Malus Intercursus

The Malus Intercursus was a commercial treaty signed in April 1506 by King Henry VII of England and Duke Philip IV of Burgundy. The treaty was signed while Philip was stranded in England, after surviving a shipwreck.

The treaty removed all duties from English textile exports. Another term was the arranged marriage of the widowed Henry VII to the also widowed Margaret of Austria, Philip's sister. This marriage never took place, as Margaret objected to the treaty and its terms. Another term of the treaty forced Philip to surrender custody of Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk to Henry VII. At the time, the exiled Suffolk was the leading heir of the House of York. In return, Henry VII recognised Philip and his wife Joanna of Castile as the legitimate rulers of the Kingdom of Castille, and allowed them to safely leave England.

Background and detail

Continuing frictions with the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London, combined with Henry's desire to secure Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, the leading Yorkist heir, sheltering in Burgundy, led Henry to attempt further negotiations, even after the ratification of the Intercursus Magnus in 1496. A shipwreck in 1506 left Philip stranded in England en route to claiming the Castilian inheritance of his wife, Joanna the Mad. This enabled Henry to negotiate the Intercursus Malus ("evil treaty", so named from the Dutch perspective for being far too favorable to English interests), intended to replace the Intercursus Magnus.