Then that! Have Catherine make him compromise for small gains for MUCH cheaper costs.
A Breeze of English Rose - Tudor TL
- Thread starter lost_in_night_dreams
- Start date
I agree, but I'll tell you more, if Henry had been smarter in Otl, he could have earned funding from abroad for his military campaigns, such as from Rome, especially in conflicts against the French or the Protestants ( which the Habsburgs in Otl they obtained easily, even if there was the other reason called fighting Suleiman the Magnificent ) without forgetting that if Henry did not stand as a candidate in the imperial elections of 1519 as he did in Otl, he would have saved other important economic resources to spend elsewhere ( both in field of foreign or internal policy ) in simple words Henry should be more capable of understanding when to exploit the opportunity of being able to actually gain something and when it is better to sit still and wait ( for example when Charles V offered him the possibility of gaining control on Bremen and its surroundings in Otl, if it had helped him against the Lutheran princes, which I personally would have accepted, if I had been in Henry's shoes )
in short, the possibilities for him to increase his possessions and at the same time not waste immense quantities of resources ( both human and monetary ) are there, you just need to know how to look for them ( skills he wasn't very good at 😅😜 , in this Katherine proved to be more competent, but the same goes for most of his other wives too, compared to him 😇 )
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without forgetting that Henry technically held the "Ius Excluisivae" i.e. the power of veto in the conclave ( to be clear, the same power that the Habsburgs and France had in Otl, which allowed him to facilitate or block the election as pontiff of one or more cardinals ) but the tragicomic thing was that Enrico didn't even know he had it, because no one ever told him, now you understand that knowing this will be able to simplify his future relations / negotiations with the Papacy, given that by being able to actively intervene in the politics of the curia, it will be taken more seriously by Rome unlike Otl ( where it was overshadowed and hindered by France, HRE and Spain, although having a few more English cardinals compared to Otl would only be a plus )
Chapter 3. Another year of war.
Chapter Three.
Another year of War.
1513 Another year of War.
Last year, in autumn, the members of the League met in Mantua to discuss the situation in Italy and the division of the territory taken from the French. They quickly came to an agreement regarding Florence. At the request of the Pope, Ramon de Cardona entered Tuscany, crushed Florentine resistance, overthrew the Florentine Republic, and installed Giuliano de’Medici as ruler of the city Julius and the Venetians insisted that Maximilian Sforza could retain the Duchy of Milan, while Emperor Maximilian and Ferdinand maneuvered to have one of their relatives appointed prince. The Pope asked for Ferrara to be incorporated into the Papal States. Ferdinand opposed this solution and wanted the existence of an independent Ferrara to counter the growing power of the Pope. The Emperor refused to cede the imperial territory, which in his eyes included most of Veneto, and signed an agreement with the Pope to completely exclude Venice from the final partition. When it opposed this, Julius threatened to reform the League of Cambrai against them. In response, Venice turned to Louis. On March 23, 1513, a treaty was signed in Blois between France and the Republic, which divided all of northern Italy.
Meanwhile, Pope Julius II died in February 1513, and Cardinal Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and elder brother of the new ruler of Florence, was elected Pope Leo X
In England, from the beginning of winter, intensive preparations were underway for the planned invasion of France in the spring of the same year – the navy was enlarged several times. Henry suggested an agreement to James IV, but the King of Scotland rejected it, citing the older Auld alliance with France. Not everyone in England supported the war with France, the dean of St. Paul, John Colet, delivered an anti-war sermon during the Holy Mass, which was attended by Henry VIII himself.
April 1513 was a month full of treaties. Ferdinand II of Aragon made a peace treaty with France for one year, but this did not prevent him from concluding an alliance with his son-in-law, Henry VIII, who established the conditions that the Castilian-Aragonese troops would invade Guienne in exchange for 100,000 crowns. The treaties culminated in the Treaty of Mechlin, signed by all members of the Holy League, which committed them to attack France within a month. In the same month,Lord Admiral Edward Howard launched a mission against the French fleet at Brest. However, the French had anticipated such a move and had a main fleet waiting for the English to fight on land. Instead, the English failed and blocked the port. Lord Howard decided to attack the French fleet at Brest a second time. He had to move his ship with the French ship Pregent de Bidoux and in transit to the French ship. Unfortunately, the French ship got away, leaving the Howard aground. The French threw him overboard and he drowned under the weight of his armor. The death of the Admiral and the news that Ferdinand had concluded a treaty with France, hidden from the allies, made Henry nervous. The duplicity of his Aragonese father-in-law, however, did not diminish Henry's love for Catherine, and the couple remained deeply in love with each other.
On June 15, 1513, the court left Greenwich Palace and went to Dover, from where an army of 11,000 people led by King Henry was to sail to Calais. Henry appointed Catherine "regent and governor of England, Wales and Ireland during our absence for the purpose of defending the Catholic religion and restoring our rights and also for the purpose of issuing authorizations signed by her in her own hand. She may also withdraw from the treasury such sums as she may require." The Queen was given permission to raise armies, appoint sheriffs, accept most church appointments, and dispose of money as she saw fit. Henry announced that he was leaving the English in the care of a woman in whose "honor,prudence, prudence and faithfulness" could not be doubted. She ordered her subjects to obey her orders. The regent was also supposed to be supported by several advisers - William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Ruthall and Richard Foxe. Before Henry left, Catherine told him a secret - she was expecting another child, which filled the king's heart with "honey of delight”
Most of the army was ready to cross the canal. On June 30, Henry reached Calais and his fleet dominated the waters of the English Channel. After spending three weeks in Calais, Henry entered France at the head of an English army numbering approximately 25,000. On August 4, Henry VIII reached the siege of Therouanne. The prefabricated buildings were erected to make a permanent camp outside the town. The Officers were housed in large colored tents while the men slept in small plain tents. Soon, Emperor Maximilian arrived at Aire-sur-la-Lys with full forces. Henry donned light armor and took his feast of gold robes and arrived in Aire on August 11, where Maximilian's supporters were still dressed in black in mourning for his wife Bianca Maria Sforza. Henry hosted Maximilian in the gold cloth gallery tent in his camp. According to the Chronicle, the weather on the day of the meeting was "the worst on record.” Louis XII, King of France, decided to break the siege. In July, a force of 800 Albanians led by Captain Fonterailles broke through the besieger's lines and successfully delivered gunpowder and supplies, including bacon, to the city gates, leaving 80 men as reinforcements. Fonterailles was helped by a cover of artillery fire from the city.
The Battle of Spurs took place on August 14, 1513. News of the French attack reached the English stationed at Guinnesgate, south of Therouanne. As the 15,000-strong French force approached, Henry ordered an attack and the two armies met near the village of Borny. English artillery broke the French lines, and with the French in disarray, English cavalry attacked. Seeing the English cavalry approaching, the French turned and fled with such speed that the battle was called the Day of the Spurs. Many French nobles were captured and held for ransom.
A short time later, Thérouanne fell, and King Henry and the Emperor entered the city in triumph. Within the next month, Tournai also fell. The Anglo imperial victory was celebrated in Lille, where Henry met the regent of the Low Countries, Margaret of Austria, and Prince Charles Habsburg, considered heir to the empire and the combined Spanish crowns. Charles was reportedly impressed by the English king's courage and admired him as a knight. The Treaty of Lille was signed because as winter approached, further hostilities in France were abandoned. This treaty was signed by Henry, Maximilian and Ferdinand. It committed them to a joint invasion of France before June 1514. The treaty was to be sealed by the marriage of Ferdinand's and Maximilian’s grandson, Charles, to Henry's younger sister, Mary.
However, Henry had another worry. In August, the King of Scotland declared war on England. James IV's wife, Margaret Tudor, begged her husband not to go to fight against her country. She felt that this expedition would bring James' death, and she and her two children: James and the several-month-old Margaret, born just after Easter, would have a difficult fate. James, enchanted by the money Louis had sent, attacked England. Catherine of Aragon, however, proved to be a capable regent and took the English army and sent it north. Although she was heavily pregnant, she gave a wonderful speech to the English soldiers, encouraging them to fight. The troops moved into battle, and Catherine withdrew to Buckingham to await news from the troops.
Initially, the Scottish army occupied Norham, Wark, Etal and Ford castles. James chose Ford as his base. The owner of the castle, Sir William Heron, was sent to Scotland as a prisoner. However, an English army soon arrived under the command of the Earl of Surrey. He challenged James to a duel, but the Scot refused. The Earl of Surrey began his march to Berwick to retake the town from the Scots. On September 9, 1513, the Scots set up camp in Berwick and moved to intercept the English. When the English were spotted, the Scottish army reached the top of Branxton Hill. James ordered his men to charge down the hill and surprise the English. However, large numbers of Scots were killed by English gunfire and gunfire. As they ran down the hill, the Scots broke formation and were defeated by the English. King James also fought in the battle, and was almost killed, but instead of dying in battle, he was captured along with a group of his personal guards and became a prisoner of the English, and was sent to York, where he was treated with great respect as an 'honored guest'.
On October 16, 1513, at Woburn Abbey, Catherine gave birth slightly prematurely to her second son, who, in accordance with Henry’s wishes, was named Edward, after his great-grandfather, King Edward IV. Soon, King Henry VIII returned safely to England, proud of his victories and the fact that he had a second son. Now he had to solve the problem with Scotland and take advantage of the fact that their king was his hostage.
It is also worth mentioning the events in Italy. France briefly took control of Milan, but was soon defeated by the Swiss army at Novara, and Prince Maximilian Sforza returned to the throne. To strengthen his position, he sent messengers to Naples to ask the Dowager Duchess of Milan, Isabella, for the hand in marriage of her daughter, Bona. Bona was her only living child, and was the heir to all her property, and had her own rights to Milan. Isabella, ambitious, would love to see her daughter as the Duchess of Milan, so she also agreed to such a match.
At the end of the year, preparations began in England for the wedding of Princess Mary and Prince Charles, which was scheduled for May 1514 in Calais. Charles' maternal grandfather and Henry's father-in-law, Ferdinand, considered Mary, who was four years older than Charles, to be an old maid, and began to plot to prevent the marriage from taking place. His idea was for Charles to marry Louis XII's younger daughter, Renee, to seal a Spanish-French
peace treaty.
Welcome back! YAY! Henry achieved victories and has the respect of charles!
Catherine is amazing as always! she and henry will make james PAY dearly for this.
And really hope Mary and Charles marry! they deserve each other!
Henry is now really happy.
James will be an important part of the next chapter.
We'll see in next chapter.
Happy henry is good henry.
Yep, he knows he fucked up.
Go Empress Mary!
Henry will still not be a very faithful husband, but he will respect her, and Catherine's position as Queen will not be threatened.
Naturally, he's still Henry, and honestly i was always fond of bessie blount.
YAY! Hope that her son survives and recieves a fin Earldom.
perhaps by irony of fate he ends up becoming a prince of the HRE ( given that in OTL there was even talk of installing him as Duke of Milan ) perhaps in this scenario he becomes a small sovereign in Italy or in Germany, nothing so absurd given that in Otl both Marbrough and JFES had obtained the same result, without obviously forgetting his county in England
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Perhaps Henry of Cornwall can marry Isabella of Navarre, she is a potential heiress to Gascony.
If he had living sons by Catherine of Aragon, would Henry VIII necessarily show that much favor to Henry Fitzroy?
The divergence I'm most curious about at the moment is James IV's survival. As for France, if the Charles/Mary match goes through, maybe a Duke of Cornwall/Renee match could be in the cards?