Pope Julius II's Relations with Henry VII on Marriage, Crusade, and Politics

Pope Julius II's Relations with Henry VII

From left to right: Pope Julius II and Henry VII of England

On November 1, 1503, Giuliano della Rovere became Pope Julius II. At the time, Henry VII was the first Tudor monarch and had reigned for 18 years. Four situations gave clues to the relations: the papal dispensation for the marriage of his second son and future king- Prince Henry- and Catherine of Aragon, calling for an anti-Ottoman crusade, his daughter- Mary’s- betrothal to the future Spanish king and Holy Roman Emperor- Charles, and the League of Cambrai as part of the series of conflicts- the Italian Wars. 

Papal Dispensation

From left to right: Ferdinand II of Aragon on top with Isabella I of Castile on bottom and Henry VII on the right

In 1489, England and Spain signed the Treaty of Medina del Campo, which gave the marriage of Arthur and Catherine of Aragon. Also, it gave 100,000 scudi for Catherine’s dowry. 

From left to right: Catherine of Aragon and Prince Arthur

By 1501, they married, but in April 1502, Arthur died at age 16. However, Catherine survived. As a result, Henry VII chose his second son- Henry- to marry Catherine.

Nevertheless, the situation required a special papal dispensation from the Pope because Henry would marry his brother’s wife- a violation from Leviticus 20:21, “If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.” However, Deuteronomy 25:5 says, “When brothers reside together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to her stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, taking her in marriage, and performing the duty of a husband’s brother to her.” 

From left to right: Catherine of Aragon and Prince Henry

In Prince Henry’s case, the papal dispensation was for the impediment of affinity due to the closeness of Arthur and Catherine by marriage. 

In November 1503, Pope Julius II came to power. Three months earlier, Pope Alexander VI- Julius II’s rival- died, and Pope Pius III became his successor. However, he soon died. As a result, the papal dispensation suffered delays. Another factor was the death of Catherine of Aragon’s mother- Isabella of Castile- on November 24, 1504. As a result, it weakened Ferdinand’s position. Once the papal dispensation received ratification, marriage had to occur after two months. Nevertheless, communications were slow- an inevitable factor. Finally, the Spanish ambassador- Hernan Duque de Estrada tried but failed to speed up the progress. 

Eventually, the papal dispensation arrived sometime after March 1505. Conclusively, Julius II concluded that Leviticus did not apply to Henry’s situation.  

Attempt for an Anti-Ottoman Crusade

From left to right: Pope Julius II and Europe with a golden cross and below- a red box on the Ottoman Empire

On May 15, 1507, Henry VII wrote to Julius II about wanting a crusade against the Ottomans. Henry wanted an all-out Christian expedition against the Muslims. However, he had his reasons- opening up new trade routes, strengthening the weak position of the Tudor dynasty, recognizing his dynastic power, and wanting a crusade to unite the Christian world against Islam. In July, Julius II wrote to Henry VII and supported the call due to desiring to retake Constantinople from the former Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire. However, he did not think that bringing all of Christendom would be practical. 

Nevertheless, he wanted an alliance with England, Spain, and Portugal because the Iberian peninsula focused on its conflict against the Muslim Moors. On September 18, Henry VII wrote that he supported the triple alliance and wrote as “a trinity of kings from the west” but would also do so himself if none joined. By April 1509, Julius came to support it, but by that time, Henry VII died. Ironically, Julius still wanted the anti-Ottoman crusade but passed away in 1513 without achieving his goal. 

Mary's Betrothal

From left to right: Mary Tudor and Charles V

In 1507, Henry VII’s daughter- Mary- betrothed the future Spanish king- Charles I- better known as the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The situation was complicated, and many kingdoms showed up to Woodstock to witness the decision, including a papal envoy. 

League of Cambrai

Northern Italy

When Julius II became the Pope, one of his goals was to weaken Venice. On December 10, 1508, he formed the League of Cambrai against Venice. Although England got the invitation, it declined due to the goal of isolating Spain after the death of Isabella. However, the attempt failed because the League of Cambrai allowed Spain to ally with the Holy Roman Empire and France even though it had political issues with the Holy Roman Emperor- Maximilian I. 

Final Thoughts

The relation between Henry VII and Pope Julius II was a positive relationship. There were no serious problems, except trying to get a special papal dispensation for the marriage of Prince Henry and Catherine of Aragon. Henry VII was willing to have an anti-Ottoman crusade but also had his reasons.

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Sources

Chrimes, S.B. Henry VII. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1972.
Temperly, Gladys. Henry VII. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin, & Co, 1914.