Treaty of Windsor 1522
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The Treaty of Windsor signed on 16 June 1522 was made between Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Henry VIII of England. Its main clause was the invasion of France. This was the third treaty of this name. An earlier Treaty of Windsor was agreed with Portugal in 1386 and the previous one with the High King of Ireland in 1175.
The treaty affirmed an agreement to joint military operations between England and the Holy Roman Empire against France with each party providing at least 40,000 men. Charles agreed to compensate England for the pensions that would be lost because of conflict with France and to pay the past debts that would be forfeit. To seal the alliance Henry's only daughter Mary was affianced to her cousin the young emperor.
Because Henry was still unconvinced of the wisdom of this treaty he deferred all actions to the summer of 1524 although a few months later, when it became clear that Charles was having significant military success, Henry enthusistically recommended the immediate invasion of France.
[edit] Background
Charles V and Francis I of France were in competition over the title of Holy Roman Emperor. Charles was concerned that France would secure the support of England against him. He was so concerned that when he heard of an impending meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I in 1520 he left Spain to seek a meeting with Henry even though the Castilians were rebelling. Although Henry was flattered by this, he disapproved of the military decision to abandon a rebellion unresolved and did not change his plans to visit France.
Henry warned Charles not to start a war with France and he did wait a while. Charles V and Francis I of France went to undeclared war in 1521 after some years of political manoeuvring. Both sides claimed that the other was the sole aggressor. Robert Knecht has shown that the war started unintentionally.
France was allied to the papacy and claimed that it only needed England to abstain from the conflict rather than enter a full alliance. Francis called on Henry VIII to mediate a peace conference and Charles agreed to this. Cardinal Wolsey acted as Henry's agent in the ensuing negotiations at Calais, which focussed upon assigning blame for the conflict. Both sides continued to fight whilst the negotiations took place.
Henry VIII was keen to go to war himself and this conflict offered him an opportunity to take England to war against its old enemy: France. He enjoyed Charles' humility towards him and had Wolsey's counsel that Charles would follow Henry's advice and thus afford him de facto control of most of Christendom. By August 1521 England and Spain had drafted a treaty but Wolsey advised Henry to delay its signing until they were certain that Charles had the funds and military strength to win the war. By mid November Charles was becoming impatient and his aunt Margaret of Austria warned Henry that he might rashly change his mind. Charles suggested a second state visit to England conditional on the public announcement of the alliance.
Henry compromised by entering a secret agreement with Charles and the papacy in November 1521. This stated that the military campaign would start in March 1523 with details of the joint operation to be agreed during Charles' visit to England. On 29 May 1522 England challenged France to war and Charles arrived in England a few days later.
[edit] References
- Robert J Knecht, Francis I, (Cambridge: University Press, 1994)
- Mia J. Rodriguez-Salgado, 'Good brothers and perpetual allies: Charles V and Henry VIII', in A. Kohler (ed.), Karl V 2000, (Vienna, 2000)
