Thorns and Thistles

This book investigates the relationship between Henry VIII's obsession with providing an heir and Anglo-Scottish relations between 1528 and 1542. It is argued that the preoccupation of English foreign policy with ecclesiastical issues heightened Anglo-Scottish tension and, as a result, Scotland moved closer to the center of English foreign policy concerns. Anglo-Scottish relations at the beginning of the sixteenth century were conditioned by two hundred years of hostility. The Perpetual Peace of 1502 was an attempt to put an end to conflict but was unable to survive the belligerence and indifference of a tradition-bound Henry VIII. This book shows that the English king managed not only to ruin the peace but to alienate his nephew, James V, from the very beginning of the Scottish king's personal rule. This is the first book to explore in detail the relationship between Henry VIII and the adult James V. It also adds to the understanding of how the early years of the English Reformation influenced foreign policy and began to transform Anglo-Scottish relations.