Editing Thomas Wolsey (section)

===Alliance with Spain===
The Treaty of London is often regarded as Wolsey's finest moment, but it was abandoned within a year. Wolsey developed links with Charles in 1520 at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. At the Calais Conference Wolsey signed the Secret [[Italian War of 1521–1526|Treaty of Bruges (1521)]] with Charles V, stating that England would join Spain in a war against France if France refused to sign the peace treaty and ignored the Anglo-French treaty of 1518. Wolsey's relationship with Rome was also ambivalent. Despite his links to the papacy, Wolsey was strictly Henry's servant. Though the Treaty of London was an elaboration on Pope Leo's ambitions for European peace, it was seen in Rome as a vain attempt by England to assert her influence over Europe and steal some papal thunder. Furthermore, Wolsey's peace initiatives prevented a crusade to the [[Holy Land]], which was the catalyst for the Pope's desire for European peace.{{sfn|Scarisbrick|1968|pp=31–36}}

Cardinal [[Lorenzo Campeggio]], who represented the Pope at the Treaty of London, was kept waiting for many months in Calais before being allowed to cross the Channel and join the festivities in London in what may have been a display by Wolsey of his independence of Rome. An alternative hypothesis is that Campeggio was kept waiting until Wolsey received his legacy, thus asserting Wolsey's attachment to Rome.

Though the English gain from the wars of 1522–23 was minimal, their contribution certainly aided Charles V in his defeat of the French, particularly in 1525 at the [[Battle of Pavia]], where Charles's army captured Francis I. Henry then felt there was a realistic opportunity for him to seize the French crown, to which the kings of England had long laid claim. Parliament, however, refused to raise taxes. This led Wolsey to devise the [[Amicable Grant]], which was met with even more hostility, and contributed to his downfall. In 1525, after Charles V had abandoned England as an ally, Wolsey began to negotiate with France, and the [[Treaty of the More]] was signed, during Francis I's captivity, with the Regent of France—his mother, [[Louise of Savoy]].{{sfn|Bernard|1986|p=}}

The closeness between England and Rome can be seen in the formulation of the [[League of Cognac]] in 1526. Though England was not part of it, the League was organised in part by Wolsey with papal support. Wolsey's plan was that the League of Cognac, an alliance between France and some Italian states, would challenge Charles's [[League of Cambrai]]. This was both a gesture of allegiance to Rome and an answer to growing concerns about Charles's dominance over Europe.

The final blow to this policy came in 1529, when the French made peace with Charles. Meanwhile, the French also continued to honour the "[[Auld Alliance]]" with Scotland, stirring up hostility on England's border. With peace between France and the Emperor, there was no-one to free the Pope from Charles, who had effectively held [[Pope Clement VII]] captive since the [[Sack of Rome (1527)]]. There was thus little hope of securing Henry VIII an annulment from his marriage to Charles's aunt [[Catherine of Aragon]]. Since 1527, Wolsey's desire to secure an annulment for his master had dictated his foreign policy, and by 1529 none of his endeavours had succeeded.{{sfn|Scarisbrick|1968|pp=140–162}}