Henry VII and France had an unexpected but strategically crucial alliance that helped shape the future of the English monarchy. While centuries of conflict had defined Anglo-French relations, the late 15th century saw a surprising turn when France provided support to Henry Tudor in his quest for the English throne. This support—offered in the form of funds, troops, and safe harbor—played a vital role in Henry’s successful invasion and ultimate victory over Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.
In this post, we’ll explore why France, long an enemy of England, chose to back a Lancastrian exile and how this political gamble paid off in the founding of the Tudor dynasty.
Transcript of Why Did France Support Henry VII? The Secret Diplomacy Behind His Rise to Power:
So today we’re gonna talk about something a little bit different. We’re gonna talk about why France supported Henry Tudor in his bid for the English throne. You might know that when Henry Tudor set sail, he had been living in exile in Brittany, then he went to France. There was all these diplomatic negotiations between England.
Edward IV wanted him back. Richard III wanted him back. He had to flee. Eventually he set sail to claim the throne, and he has the support, not just of those in England, but also of the French. So why did France support him? It seems surprising because. The French and the English had been at odds for centuries.
The Hundred Years’ War was still very fresh in people’s minds. In fact, people didn’t really know that the Hundred Years’ War was over. Henry VI had been fighting the Hundred Years’ War unsuccessfully, lost a lot of land, but there was still ideas that it might be rekindled. Even Henry VII eventually wanted to rekindle the Hundred Years’ War, so it wasn’t clear that it was over.
Henry’s path to the throne was shaped as much by European politics as it was by his own determination to claim the throne. And today we are going to dive into the diplomatic chess game that saw France becoming Henry’s unlikely ally.
We’ll look at how Brittany first provided shelter to him, why France took over that role, and the political calculations that led to French support for Henry’s invasion of England. It’s a story rooted in the final chaotic years of the Wars of the Roses as rival factions vying for the crown and foreign powers eyed opportunities.
Henry Tudor’s Exile in Brittany
So Henry’s journey to the English throne began in Brittany, where he found himself living in exile after the Yorkists defeated his Lancastrian allies. Following the final collapse of the Lancastrian cause in 1471, Henry and his uncle Jasper Tudor fled to the continent seeking safety from Edward, IV’s pursuit.
Brittany under Duke Francis II offered them a refuge. The Duke was sympathetic to the Lancastrian cause, partly because of Margaret Beaufort influencing him, and also partly because Henry’s presence could serve as a valuable diplomatic tool.
Initially, Brittany seemed secure. Duke Francis treated Henry with relative kindness, but Henry was never truly free. The English crown was repeatedly demanding his return. Edward IV was pressuring the Duke to extradite the young Tudor claimant. He wasn’t really a claimant at that point. It was clear that Edward IV had won, the Yorkist had won. Edward IV was young, he was healthy. He had a whole bunch of kids.
There was no concept at this point, that’s something that comes up a lot is that, Margaret Beaufort was scheming all of this time to have Henry be the next king. The Yorkist looked pretty darn secure in the mid-1570s. What they wanted, what Margaret wanted, was security for Henry and to know that he could come back because he did have this Lancastrian blood.
There was a potential claim there, and she wanted to know that if he came back to this very secure Yorkist base, he wasn’t going to be killed. So Brittany played a very careful game during this time. Balancing the demands of the English King with recognizing Henry Tudor’s value as a bargaining chip.
At one point, under immense pressure, Duke Francis appeared ready to hand Henry over. However loyal Breton courtiers, understanding the danger, secretly warned Henry and helped him escape. It’s one of those scenes that when you read historical fiction novels from this time, it’s a very interesting scene, Henry being warned by the courtiers in Brittany and escaping.
He was quickly recaptured though, and this pattern of half-hearted compliance continued as Brittany sought to use Henry without completely surrendering him.
But Brittany’s ability to protect Henry began to falter as the landscape changed. Duke Francis was unwell and he grew increasingly unwell and French ambitions to annex Brittany became more evident. As the Duke’s health was deteriorating, Brittany’s power weakened and the risk of Henry falling into hostile hands grew.
France Steps In: The Political Calculations
It was into this very dangerous situation that France saw an opportunity. And stepped in to claim control of the young exile. So France was starting to see Henry Tudor as a valuable asset. We are now in the mid-1480s, so Edward IV has died. Richard III has seized the throne under highly controversial circumstances.
From France’s perspective, Richard III was not just a usurper, but an unpredictable and potentially hostile ruler. The sudden death of the Princes in the Tower had tarnished Richard’s reputation. And Charles VIII, who was Louis XI’s successor in France, saw an opportunity to support an alternate claimant whom might be able to destabilize England.
Richard III was aware of Henry’s threat and sought to neutralize him. He sent envoys to Brittany and to France hoping to secure a treaty that would see Henry return to English custody. Richard even dangled the possibility of a trade agreement and political cooperation trying to present himself as a stable monarch.
But France remained unconvinced. From the French perspective, Henry Tudor offered something that Richard III could not, a potential return to a Lancastrian regime that might be more amenable to French interests.
Louis XI had long pursued a policy of weakening England through internal conflict and his successor. Charles sought to continue that plan ensuring that England would remain unstable and an unstable England is less capable of interfering in French interests on the continent.
The Final Push: France’s Active Support
Once Brittany’s position became untenable, they took over moving Henry to their territory. The support moved from passive to active, no longer just harboring Henry, but actively equipping him for an invasion.
France provided financial assistance, troops, and a safe base from which Henry could plan his return to England. This was a strategic decision, not only will this create instability for Richard, it also could foster a potentially more favorable relationship should Henry succeed, which was just a teeny, teeny, teeny, tiny chance back then.
But should a miracle happen and Henry succeed, then there could potentially be a better relationship. Richard became increasingly desperate to secure Henry’s extradition. He knew that as long as Henry remained on the continent with foreign support, his own hold on the English throne would be precarious to say the least.
Disaffected Yorkist were going to Henry and we’re giving him information, were supporting him. Richard needed to stop that, so he dispatched envoys to the French court offering all kinds of incentives to bring Henry back to England.
Trade agreements, like we said, even proposing marriage alliances to secure the French goodwill. France was not interested.
Richard’s reputation had taken a hit with the disappearance of his nephews, and the rumors and accusations surrounding their disappearance made Richard a deeply unpopular figure, both domestically and internationally.
For France, this meant that backing Henry was a reasonable risk compared to the volatile and widely disliked Richard. But why did France ultimately take the leap from passive shelter to active support? The answer lies in strategic pragmatism.
Henry represented the opportunity to destabilize England, which had historically posed a threat to French interests. His background also made him a relatively unthreatening figure.
Unlike the Yorkists, his claim to the throne was weaker, rooted in a very tenuous Lancastrian heritage descended from a line that was officially bastardized, on one side, Welsh relatively unknowns. I know in Wales there’s this whole story that there was Kings that he was descended from, but as far as the English were concerned, there wasn’t a very good claim.
France could support him without risking the emergence of a new English powerhouse. Also, Henry had proven himself resilient and cautious during his years in exile. Qualities that made him a potentially pragmatic ally. They thought perhaps if they got Henry in there, if he was successful, he could almost be like a little puppet for them. So their support became increasingly open as Richard’s position grew weaker.
In the summer of 1485, Henry received crucial backing – French funds, troops, and a base from which to launch his invasion. The timing was important. This was after Richard’s wife, Anne Neville had died. The rumors were swirling about his intentions to potentially marry his niece.
Elizabeth of York, who it should be said, was also betrothed to Henry Tudor. The nobility was restless. Rebellion seemed likely. The French court recognized that this was the moment to strike, and Henry was their chosen instrument. When Henry finally set sail from France, it was with the direct endorsement of a foreign power.
This was a really bold and dangerous move. France knew that victory was not very likely, but the potential rewards outweighed the risks. Even if Henry wasn’t successful, this invasion would cause a lot more in stability in England, would set them back, maybe get the Wars of the Roses back fired up again, and distract England distract Richard from doing anything with France for a while.
If Henry succeeded, France would have a grateful ally in the English throne. So either way, it’s a win-win. So in the end, France’s support of Henry Tudor was a calculated strategy rooted in the chaos of the Wars of the Roses and the instability of Richard III’s rule.
Conclusion: The Gamble Pays Off
France had little love for Henry personally, but supporting him offered a way to keep England distracted and divided. As it turned out, the gamble did pay off. Henry’s victory at Bosworth marked the dawn of the Tudor Dynasty.
Now, relations between Henry and France weren’t always as simple as France would’ve liked when they made that initial gamble. France, for example, supported Perkin Warbeck, one of the pretenders to the throne. And things were a little bit tense between Henry and France, despite the French support. But in that initial 1485 gamble, I guess it did pay off for them.
Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 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. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop.
She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 30 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history (how exciting when she got to interview Alison for the first time!). In addition to history, she is passionate about travel, and has lived in 3 countries and 4 states (not counting her perpetual state of confusion), and her family (who help her host her YouTube channel occasionally).
