Do You Agree with the Suggestion in Source N That Henry and Wolsey Conducted an Effective Foreign Policy?

1409 Words6 Pages
Do you agree with the suggestion in Source N that Henry and Wolsey conducted an effective foreign policy in the years 1515-25? (40 marks) Between the years of 1515 and 1525 Wolsey were England’s Lord Chancellor and Henry VIII’s right hand man. By Wolsey and Henry working together they made the foreign policy work and it Wolsey made Henry look good in power. There were a series of events that shaped the foreign policy through the years of 1515 and 1525 and from my own knowledge I know that these were Field of Cloth of Gold, Treaty of London and the Treaty of Bruges, these occurrences made Henry able to maintain his honor and influence but Wolsey helped him to gain that. Source L is a painting of the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520 and it is showing the meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I of France, the source shows that Henry was the centre point of the picture with his castle tent being the biggest tent in the painting and with the crowd gathered around him when he is approaching the tent. The source also shows us that because it’s a painting it means that a point is clearly trying to be portrayed because paintings cost a lot of money to get done so Henry clearly wanted to get his point across of what the meeting showed, the painting shows the splendor and image of power and wealth that the meeting created. The painting also shows how big the meeting was and how wealthy the two kingdoms were by showing off their wealth in the tents that they had and the fountain, which poured wine and that they were equal. In the corner of the source we can see that Henry is arriving with Wolsey following promptly behind him to show that he was Henrys main man and that he went everywhere with Henry. From my own knowledge I know that the Field of Cloth of Gold was a meeting, which Henry approached Francis about and they agreed to meet near Calais. They had been long rivals
Open Document