ABSTRACT
In 1542 Henry VIII plunged into war against Scotland and France, a war that was to cost nearly 3 million. Henry clamored for war against France, but Parliament in 1515 voted too little money. Thomas Wolsey proposed to wage the war by hiring Swiss mercenaries and granting subsidies to the Emperor. From 1522 to 1525 England waged desultory war against France, expended huge sums of money, brought misery to thousands of innocent French peasants, and accomplished nothing. The war dragged on for another year, during which French troops landed on the Isle of Wight, only to be cut to pieces by the local militia. During the 1530s Henry was reluctant to ask Parliament to vote subsidies, for he sought other favors of it. Sir Thomas More declared that he could not obey an act of Parliament if it contradicted the laws of Christendom, but this medieval view no longer prevailed.
