But Scotland, Ireland and foreign affairs concerned him most. Something
substantial was achieved in Ireland; the papal sovereignty was abolished
and Henry received from the Irish parliament the title of king instead
of lord of Ireland. The process was begun of converting Irish chieftains
into English peers which eventually divorced the Irish people from their
natural leaders; and principles of English law and government were
spread beyond the Pale. In Scotland Henry was less fortunate. He failed
to win over James V. to his anti-papal policy, revived the feudal claim
to suzerainty, won the battle of Solway Moss (1542), and then after
James's death bribed and threatened the Scots estates into concluding a
treaty of marriage between their infant queen and Henry's son. The
church in Scotland led by Beaton, and the French party led by James V.'s
widow, Mary of Guise, soon reversed this decision, and Hertford's heavy
hand was (1544) laid on Edinburgh in revenge. France was at the root of
the evil, and Henry was thus induced once more to join Charles V. in war
(1543). The joint invasion of 1544 led to the capture of Boulogne, but
the emperor made peace in order to deal with the Lutherans and left
Henry at war with France. The French attempted to retaliate in 1545, and
burnt some villages in the Isle of Wight and on the coast of Sussex. But
their expedition was a failure, and peace was made in 1546, by which
Henry undertook to restore Boulogne in eight years' time on payment of
eight hundred thousand crowns. Scotland was not included in the
pacification, and when Henry died (January 28, 1547) he was busy
preparing to renew his attempt on Scotland's independence.
Edward VI.
Progress of the Reformation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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