Today in 1556 Phillip II and Henry II of France signed the Treaty of Vaucelles (vou-cel). This was part of the larger Italian War that was going on perpetually in the 16th century between France and Spain – this particular iteration lasted from 1551-1559. Henry had signed a treaty with the Ottoman Empire for help against the Spanish, and it required Henry to attack Hapsburg lands in Europe while the Ottoman empire attacked along the coast. In this treaty, Henry was required to relinquish land to Spain, but the treaty itself was quickly broken.
It’s interesting that France would enter a relationship with the Ottoman empire, as they were Muslim, and supposedly Infidels. It shows the level to which Christendom was fractured in the 16th century that this even happened in the first place.
Later on, Elizabeth would also pursue a relationship with the Sultan, and I’ve actually been working on a few episodes dealing with this aspect of Elizabeth’s foreign policy.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Episode 099: Elizabeth and the Sultan
Episode 75: Elizabeth and France
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.