The History of the Mary Rose - Page 1 of 16 - Stuart Vine
The Accession of
Henry VIII
Henry VIII came to the throne on the 22nd of
April 1509, the unchallenged successor to his father, Henry VII. The
two men were quite different in temperament: the older Henry was a
cool, cautious, pragmatic man who had restored peace and stability
to a country wracked by the War of the Roses. His son, only 18 years
old when he took control, was vigorous, bellicose, well-educated,
and determined to restore England to her former medieval glory.
The Diplomatic Background in 1509
The reign of Henry VII had seen the diplomatic
map of Europe change in favour of England's ancient enemy, France.
Despite the half-hearted intervention of both Henry VII and Maximillian,
the Holy Roman Emperor, the Duchy of Brittany was annexed by France
in 1492. The whole South Coast of Britain was now open to attack
from French ships based at the port of Brest. The Bretons were renowned
for their shipbuilding and seamanship and were an invaluable addition
to the naval power of France.
England had lost all her continental possessions with the exception of Calais, a precarious and expensive toe-hold of dubious benefit. The ownership of Calais allowed the English to invade France with relative ease and kept alive the old dream of capturing the crown of France.
Compared to Spain and the Empire on one hand, and France on the other, England had neither the manpower nor the revenue to engage in large scale warfare on the continent. Fortunately for England, the main area of rivalry between the Hapsburgs and the Valois was Italy, with Northern Europe generally relegated to a side-show. Despite this and despite the relatively small size of the Tudor military forces, an alliance with England was of use to both France and the Empire.
If England allied with the Hapsburgs against France, the whole of the northern coast of France was open to attack. This drew French forces away from other areas and could help support an attack into France from the Hapsburg Netherlands. Alliance with France on the other hand could cut the maritime link between Spain and the Netherlands and devastate the trading prosperity of the latter area. England was more inclined to ally with the Empire and Spain than with the French; France was England's historic enemy, the Kings of England had a claim to the French crown, and England still held Calais. The tendency to ally with the Hapsburgs was strengthened by Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon in 1509, and by the fact that the Netherlands were the principal market for the important English cloth and wool trade.
The European situation on Henry VIII's accession to the throne in 1509 was, however, extremely unusual. The major European powers, France, the Empire, Spain and the Papacy, had formed the League of Cambrai with the aim of stripping Venice of her mainland possessions. With the continental powers absorbed in Italy, England was at peace with all her neighbours.
Upon his accession in 1509, Henry VIII inherited the nucleus of a useful navy from his father in the shape of five ships, including the large carracks, the Regent and the Sovereign. These ships could be augmented by hiring or buying merchant vessels, both domestic and foreign. Such vessels were turned into lightly armed warships by equipping them with archers and a few guns. Other ships were provided by the nobility.
The Cowdray Engraving at the top of this section shows the Battle of the Solent in 1545. You can see the mast of the Mary Rose sticking out of the water and Henry VIII at Southsea Castle in the centre of the picture.
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