Elizabeth I: Foreign Policy - France & Ireland (AQA A Level History: Component 1: Breadth study): Revision Note

Summary

• France was engaged in a civil war between Catholics and Huguenots from 1562

  • Elizabeth gave occasional support to the Huguenots but avoided full military commitment

  • The St Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572) killed thousands of Huguenots and ended any realistic prospect of a Protestant French alliance

  • Henry IV's conversion to Catholicism in 1593 and the Treaty of Vervins (1598) reduced France’s usefulness as a Protestant ally, although a stable France still limited Spanish power

• Ireland posed a persistent challenge to English authority throughout the reign

  • English control barely extended beyond the Pale around Dublin

  • The Nine Years' War (1594–1603), led by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, was the most serious rebellion of the reign and cost the Crown around £2 million (an enormous cost for the Crown)

  • The Battle of Kinsale (1601) ended Spanish involvement in Ireland

    • O'Neill submitted to English authority in 1603, days after Elizabeth's death

• Historians debate how far these problems threatened Elizabeth's security

  • Ireland was a genuine crisis

  • France was largely contained through diplomacy

English Involvement in France: The Wars of Religion

• France descended into civil war between Catholics and Huguenots from 1562

  • The Wars of Religion were fought between powerful Catholic noble families (led by the Guises) and Huguenot (Protestant) families (led by the Prince of Condé)

  • Elizabeth's early involvement in 1562–1563 ended in failure at Le Havre (England was forced to withdraw without securing Calais)

  • From 1563 onwards, England gave intermittent financial support to the Huguenots without committing openly

• A divided France suited England's interests

  • Civil war prevented France from acting as a major threat to England

    • But a France allied with Spain would be dangerous

  • Elizabeth had to balance these concerns throughout the reign

The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, 1572

• The massacre was a turning point in the French Wars of Religion

  • In August 1572, Catholic mobs killed thousands of Huguenots across France

  • The violence began in Paris on 24th August and spread to other cities

  • Elizabeth publicly expressed shock, even wearing black at court

  • The massacre ended any serious prospect of France becoming a Protestant ally for England

  • It pushed England and France further apart diplomatically, despite the Treaty of Blois earlier that year

The Anjou marriage negotiations, 1579–1581

• The closest Elizabeth came to marriage was with Francis, Duke of Anjou (also known as the Duke of Alençon)

  • Francis was the youngest brother of the French king, Henry III

  • The negotiations were partly strategic: France was a useful ally against Spain

  • Elizabeth appeared genuinely attracted to Francis and called him her "frog"

  • The match was ultimately rejected due to public hostility in England and Elizabeth's reluctance to commit

Henry IV and the later French Wars, 1589–1598

• The assassination of Henry III in 1589 brought the Huguenot Henry of Navarre to the throne as Henry IV

  • Elizabeth saw Henry as a valuable Protestant ally and sent money and troops to support him

  • An English force was sent to Normandy in 1590–1592, but achieved little

Key events

• England's involvement in the French Wars of Religion was reactive and limited

  • Elizabeth gave money and occasional troops but never committed fully

  • She used the prospect of the Anjou marriage as a diplomatic tool for several years

  • The stabilisation of France under Henry IV ultimately reduced the Spanish threat to England, but was not the result of English policy

Ireland Under Elizabeth: Rebellion, Plantation & the Nine Years’ War

Background: the challenge of governing Ireland

• England had claimed lordship of Ireland since the medieval period

  • Henry VIII declared Ireland a kingdom in 1541, but real English control barely extended beyond the Pale around Dublin

  • Beyond the Pale, Gaelic chieftains exercised real power under their own customs and laws

  • Ireland was overwhelmingly Catholic and strongly resistant to the Protestant Reformation

  • It was a persistent strategic weakness for England:

    • Spain or the papacy could use Ireland as aa potential landing point for foreign invasion of England

The policy of plantation

• The main English strategy for controlling Ireland was plantation

  • Plantation involved settling English (and later Scottish) colonists on land confiscated from Irish lords

  • It began under Mary I in Laois and Offaly in the 1550s as a policy of control and anglicisation, though it developed more fully under Elizabeth into a Protestant colonial strategy

  • Under Elizabeth, plantation expanded significantly into Munster after the Desmond rebellions

  • Grants of Irish land were given to English settlers, including the poet Edmund Spenser and Sir Walter Raleigh

  • Plantation created lasting resentment among the Gaelic Irish population and failed to produce a stable, English-controlled Ireland

Earlier rebellions

The Nine Years' War, 1594–1603

• The Nine Years' War was the most serious rebellion of Elizabeth's entire reign

  • It was led by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, with Red Hugh O'Donnell as his main ally

  • O'Neill had been educated in England and understood English military tactics

    • He used this knowledge to fight English forces far more effectively than any previous Irish rebel

  • He demandedreligious toleration for Catholics and political autonomy for Gaelic lords

• O'Neill sought foreign support to strengthen his position

  • He appealed to Philip II of Spain and to the Pope for military assistance

  • Spain eventually agreed to send troops, landing at Kinsale in 1601

Key events of the Nine Years' War

• The Nine Years' War left Ireland and England weakened

  • The war cost England around £2 million, far more than any other military commitment of the reign

  • It stretched Crown finances to breaking point, and fuelled the political tensions of the 1590s

  • Ireland remained Catholic and resentful of English rule

  • The plantation policy had not yet secured a stable Protestant-controlled Ireland

How Far Did Foreign Policy Problems in France and Ireland Threaten Elizabeth's Security?

• Use the specific evidence below to build and support your own argument

The case that foreign policy problems posed a serious threat

• Ireland represented a genuine and sustained threat to English security

  • The Battle of Yellow Ford (1598) was the worst English military defeat of the reign

    • It triggered rebellions across the whole of Ireland and came close to collapsing English control entirely

  • Spain landing around 3,500 troops at Kinsale (1601) showed Ireland could be used as a back door for foreign invasion

  • The war cost around £2 million and left Crown finances severely damaged

• France posed a serious threat in the 1570s and early 1580s

  • The St Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572) destroyed the prospect of a Protestant French alliance

  • The Treaty of Joinville (1584) saw France's Catholic League ally with Spain, raising the prospect of encirclement

  • The death of the Duke of Anjou (1584) removed Elizabeth’s last useful ally in France

The case that Elizabeth managed threats adequately

• France never combined with Spain in a sustained military attack on England

  • Elizabeth used the Anjou marriage negotiations to keep France diplomatically engaged for several years

  • Henry IV's accession (1589) and the Edict of Nantes (1598) produced a more stable France that was less threatening to England

  • The Treaty of Vervins (1598) removed France as an active participant against Spain, reducing Spain’s potential allies

• Ireland was eventually brought under control

  • Mountjoy's campaign was systematic and effective

  • The Spanish force at Kinsale was defeated and the rebellion ended

  • O'Neill's submission in 1603 secured English control, even if Elizabeth did not live to see it

  • The plantation of Ireland continued under James I, building on Elizabethan foundations