• Scotland became Protestant and broadly friendly to England

• England's northern border was secure for the first time in decades

  • This was Cecil's greatest achievement in the early reign

    • He had pushed for intervention when Elizabeth was reluctant

Complication: the death of Francis II

• Francis II of France died suddenly in December 1560, aged 16

• Mary Queen of Scots was now a widow and no longer Queen of France

  • She returned to Scotland in 1561 as Queen of Scotland, but without the full weight of French power behind her

  • This reduced the immediate threat, but Mary as Queen of Scotland with a claim to the English throne remained a long-term problem

• Mary never ratified the Treaty of Edinburgh

  • A significant complication for the future for Elizabeth

How Successfully Had Elizabeth Consolidated Power by 1563?

• This is a synoptic question spanning the period from 1558 to 1563

  • It requires evidence from government and politics, religion and foreign policy

Evidence of successful consolidation

• Government:

  • The Privy Council was restructured and functioning

  • Cecil was driving coherent policy

  • No domestic rebellions occurred in the first five years

• Religion:

  • The religious settlement was in place without civil war

  • New Protestant episcopal leadership

  • Both Catholic and Puritan reactions were broadly contained

• Foreign policy:

  • The war with France was ended

    • French military power was expelled from Scotland

    • The Auld Alliance was broken

  • Spain was still cautious but not yet hostile

• By 1563, England was more diplomatically secure than at any point since Henry VIII's death

Evidence of ongoing problems

• Succession

  • Elizabeth was not married and had no heir

    • Parliament was already pressing Elizabeth on marriage

  • Mary Queen of Scots remained in Scotland as a Catholic rival claimant to the English throne

• Finance

  • The Crown remained in debt

  • The Le Havre intervention had added to financial burdens

  • Revenue collection was being reformed, but income remained insufficient for active foreign policy

• Religion

  • Puritan dissatisfaction was growing

  • Catholic practice persisted in the north and the west

  • The 39 Articles had only narrowly been passed

• Foreign policy

  • Le Havre confirmed England could not recover Calais

  • Spain's attitude was becoming less friendly

  • The Council of Trent (1563) hardened Catholic Europe's position