Even though he never met the king, Niccolo Machiavelli's description of the young Henry VIII as ‘rich, fierce and greedy for glory’ exactly summed up the man and his ambitions. Unlike his father, who avoided war whenever possible, the young Henry VIII wanted to make his mark on the world. This chapter does not discuss his foreign aspirations in any detail. Instead, it focuses on the means by which he pursued them. These were essentially threefold: through loans, through warfare and through dynastic marriages. In each of these plate and jewels played a conspicuous role. As another essential element of princely interaction, we will also look at diplomacy. This covered a broad spectrum, from the spectacular embassies dispatched for some special purpose, to the altogether lower-key system of resident ambassadors that was in its infancy in the sixteenth century. We have already looked at the extravagant receptions laid on for embassies; here we focus on the munificent gifts of plate that were integral to them and the much lower level of gifts that a resident ambassador might expect at the end of his term.

Banker to princes

Henry VIII's inherited liquidity immediately made him a force to be reckoned with, for Henry had huge cash reserves, which continental rulers often did not, especially when it was most needed. Cash could buy military force and Nicola di Favri, a member of the Venetian diplomatic delegation, recognised this when he wrote in 1513 that ‘for gold, silver and soldiers not another king in Christendom can be found to compare with him’. But money could be used to influence events in other ways too; it could be used to extend loans to his more cash-strapped fellow princes. This had been a major plank of Henry VII's policy and he lent large sums to Philip the Fair of Burgundy and Louis XII of France. As we have seen, he also passed money to impecunious rulers by buying jewels and other assets from them at advantageous rates.