ABSTRACT
Foreign policy under Somerset was dominated by the same issues which had affected the last seven years of the previous reign: war with France and the attempt to gain control over Scotland. Henry VIII had failed on both counts. He had also stipulated in his will that Edward VI should marry Mary Queen of Scots and thereby bring about a union between the two kingdoms. Somerset was aware of the threat of the traditional Franco-Scottish alliance being reactivated – and therefore sought a diplomatic agreement with the French in 1547. Unfortunately the king who might have signed this, Francis I, was succeeded by Henry II who preferred to form an alliance with Scotland, where he sent 4,000 troops. Somerset responded with an English invasion, in the west from Carlisle and in the east from Berwick. After the defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Pinkie in September 1547, Somerset left garrisons in strategic strongholds and returned to England to deal with domestic issues there. Meanwhile, the Scottish Council requested further help from the French in exchange for a marriage treaty between Mary Queen of Scots and the son of Henry II.
