An uneasy peace held for most of the 13th century; but tension grew as England's important naval links with Gascony were threatened.

Thereafter the Channel was the key to English security. An uneasy peace held for most of the 13th century; but tension grew as England's important naval links with Gascony were threatened. War erupted in 1337, and its course over the next century was shaped by the struggle for naval supremacy. The French fleet initially held the upper hand, allowing their land troops to occupy and burn Southampton in 1338. Buoyed by this success, a full-scale invasion was planned in 1339. Edward III's spectacular naval victory at Sluys in 1340 at a stroke destroyed the French fleet, removed the threat of invasion and secured English dominance of the Channel. Furthermore the capture of Calais in 1347 gave the English a foothold on the Continent - the equivalent of the French holding Dover castle - and permitted large-scale invasions of France.

For the remainder of the 14th century and the first half of the 15th, the Hundred Years War was fought on French soil. Although most of England was safe from invasion, the southern coastline was terrorised by swift yet damaging French raids, exemplified by the destruction of Winchelsea in 1360. Fears of more serious incursions were raised in 1385, and in 1400 French troops assisted the revolt of Owen Glendower in the Welsh marches. However Henry V's conquest of Normandy brought renewed security to England that had not been enjoyed since 1204.

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The age of diplomacy and the break with Rome

St Benet's Abbey in Norfolk fell into decay after the English Reformation  © The expulsion of the English from France in 1451-53 ultimately plunged England into horrific civil war, only ended by the invasion of Henry Tudor and his victory at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Mindful of his own success as a usurper, Henry VII's embryonic regime was preoccupied by fear of invasion by pretenders backed by either the French or the Holy Roman Empire. A new weapon was therefore deployed to provide security - international diplomacy.

Years of civil war had relegated England to a virtual observer in the international arena as France fought against the Holy Roman Empire for control of Italy. The age of military 'leagues' had arrived, when the exorbitant cost of warfare prohibited any country from fighting alone. Henry VII brought a measure of security to England by acting as Europe's 'honest broker', whilst arranging marriage alliances with key states to strengthen his dynasty.

However, his son Henry VIII had very different ideas, and was determined to restore England to its former glory. His costly invasion of France in 1513 achieved little beyond exposing England's Achilles heel - in his absence a Scottish army invaded from the north, mindful of the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland. Thereafter continental adventures could only take place once the northern border had been secured.

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Threat on three fronts

Henry's break with Rome in 1534 radically changed England's relationship with the major European powers. By placing England outside the community of Christian (Catholic) kingdoms, Henry laid himself open to excommunication and deposition, whilst the Pope could legitimise any invasion of England as a religious crusade. This was precisely what happened in 1539 and 1545, when enemies threatened on three fronts. In response, defensive barricades and earthworks were hastily thrown up; and a series of gun forts were constructed along the south coast to protect key harbours such as Portsmouth. The importance of naval superiority was reflected by huge investments in refitting and expanding the navy. Leading exponents in cartography, a relatively new science, were employed by Henry to produce maps that would assist with the defence of his realm.

...defensive barricades and earthworks were hastily thrown up...

Despite these preparations, the French launched an invasion in 1545 that culminated in the capture (for 24 hours) of the Isle of Wight. Despite the sinking of the flagship 'The Mary Rose' in Portsmouth harbour, the English navy were able to chase the French fleet away before they could disembark an army on the mainland. Although the threat had receded, the remainder of Henry's reign was spent wondering who to fear the most - France, or the growing might of the Habsburgs in Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.

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A 'New World' order

A gold pendant in the shape of a lizard salvaged from an Armada vessel wrecked off the coast of Ireland  © When Mary I died in 1558, the majority of England's political élite had rejected a return to Catholicism, and stood in direct opposition to her erstwhile husband Philip II of Spain, the champion of Catholic Europe. Yet national security had been seriously compromised when Calais fell to the French in 1558, leaving the eastern coasts stripped of protection for the first time in two centuries; and a survey undertaken in 1559 showed the navy to be in a perilous state of disrepair.

Unease deepened in 1566 when Spanish troops were despatched to the Netherlands to crush a Protestant revolt, raising the unappetising prospect of the entire coast opposite England falling under Spanish control. With France rendered impotent by internal religious war, Elizabeth I reluctantly sent cash to the beleaguered Dutch rebels; by sending troops in 1585, England had effectively declared war against Spain.