Editing Henry VIII (section)

=== Ireland ===
[[File:Ireland 1450.png|thumb|left|The division of Ireland in 1450]]
At the beginning of Henry's reign, Ireland was effectively divided into three zones: [[the Pale]], where English rule was unchallenged; [[Leinster]] and [[Munster]], the so-called "obedient land" of Anglo-Irish peers; and the Gaelic [[Connaught]] and [[Ulster]], with merely nominal English rule.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|p=180}} Until 1513, Henry continued the policy of his father, to allow Irish lords to rule in the King's name and accept steep divisions between the communities.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=181–182}} However, upon the death of the [[Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare]], [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]], fractious Irish politics combined with a more ambitious Henry to cause trouble. When [[Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond]], died, Henry recognised one successor for Ormond's English, Welsh and Scottish lands, whilst in Ireland another took control. Kildare's successor, the [[Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare|9th Earl]], was replaced as Lord Deputy of Ireland by the [[Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk|Earl of Surrey]] in 1520.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=183–184}} Surrey's ambitious aims were costly but ineffective; English rule became trapped between winning the Irish lords over with diplomacy, as favoured by Henry and Wolsey, and a sweeping military occupation as proposed by Surrey.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=181–185}} Surrey was recalled in 1521, with [[Piers Butler]] – one of the claimants to the Earldom of Ormond – appointed in his place. Butler proved unable to control opposition, including that of Kildare. Kildare was appointed lord deputy in 1524, resuming his dispute with Butler, which had before been in a lull. Meanwhile, [[James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond]], an Anglo-Irish peer, had turned his support to [[Richard de la Pole]] as pretender to the English throne; when in 1528 Kildare failed to take suitable actions against him, Kildare was once again removed from his post.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=185–186}}

The Desmond situation was resolved on his death in 1529, which was followed by a period of uncertainty. This was effectively ended with the appointment of [[Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset]] and the King's son, as lord deputy. Richmond had never before visited Ireland, his appointment a break with past policy.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=186–187}}{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=206–207}} For a time it looked as if peace might be restored with the return of Kildare to Ireland to manage the tribes, but the effect was limited and the [[Parliament of Ireland|Irish Parliament]] soon rendered ineffective.<ref name="loades187">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|p=187}}</ref> Ireland began to receive the attention of Cromwell, who had supporters of Ormond and Desmond promoted. Kildare, on the other hand, was summoned to London; after some hesitation, he departed for London in 1534, where he would face charges of treason.<ref name="loades187"/> His son, [[Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare|Thomas, Lord Offaly]], was more forthright, denouncing the King and leading a "Catholic crusade" against Henry, who was by this time mired in marital problems. Offaly had the Archbishop of Dublin, [[John Alen]], murdered and besieged Dublin. Offaly led a mixture of Pale gentry and Irish tribes, although he failed to secure the support of [[Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Darcy|Lord Darcy]], a sympathiser, or Charles V. What was effectively a civil war was ended with the intervention of 2,000 English troops – a large army by Irish standards – and the execution of Offaly (his father was already dead) and his uncles.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=187–189}}{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=207–208}}

Although the Offaly revolt was followed by a determination to rule Ireland more closely, Henry was wary of drawn-out conflict with the tribes, and a royal commission recommended that the only relationship with the tribes was to be promises of peace, their land protected from English expansion. The man to lead this effort was [[Anthony St Leger (Lord Deputy of Ireland)|Antony St Leger]], as Lord Deputy of Ireland, who would remain in post past Henry's death.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|p=191}} Until the break with Rome, it was widely believed that Ireland was a Papal possession granted as a mere [[fiefdom]] to the English king, so in 1542 Henry asserted England's claim to the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] free from the Papal [[Lord|overlordship]]. This change did, however, also allow a policy of peaceful reconciliation and expansion: the Lords of Ireland would grant their lands to the King, before being returned as fiefdoms. The incentive to comply with Henry's request was an accompanying barony, and thus a right to sit in the [[Irish House of Lords]], which was to run in parallel with England's.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=191–192}} The Irish law of the tribes did not suit such an arrangement, because the chieftain did not have the required rights; this made progress tortuous, and the plan was abandoned in 1543, not to be replaced.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=194–195}}