THE ACTIVITIES OF THE KING OF ENGLAND HENRY VIII AND CARDINAL THOMAS WOLSEY AS PART OF THE "ITALIAN WARS" IN THE XVI CENRURY

A significant event of international politics of the Renaissance epoch was that of the so-called «Italian wars» (1494-1559), that had as their part a great number of agreements on military alliances. On one hand those agreements testified the infidelity and quick changeability of the alliances they were meant to give form to, on the other hand they reflected the ideas of their members as to the substance of international security and the means to attain their political aims under the guise of its reestablishment and protection. The article sums up the treaty undertakings of the King of England Henry VIII, taken within the context of the «Italian wars» with the active part of his chief minister at the period, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Of the agreements looked upon the main importance is acknowledged with the London treaty of 1418, as with one of historical projects of the all-European collective security, that acquired the form of an international treaty. With the help of the analysis of the other treaties’ contents, the main features of legal undertakings in the field of security, characteristic of the period, can be defined. Attention is also paid to the legal grounds of the two Holy Leagues (of 1495 and 1511).