Treaty of Redon The Treaty of Redon was signed in February 1489 in Redon , Ille - et - Vilaine between Henry VII of England and representatives of Brittany . Based on the terms of the accord , Henry sent 6000 English troops to fight ( at the expense of Brittany ) under the command of Lord Daubeney . The purpose of the agreement was to prevent France from annexing Brittany . Despite the military support Henry provided , the Bretons were divided and had unreliable allies . Background . The situation arose in 1487 , as Anne of Beaujeau , regent ( and older sister ) of the minor French King Charles VIII planned to marry her brother to Anne , daughter of the ageing Duke Francis of Brittany . The intention was to ultimately reincorporate the independent Brittany into France as part of their expansionist policy ; Brittany was the only remaining independent territory once part of the historic Kingdom of France . In an attempt to avoid annexation , in 1486 , Duke Francis arranged for his daughter to be married to Maximilian , heir of the Holy Roman Emperor . The Duke of Brittany also established contact with Anne of Beaujeau ' s enemies within France . In response , the French sent an Army into Brittany in 1488 . Maximilian , now engaged to Anne of Brittany , sent a force of 1500 men to reinforce Brittany , followed by an additional 1000 troops reluctantly supplied by Ferdinand of Aragon . Henry VII , having only seized the throne of England in 1485 , had adopted a policy of defence while he consolidated his position , however a number of factors prevented him from continuing his non - interventionist policy with regard to French involvement in Brittany . Firstly , Brittany had sheltered him during his exile , and Henry VII owed his position as King of England to this assistance from the Duke of Brittany . Secondly , Brittany was an important trading partner , with whom Henry VII had been trading since 1486 . Thirdly , the geographical position of Brittany would make it intolerable to allow the French to take control of ; it would give them complete control of the southern shore of the English Channel , enhancing the ability of the French to harass English shipping and increasing the military ability of the French to launch an invasion of England . Upon the French invasion of Brittany , therefore , Henry found himself at an impasse ; Henry VII had kept England at peace with France since his accession and was also indebted to France as they had financed and supplied a force of mercenaries for his campaign against Richard III in 1485 , yet he was also indebted to Brittany for sheltering him while he was in exile , while allowing the French to control Brittany was strategically unwise . Originally , therefore , Henry VII resolved to send a small volunteer force of a few hundred men under Lord Scales to reinforce Brittany , while attempting to act as mediator between Brittany and France . After the decisive defeat of the Bretons at the Battle of St - Aubin - du - Cormier in 1488 , however , Henry disowned these men and renewed the truce with France . The situation became more complicated , however , when three weeks after the capitulation of Brittany , the elderly Duke Francis died and his daughter Anne became Duchess of Brittany . The French claimed custody of the 12 - year - old Duchess and it seemed that the incorporation of Brittany into France was inevitable . The Treaty . Henry VII ' s response to the imminent annexation of Brittany into France was to sign the Treaty of Redon in February 1489 , promising 6000 troops as long as the Bretons financed their deployment . Henry ' s attitude , however , remained one of restraint , having been placed in a precarious situation between two countries who had been instrumental in his rise to the English throne ; the number of men that Henry chose to send was relatively small in comparison to his campaign in Northern France in late 1492 , in which he personally led a force of 26 , 000 men . Furthermore , Henry VII was anxious to emphasise that the presence of English troops in Brittany was not for the purpose of conquest ; in January 1489 , the papal ambassador in England wrote in a dispatch to Pope Innocent VIII that Henry " is compelled at present to defend Breton interests , both on account of the immense benefits conferred on him by the late Duke in the time of his misfortunes , and likewise for the defence of his own kingdom " . Indeed , the contribution of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain was also piecemeal ; the presence of Maximilian ' s troops was heavily dependent upon his commitments elsewhere around the Hapsburg Empire , while the 2000 troops sent by Spain in 1490 were withdrawn by the end of the year to combat the Moors in Granada . Outcome . In December 1491 , the Bretons accepted defeat and allowed Duchess Anne to be married to King Charles VIII . The marriage ended any pretense of Breton independence . Henry VII was now faced with a dilemma ; he could attempt to liberate Brittany , or he could opt for offensive action against France . Henry was well aware that England was in no position to challenge France , but chose to launch an offensive in Northern France late in the campaign season of 1491 aimed at coercing the French into signing a peace treaty with England that would be favourable to Henry . This culminated in the Treaty of Etaples in 1492 , under which the French would pay the equivalent of £5000 a year to Henry - 5 % of his annual income - in return for English withdrawal .