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Field of the Cloth of Gold

The Field of the Cloth of Gold (French: Camp du Drap d'Or, pronounced [kɑ̃ dy dʁa d‿ɔʁ]) was a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520. Held at Balinghem, between Ardres in France and Guînes in the English Pale of Calais, it was a very expensive display of wealth by both kings.[1]

The Field of the Cloth of Gold, oil painting of circa 1545 in the Royal Collection at Hampton Court. Henry VIII on horseback approaches at bottom left.
Francis I (portrait by Jean Clouet, Louvre Museum, Paris)
Henry VIII (portrait by Joos van Cleve, Royal Collection, Hampton Court)
The two monarchs who met at the Field of the Cloth of Gold
class=notpageimage|
Location of the Field of the Cloth of Gold in modern Pas-de-Calais

The summit was arranged to increase the bond of friendship between the two kings following the Anglo-French treaty of 1514. The two monarchs would meet again in 1532 to arrange Francis's assistance in pressuring Pope Clement VII to pronounce Henry's first marriage as illegitimate. Under the guidance of English Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, these European states sought to outlaw war forever among Christian peoples.[citation needed]

The Pale of Calais, home to the meeting in Balinghem, was the final English possession in France. This territorial leftover from the Hundred Years' War caused some tensions between the English and French, as the latter preferred a location closer to the border, but topographical considerations proved the decisive factor.[2]

Background Edit

 
Cardinal Wolsey

Two entities had started to emerge as powers in Western Europe at this time: France, under Francis I, and the Habsburg-dominated Holy Roman Empire, under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The Kingdom of England, still a lesser power, was being courted as an ally by the two major powers. The 1518 Treaty of London, a non-aggression pact between major European powers to help resist the Ottoman expansion into southeastern Europe, had just been signed. Henry also held meetings with Charles V a month before the Field of Cloth of Gold in the Netherlands and again afterwards at Calais, Henry's only possession on the Continent.

Both Henry and Francis wished to be seen as Renaissance princes. Renaissance thinking held that a strong ruler could choose peace from a place of strength. The meeting was designed to show how magnificent each court was, and how this could be a basis for mutual respect and peace between states that were traditional enemies. Henry and Francis were also similar figures of similar age and dashing reputations, so there was almost certainly a mutual curiosity.

Everything was arranged to provide equality between the two groups. The meeting place (now indicated by a commemorative plaque on the D231 road, Route de Marquise) was at the very edge of the English territory around Calais. The valley where the first meeting took place was landscaped to provide areas of equal elevation for the two government parties. The whole event was planned and executed by English Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a charismatic, eloquent master diplomat who as a papal legate had immense power in the name of Pope Leo X at the time of the meeting. Included among the English guests were Thomas More and Anne Boleyn's mother and sister.[3]

An earlier meeting between the kings of England and France presaged this one. From 27 to 30 October 1396, Charles VI of France and Richard II of England had met at Ardres near Calais to treat for peace during the Hundred Years' War. The scale, splendour and pageantry were comparable to the later Field of the Cloth of Gold meeting held on the same site in 1520.[4]

The meeting Edit

 
Henry VIII embarking at Dover. Dover Castle is depicted at top left. Royal Collection, Hampton Court.

Each king tried to outshine the other, with dazzling tents and clothes, huge feasts, music, jousting and games. The tents and the costumes displayed so much cloth of gold, an expensive fabric woven with silk and gold thread, that the site of the meeting was named after it.

The most elaborate arrangements were made for the accommodation of the two monarchs and their large retinues; and on Henry's part especially no efforts were spared to make a great impression in Europe with this meeting. Before the castle of Guînes, a temporary palace covering an area of nearly 12,000 square yards (10,000 m2) was erected for the reception of the English king.[5] The palace was in four blocks with a central courtyard; each side was 328 feet (100 m) long. The only solid part was the brick base about 8 feet (2 m) high.[6] Above the brickwork, the 30-foot (10 metre) high walls were made of cloth or canvas on timber frames, painted to look like stone or brick.

One further aspect of King Henry's retinue was the presence of two royal monkeys covered in gold leaf; these were known to have been gifts from the Ottoman Sultan Selim I and brought much laughter and merriment from Francis I as contemporary Cardinal Wolsey recounts, "The French King was overcome with much curiosity playing with those little knaves that did all they could to steal and pester his advisers, yet he willed them to be present at every banquet". The slanting roof was made of oiled cloth painted to give the colour of lead and the illusion of slates. Contemporaries commented especially on the huge expanse of glass, which made visitors feel they were in the open air. Chronicle descriptions make it clear the decorations, carved and painted had martial iconography;

The foregate of the same palace or place with great and mighty masonry by sight was arched, with a Tower on every side of the same portered by great craft, and inbatteled was the gate and Tower, and in the fenesters, and windows, were images resembling men of warre redie to cast great stones: also the same gate or Tower was set with compassed images of ancient Princes, as Hercules, Alexander and other, by entrayled worke, richly limned with gold and Albyn colours, .... also the tower of the Gate as seemed was built by great masonry, ... for the sundrie countenances of every Image that their appeared, some shooting, some casting, some ready to strike, and firing of gonnes, which shewed very honourably.

— Grafton's Chronicle, or Chronicle at Large 1569[6][7]

The building was decorated in the most sumptuous fashion and furnished with a profusion of golden ornaments.[5] Red wine flowed from the two fountains outside. The chapel was served by 35 priests. Composer Jean Mouton was most likely in charge of the musical production by Francis I; the French royal chapel had one of the finest choirs in Europe, and contemporary accounts indicated that they "delighted their hearers."[8] The wooden ceiling for one of the tents may later have been installed in the New Chapel at Ightham Mote where, with its colours faded, one with appropriate features can still be seen.[9] Musical production on the English side was probably led by composer William Cornysh the Younger, master of the Royal Chapel for Henry VIII.[10]

Some idea of the size of Henry's following may be gathered from the fact that in one month 2200 sheep and other viands in a similar proportion were consumed. In the fields beyond the castle, 2800 tents were erected for less distinguished visitors.[5]

Journeying from Calais, Henry reached his headquarters at Guînes on Monday, 4 June 1520, and Francis took up his residence at Ardres. After Cardinal Wolsey, with a splendid train, had visited the French king, the two monarchs met at the Val d'Or, a spot midway between the two places, on Thursday, 7 June Corpus Christi.[5]

The following days were taken up with tournaments, in which both kings took part.[5] There were banquets in which the kings entertained each other's queens. The many other entertainments included archery displays and wrestling between Breton and Cornish wrestlers.

 
Wrestling at the Field of the Cloth of Gold (tapestry, c. 1520). Francis I is shown top right, above an actual cloth of gold.

Wolsey said Mass and the two sovereigns separated on Sunday, 24 June, the feast-day of St John the Baptist. The painting depicts a dragon flying overhead and this could be interpreted to mean that the Mass itself was interrupted by a mysterious event thought to be a dragon flying over the congregation. The superstitious would have viewed this as a great portent, but it was probably a firework accidentally or deliberately set off[citation needed]. Alternatively the dragon in the painting could be interpreted as symbolic, perhaps representing a highly romanticized Salamander (the symbol of Francis) or a portent of doom, signifying that for all its glamour, the summit was to prove largely fruitless. The sermon was read by Richard Pace, an intimate friend of Erasmus. Wolsey gave a general indulgence for all present.

Catherine of Aragon was noted to attend some events, including a joust, wearing costume in Spanish fashion. Her Spanish hair style, with a plait of hair encased in jewelled tranzado coif would have appeared very different to English and French women. This clothing choice at the Field of the Cloth of Gold emphasized her affinity with Spain and advocacy for Spanish policy. In England her clothes were not always made in this Spanish fashion.[11]

Consequences Edit

This meeting made a great impression on contemporaries, but its political results were very minor.[5] While the carefully established rules of the tournament stated that the two kings would not compete against each other, Henry surprisingly challenged Francis in a wrestling match, but it turned sour for Henry when he quickly lost.[12]

Relations between the two countries worsened soon after the event when Cardinal Wolsey arranged an alliance with Charles V, who declared war on France later that year commencing the Italian War of 1521–26.

List of participants Edit

A record of the list of participants survives in at least two places: in the Rutland Papers[3] and in the Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of King Henry VIII,[13] catalogued as Letters indented specifying, in accordance with the treaty of 12 March 1519, the number and rank of the lords, ladies and gentlemen to attend the King and Queen at the interview with Francis I. The latter source lists the following:

For King Henry VIII Edit

"For the King: The cardinal of York, with 300 servants, of whom 12 shall be chaplains and 50 gentlemen, with 50 horses; one archbishop with 70 servants, of whom 5 shall be chaplains and 10 gentlemen, with 30 horses; 2 dukes, each with 70 servants, 5 to be chaplains and 10 gentlemen, with 30 horses. 1 marquis with 56 servants, 4 to be chaplains and 8 gentlemen; 26 horses. 10 earls, each with 42 servants, 3 to be chaplains and 6 gentlemen; 20 horses. 5 bishops, of whom the bishop of Winchester shall have 56 servants, 4 to be chaplains and 8 gentlemen; 26 horses;—each of the others, 44 servants, 4 to be chaplains and 6 gentlemen; 20 horses. 20 barons, each to have 22 servants, 2 to be chaplains and 2 gentlemen; 12 horses. 4 knights of the order of St. George, each to have 22 servants, 2 to be chaplains and 2 gentlemen; 48 horses. 70 knights, including Sir William Mathew, grandson of Sir David Ap Mathew of Wales. Each knight to have 12 servants, one to be a chaplain; 8 horses. Councillors of the long robe; viz., the King's secretary, the vice-chancellor, the dean of the Chapel, and the almoner, each to have 12 servants, one a chaplain, and 8 horses. 12 King's chaplains, each with 6 servants and 3 horses. 12 serjeants-at-arms, each with 1 servant and two horses. 200 of the King's guard with 100 horses. 70 grooms of the chamber, with 150 servants and 100 horses among them; 266 officers of the house, with 216 servants and 70 horses; 205 grooms of the stable and of the armories, with 211 horses. The earl of Essex, being earl marshal, shall have, beside the number above stated, 130 servants and 100 light horses. Sum total of the King's company, 3,997 people and 2,087 horses".

For Queen Catherine of Aragon Edit

"For the Queen: 1 duchess, with 4 women, 6 servants and 12 horses; 10 countesses, with 3 women and 4 servants, and 8 horses each; 12 baronesses, with 2 women, 3 servants and 6 horses each. 20 knights' ladies, with 1 woman, 2 servants and 4 horses each; 14 ladies, with 1 woman, 2 servants and 3 horses each; 6 ladies of the chamber, with 1 servant and 2 horses each; 1 earl, with 42 servants, 3 to be chaplains and 9 gentlemen; horses 20. 3 bishops, to have 44 servants, 4 to be chaplains and 6 gentlemen; horses 60. 4 barons, with 22 servants, 2 to be chaplains and 2 gentlemen; horses 48. 30 knights, with 12 servants, 1 to be a chaplain; horses 240; 6 chaplains with 3 servants and 2 horses each. Grooms 50, officers of the King's chamber, with 20 servants and 30 horses; officers of the King's stable 60, with 70 horses. Sum total of the Queen's company, 1,175 people and 778 horses.

Commissioners Edit

"Names of those appointed to attend the king of England at the Congress:

Commissioners to oversee followers of French King Edit

Commissioners appointed to oversee those who shall accompany the king of France:—The earl of Essex, Lord Abergavenny, Sir Edw. Ponynges, Sir Rob. Wingfield.

Commissioners to give orders to the gentlemen Edit

Commissioners to give orders to the gentlemen:—Sir Edw. Belknapp, Sir Nich. Vaux, Sir John Peche, Sir Maurice Berkeley.

Commissioners to give orders to the foot soldiers Edit

Commissioners to give orders to the foot soldiers:—Sir Weston Browne, Sir Edw. Ferys, Sir Rob. Constable, Sir Ralph Egerton, Sir Thomas Lucy, Sir John Marney.

Other attendees Edit

At the embracing of the two kings Edit

To ride with the king of England at the embracing of the two kings:—The Legate, Archbishop of Canterbury, dukes of Buckingham and Suffolk, marquis of Dorset. Bishops:—Durham, Armagh, Ely, Chichester,[14] Rochester, Exeter, Hereford. Earls:—Stafford, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Devon, Kent, Wiltshire, Derby, Kildare. Barons:—Maltravers, Montagu, Herbert, the grand prior of St. John of England, Roos, Fitzwalter, Hastings, Delaware, Dacre, Ferrers, Cobham, Daubeney, Lumley, Sir Henry Marney, Sir Wm. Sandys, Thomas Boleyn, Lord Howard.

Order of procession Edit

The servants of the king of England shall march next their King, preceded by the nobles and gentlemen of the Legate, who shall follow the gentlemen of the other lords. The King's guard to follow him in their accustomed places.

Attendants of King Francis I Edit

At meeting of two kings Edit

The names of those who will be with the French king when he meets the king of England: the king of Navarre; dukes of Alençon, Bourbon, Vendosme and Lorraine; count of Saint Pol; prince de la Roche Suryon; count of Dreux and Rhetel, Sieur Dorval and governor of Champaigne; count of Benon, sieur de la Tremoille, first Chamberlain, admiral of Guyenne and governor of Burgundy; count of Estampes and Caravats, sieur de Boysy, grand master and governor of the Dauphin [died 1519]; Bonnyvet, admiral of France, Lautrec, La Palisse and Chastillon, marshals; count of Guyse, brother of the duke of Lorraine; the bastard of Savoy, count of Villars and Beaufort, governor of Provence; count de Laval; mons. de Chasteaubriant; count of Harcourt; princes of Orange and Tallemont; mons. de Nevers; mons d'Esparrox, lieutenant of Guyenne, and count of Montfort; Mess. de Lescun and Montmorency; le Grand Escuyer; counts de la Chambre, Tonnerre, Brienne, Joigny, Bremie and Mont Reuel; mons. d'Albret. The other knights of the Order. The king's household, 200 gentlemen; St. Vallier and the grand seneschal of Normandy, captains. 400 archers of the guard, and 4 captains; 100 Swiss, De Florenges, captain; maîtres d'hôtel, pannetiers, valets, &c.; gentlemen of the council and of the finances. The other pensioners will remain in their houses. Francis will bring with him the above company if the king of England thinks it suitable; but if not, he will diminish it. These noblemen will only have with them about 200 horses.

English attendants of English King Edit

Noblemen's names that shall accompany the French (sic) (English?) king at the meeting at Calais. The King's Council. My lord Cardinal. The Privy Seal. The bishops of Lincoln, Norwich, Hereford and Rochester. The dukes of Norfolk and Buckingham. The marquis Dorset. The earls of Surrey, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Derby, Northumberland, Essex and Wiltshire. The lords of St. John, Burgevenny, Devonshire, Montague, Mounteagle, Cobham, Ferrers, Fitzwalter, Dudley, Dacres of the South, Darcy, Conyers, Audeley, Broke and Fitzwarren. The deans of the Chapel and of St Paul's. The archdeacon of Richmond. The dean of Salisbury. Dr. Syxtyne. Dr. Clark. The abbots of Glastonbury, Westminster, Bury and Winchecombe. All knights and others of the King's council. The secretaries in Latin, French and English. The clerks of the Privy Seal and Signet. The heralds. The officers of the household. The minstrels.

County representatives Edit

All of the English Knights of the Garter, some 23 in all, were present.

In popular culture Edit

  • G. P. R. James, the British novelist, dramatized the meeting in his second novel, Darnley: or, The Field of the Cloth of Gold (1830).
  • The Showtime Series The Tudors dramatized the meeting in its first season (2007).
  • The plot of Magnus Mills' 2015 novel entitled The Field of the Cloth of Gold, echoes elements of the meeting.
  • The hit open-air historical night show Kynren features a scene based on the Field of the Cloth of Gold.
  • The Starz Series The Spanish Princess includes a fictionalized version of the meeting in its second season (2020.) Charles V of Spain is erroneously shown attending the summit at the invitation of his aunt, Catherine of Aragon, as she wants to convince Henry VIII to betroth six-year-old Princess Mary to the twenty-year-old Charles rather than the two-year-old son of Francis I of France.
  • In Marcel Proust's work, Swann's Way, he references the "Field of the Cloth of Gold" during a scene when the narrator meets Gilberte: "She [Gilberte] was in fact summoning me to cross the snowy lawn to her camp, to 'take the field,' which the sun, by casting over it a rosy gleam, the metallic lustre of old and worn brocades, had turned into a Field of the Cloth of Gold." Remembrance of Things Past, vol. 1, Swann's Way, Marcel Proust, p. 433, First Vintage Books edition, 1982.

References Edit

  1. ^ Richardson, Glenn (July 2020). "Field of the Cloth of Gold". History Today. Vol. 7, no. 7. pp. 28–39.
  2. ^ Richardson, Glenn (2014). The Field of Cloth of Gold. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-0-3001-4886-2.
  3. ^ a b Jerdan, William (1842). Rutland Papers: Original Documents Illustrative of the Courts and Times of Henry VII and Henry VIII Selected from the Private Archives of His Grace the Duke of Rutland. Camden Society. pp. 28–49.
  4. ^ "Image of St Michael". Richard II's Treasure. Institute of Historical Research, Royal Holloway College, University of London. 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2018..
  5. ^ a b c d e f   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Field of the Cloth of Gold". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 327.
  6. ^ a b Hall, Edward (1809). Chronicle. London. p. 605.
  7. ^ Grafton, Richard (1809) [1569]. Grafton's Chronicle, or Chronicle at Large. Vol. 2. London. pp. 303–304.
  8. ^ Reese, Gustave (1954). Music in the Renaissance. New York: W.W. Norton. p. 291. ISBN 0-393-09530-4.
  9. ^ Nicholson, N. & Fawcett, E. (1994). Ightham Mote. National Trust.
  10. ^ "HOASM: William Cornysh 'junior'". www.hoasm.org.
  11. ^ Michelle Beer, 'Between Kings and Emperors: Catherine of Aragon', Helen Matheson-Pollock, Joanne Paul, Catherine Fletcher, Queenship and Counsel in Early Modern Europe (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), p. 48.
  12. ^ Watts, Karen. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  13. ^ Brewer, J. S., ed. (1867). "Letters indented specifying, in accordance with the treaty of 12 March 1519, the number and rank of the lords, ladies and gentlemen to attend the King and Queen at the interview with Francis I". Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII. Vol. 3: 1519–1523. Institute of Historical Research. March 1520: 21–30, R. T. 137.
  14. ^ Richardson, Glenn (2013). "Appendix A". The Field of Cloth of Gold. ISBN 9780300148862. While contemporary references are made to the Bishop of Chester, there was not Bishop of Chester until 1541. Therefore it is most likely that it was the Bishop of Chichester who attended the Field of Cloth of Gold.
  15. ^ son of Thomas Grenville (died 1513)

Further reading Edit

  • Hayward, Maria (2017). Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII. Routledge.
  • Lynn, Eleri (2020). Tudor Textiles. Yale University Press.
  • Mattingly, Garrett (March 1938). "An Early Nonaggression Pact". Journal of Modern History. Vol. 10, no. 1. pp. 1–30. JSTOR 1898719.
  • Richardson, Glenn (2017). "The King, the Cardinal-Legate and the Field of Cloth of Gold" (PDF). Royal Studies Journal. Vol. 4, no. 2. pp. 141–160.
  • Richardson, Glenn (2002). Renaissance Monarchy: The Reigns of Henry VIII, Francis I & Charles V.
  • Russell, J. G. (1969). Field of Cloth of Gold: Men and Manners in 1520. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7100-6207-9.
  • Smith, Pamela H.; et al. (2020). "The Matter of Ephemeral Art: Craft, Spectacle, and Power in Early Modern Europe". Renaissance Quarterly. Vol. 73, no. 1. pp. 78–131.
  • Eyewitness descriptions appear in Edward Hall's Chronicle and Richard Grafton's Chronicle at Large.

External links Edit

  • Field of the Cloth of Gold on In Our Time at the BBC
  • Nichols, John Gough, ed., The Chronicle of Calais, Camden Society (1846), 19–29, 77–90 documents and eyewitness accounts

    50°51′8.28″N 1°55′22.44″E / 50.8523000°N 1.9229000°E / 50.8523000; 1.9229000

    field, cloth, gold, magnus, mills, novel, novel, french, camp, drap, pronounced, dʁa, ɔʁ, summit, meeting, between, king, henry, viii, england, king, francis, france, from, june, 1520, held, balinghem, between, ardres, france, guînes, english, pale, calais, ve. For the Magnus Mills novel see The Field of the Cloth of Gold novel The Field of the Cloth of Gold French Camp du Drap d Or pronounced kɑ dy dʁa d ɔʁ was a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520 Held at Balinghem between Ardres in France and Guines in the English Pale of Calais it was a very expensive display of wealth by both kings 1 The Field of the Cloth of Gold oil painting of circa 1545 in the Royal Collection at Hampton Court Henry VIII on horseback approaches at bottom left Francis I portrait by Jean Clouet Louvre Museum Paris Henry VIII portrait by Joos van Cleve Royal Collection Hampton Court The two monarchs who met at the Field of the Cloth of Gold class notpageimage Location of the Field of the Cloth of Gold in modern Pas de Calais The summit was arranged to increase the bond of friendship between the two kings following the Anglo French treaty of 1514 The two monarchs would meet again in 1532 to arrange Francis s assistance in pressuring Pope Clement VII to pronounce Henry s first marriage as illegitimate Under the guidance of English Cardinal Thomas Wolsey these European states sought to outlaw war forever among Christian peoples citation needed The Pale of Calais home to the meeting in Balinghem was the final English possession in France This territorial leftover from the Hundred Years War caused some tensions between the English and French as the latter preferred a location closer to the border but topographical considerations proved the decisive factor 2 Contents 1 Background 2 The meeting 3 Consequences 4 List of participants 4 1 For King Henry VIII 4 2 For Queen Catherine of Aragon 4 3 Commissioners 4 3 1 Commissioners to oversee followers of French King 4 3 2 Commissioners to give orders to the gentlemen 4 3 3 Commissioners to give orders to the foot soldiers 4 4 Other attendees 4 4 1 At the embracing of the two kings 4 5 Order of procession 4 6 Attendants of King Francis I 4 6 1 At meeting of two kings 4 6 2 English attendants of English King 4 6 2 1 County representatives 5 In popular culture 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksBackground Edit nbsp Cardinal WolseyTwo entities had started to emerge as powers in Western Europe at this time France under Francis I and the Habsburg dominated Holy Roman Empire under Charles V Holy Roman Emperor The Kingdom of England still a lesser power was being courted as an ally by the two major powers The 1518 Treaty of London a non aggression pact between major European powers to help resist the Ottoman expansion into southeastern Europe had just been signed Henry also held meetings with Charles V a month before the Field of Cloth of Gold in the Netherlands and again afterwards at Calais Henry s only possession on the Continent Both Henry and Francis wished to be seen as Renaissance princes Renaissance thinking held that a strong ruler could choose peace from a place of strength The meeting was designed to show how magnificent each court was and how this could be a basis for mutual respect and peace between states that were traditional enemies Henry and Francis were also similar figures of similar age and dashing reputations so there was almost certainly a mutual curiosity Everything was arranged to provide equality between the two groups The meeting place now indicated by a commemorative plaque on the D231 road Route de Marquise was at the very edge of the English territory around Calais The valley where the first meeting took place was landscaped to provide areas of equal elevation for the two government parties The whole event was planned and executed by English Cardinal Thomas Wolsey a charismatic eloquent master diplomat who as a papal legate had immense power in the name of Pope Leo X at the time of the meeting Included among the English guests were Thomas More and Anne Boleyn s mother and sister 3 An earlier meeting between the kings of England and France presaged this one From 27 to 30 October 1396 Charles VI of France and Richard II of England had met at Ardres near Calais to treat for peace during the Hundred Years War The scale splendour and pageantry were comparable to the later Field of the Cloth of Gold meeting held on the same site in 1520 4 The meeting Edit nbsp Henry VIII embarking at Dover Dover Castle is depicted at top left Royal Collection Hampton Court Each king tried to outshine the other with dazzling tents and clothes huge feasts music jousting and games The tents and the costumes displayed so much cloth of gold an expensive fabric woven with silk and gold thread that the site of the meeting was named after it The most elaborate arrangements were made for the accommodation of the two monarchs and their large retinues and on Henry s part especially no efforts were spared to make a great impression in Europe with this meeting Before the castle of Guines a temporary palace covering an area of nearly 12 000 square yards 10 000 m2 was erected for the reception of the English king 5 The palace was in four blocks with a central courtyard each side was 328 feet 100 m long The only solid part was the brick base about 8 feet 2 m high 6 Above the brickwork the 30 foot 10 metre high walls were made of cloth or canvas on timber frames painted to look like stone or brick One further aspect of King Henry s retinue was the presence of two royal monkeys covered in gold leaf these were known to have been gifts from the Ottoman Sultan Selim I and brought much laughter and merriment from Francis I as contemporary Cardinal Wolsey recounts The French King was overcome with much curiosity playing with those little knaves that did all they could to steal and pester his advisers yet he willed them to be present at every banquet The slanting roof was made of oiled cloth painted to give the colour of lead and the illusion of slates Contemporaries commented especially on the huge expanse of glass which made visitors feel they were in the open air Chronicle descriptions make it clear the decorations carved and painted had martial iconography The foregate of the same palace or place with great and mighty masonry by sight was arched with a Tower on every side of the same portered by great craft and inbatteled was the gate and Tower and in the fenesters and windows were images resembling men of warre redie to cast great stones also the same gate or Tower was set with compassed images of ancient Princes as Hercules Alexander and other by entrayled worke richly limned with gold and Albyn colours also the tower of the Gate as seemed was built by great masonry for the sundrie countenances of every Image that their appeared some shooting some casting some ready to strike and firing of gonnes which shewed very honourably Grafton s Chronicle or Chronicle at Large 1569 6 7 The building was decorated in the most sumptuous fashion and furnished with a profusion of golden ornaments 5 Red wine flowed from the two fountains outside The chapel was served by 35 priests Composer Jean Mouton was most likely in charge of the musical production by Francis I the French royal chapel had one of the finest choirs in Europe and contemporary accounts indicated that they delighted their hearers 8 The wooden ceiling for one of the tents may later have been installed in the New Chapel at Ightham Mote where with its colours faded one with appropriate features can still be seen 9 Musical production on the English side was probably led by composer William Cornysh the Younger master of the Royal Chapel for Henry VIII 10 Some idea of the size of Henry s following may be gathered from the fact that in one month 2200 sheep and other viands in a similar proportion were consumed In the fields beyond the castle 2800 tents were erected for less distinguished visitors 5 Journeying from Calais Henry reached his headquarters at Guines on Monday 4 June 1520 and Francis took up his residence at Ardres After Cardinal Wolsey with a splendid train had visited the French king the two monarchs met at the Val d Or a spot midway between the two places on Thursday 7 June Corpus Christi 5 The following days were taken up with tournaments in which both kings took part 5 There were banquets in which the kings entertained each other s queens The many other entertainments included archery displays and wrestling between Breton and Cornish wrestlers nbsp Wrestling at the Field of the Cloth of Gold tapestry c 1520 Francis I is shown top right above an actual cloth of gold Wolsey said Mass and the two sovereigns separated on Sunday 24 June the feast day of St John the Baptist The painting depicts a dragon flying overhead and this could be interpreted to mean that the Mass itself was interrupted by a mysterious event thought to be a dragon flying over the congregation The superstitious would have viewed this as a great portent but it was probably a firework accidentally or deliberately set off citation needed Alternatively the dragon in the painting could be interpreted as symbolic perhaps representing a highly romanticized Salamander the symbol of Francis or a portent of doom signifying that for all its glamour the summit was to prove largely fruitless The sermon was read by Richard Pace an intimate friend of Erasmus Wolsey gave a general indulgence for all present Catherine of Aragon was noted to attend some events including a joust wearing costume in Spanish fashion Her Spanish hair style with a plait of hair encased in jewelled tranzado coif would have appeared very different to English and French women This clothing choice at the Field of the Cloth of Gold emphasized her affinity with Spain and advocacy for Spanish policy In England her clothes were not always made in this Spanish fashion 11 Consequences EditThis meeting made a great impression on contemporaries but its political results were very minor 5 While the carefully established rules of the tournament stated that the two kings would not compete against each other Henry surprisingly challenged Francis in a wrestling match but it turned sour for Henry when he quickly lost 12 Relations between the two countries worsened soon after the event when Cardinal Wolsey arranged an alliance with Charles V who declared war on France later that year commencing the Italian War of 1521 26 List of participants EditA record of the list of participants survives in at least two places in the Rutland Papers 3 and in the Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic of King Henry VIII 13 catalogued as Letters indented specifying in accordance with the treaty of 12 March 1519 the number and rank of the lords ladies and gentlemen to attend the King and Queen at the interview with Francis I The latter source lists the following For King Henry VIII Edit For the King The cardinal of York with 300 servants of whom 12 shall be chaplains and 50 gentlemen with 50 horses one archbishop with 70 servants of whom 5 shall be chaplains and 10 gentlemen with 30 horses 2 dukes each with 70 servants 5 to be chaplains and 10 gentlemen with 30 horses 1 marquis with 56 servants 4 to be chaplains and 8 gentlemen 26 horses 10 earls each with 42 servants 3 to be chaplains and 6 gentlemen 20 horses 5 bishops of whom the bishop of Winchester shall have 56 servants 4 to be chaplains and 8 gentlemen 26 horses each of the others 44 servants 4 to be chaplains and 6 gentlemen 20 horses 20 barons each to have 22 servants 2 to be chaplains and 2 gentlemen 12 horses 4 knights of the order of St George each to have 22 servants 2 to be chaplains and 2 gentlemen 48 horses 70 knights including Sir William Mathew grandson of Sir David Ap Mathew of Wales Each knight to have 12 servants one to be a chaplain 8 horses Councillors of the long robe viz the King s secretary the vice chancellor the dean of the Chapel and the almoner each to have 12 servants one a chaplain and 8 horses 12 King s chaplains each with 6 servants and 3 horses 12 serjeants at arms each with 1 servant and two horses 200 of the King s guard with 100 horses 70 grooms of the chamber with 150 servants and 100 horses among them 266 officers of the house with 216 servants and 70 horses 205 grooms of the stable and of the armories with 211 horses The earl of Essex being earl marshal shall have beside the number above stated 130 servants and 100 light horses Sum total of the King s company 3 997 people and 2 087 horses For Queen Catherine of Aragon Edit For the Queen 1 duchess with 4 women 6 servants and 12 horses 10 countesses with 3 women and 4 servants and 8 horses each 12 baronesses with 2 women 3 servants and 6 horses each 20 knights ladies with 1 woman 2 servants and 4 horses each 14 ladies with 1 woman 2 servants and 3 horses each 6 ladies of the chamber with 1 servant and 2 horses each 1 earl with 42 servants 3 to be chaplains and 9 gentlemen horses 20 3 bishops to have 44 servants 4 to be chaplains and 6 gentlemen horses 60 4 barons with 22 servants 2 to be chaplains and 2 gentlemen horses 48 30 knights with 12 servants 1 to be a chaplain horses 240 6 chaplains with 3 servants and 2 horses each Grooms 50 officers of the King s chamber with 20 servants and 30 horses officers of the King s stable 60 with 70 horses Sum total of the Queen s company 1 175 people and 778 horses Commissioners Edit Names of those appointed to attend the king of England at the Congress Commissioners to oversee followers of French King Edit Commissioners appointed to oversee those who shall accompany the king of France The earl of Essex Lord Abergavenny Sir Edw Ponynges Sir Rob Wingfield Commissioners to give orders to the gentlemen Edit Commissioners to give orders to the gentlemen Sir Edw Belknapp Sir Nich Vaux Sir John Peche Sir Maurice Berkeley Commissioners to give orders to the foot soldiers Edit Commissioners to give orders to the foot soldiers Sir Weston Browne Sir Edw Ferys Sir Rob Constable Sir Ralph Egerton Sir Thomas Lucy Sir John Marney Other attendees Edit At the embracing of the two kings Edit To ride with the king of England at the embracing of the two kings The Legate Archbishop of Canterbury dukes of Buckingham and Suffolk marquis of Dorset Bishops Durham Armagh Ely Chichester 14 Rochester Exeter Hereford Earls Stafford Northumberland Westmoreland Shrewsbury Worcester Devon Kent Wiltshire Derby Kildare Barons Maltravers Montagu Herbert the grand prior of St John of England Roos Fitzwalter Hastings Delaware Dacre Ferrers Cobham Daubeney Lumley Sir Henry Marney Sir Wm Sandys Thomas Boleyn Lord Howard Order of procession Edit The servants of the king of England shall march next their King preceded by the nobles and gentlemen of the Legate who shall follow the gentlemen of the other lords The King s guard to follow him in their accustomed places Attendants of King Francis I Edit At meeting of two kings Edit The names of those who will be with the French king when he meets the king of England the king of Navarre dukes of Alencon Bourbon Vendosme and Lorraine count of Saint Pol prince de la Roche Suryon count of Dreux and Rhetel Sieur Dorval and governor of Champaigne count of Benon sieur de la Tremoille first Chamberlain admiral of Guyenne and governor of Burgundy count of Estampes and Caravats sieur de Boysy grand master and governor of the Dauphin died 1519 Bonnyvet admiral of France Lautrec La Palisse and Chastillon marshals count of Guyse brother of the duke of Lorraine the bastard of Savoy count of Villars and Beaufort governor of Provence count de Laval mons de Chasteaubriant count of Harcourt princes of Orange and Tallemont mons de Nevers mons d Esparrox lieutenant of Guyenne and count of Montfort Mess de Lescun and Montmorency le Grand Escuyer counts de la Chambre Tonnerre Brienne Joigny Bremie and Mont Reuel mons d Albret The other knights of the Order The king s household 200 gentlemen St Vallier and the grand seneschal of Normandy captains 400 archers of the guard and 4 captains 100 Swiss De Florenges captain maitres d hotel pannetiers valets amp c gentlemen of the council and of the finances The other pensioners will remain in their houses Francis will bring with him the above company if the king of England thinks it suitable but if not he will diminish it These noblemen will only have with them about 200 horses English attendants of English King Edit Noblemen s names that shall accompany the French sic English king at the meeting at Calais The King s Council My lord Cardinal The Privy Seal The bishops of Lincoln Norwich Hereford and Rochester The dukes of Norfolk and Buckingham The marquis Dorset The earls of Surrey Shrewsbury Worcester Derby Northumberland Essex and Wiltshire The lords of St John Burgevenny Devonshire Montague Mounteagle Cobham Ferrers Fitzwalter Dudley Dacres of the South Darcy Conyers Audeley Broke and Fitzwarren The deans of the Chapel and of St Paul s The archdeacon of Richmond The dean of Salisbury Dr Syxtyne Dr Clark The abbots of Glastonbury Westminster Bury and Winchecombe All knights and others of the King s council The secretaries in Latin French and English The clerks of the Privy Seal and Signet The heralds The officers of the household The minstrels County representatives Edit Bedford Sir John St John Wm Gascoyn Robt Spenser Lenthorp Wm Fitzjeffrey Geo Harvy Berkshire Sir Geo Forster Sir Thos Fetyplace Sir Wm Essex Sir Richard Weston Hen Bridges John Cheyny Ric Noreys Ric Hampden Buckingham Sir Andrew Windsor Sir Rauf Verney junr John Cheynye Sir Wm Hampden John Gyfford Cambridge Sir Wm Findern Sir Rob Coton Sir Rauf Chamberlain Sir Giles Alyngton Cheshire Sir John Warberton Sir Wm Both Sir John Warren Sir Geo Holford Sir John Lye of Bagley Sir Wm Brereton Cornwall Lord Broke Sir John Arundell Sir Piers Eggecombe Sir Roger Graynefeld 15 Sir John Trevenyan Derby Sir Henry Sacheverell Sir John Montgomery Sir Godfrey Fulgeham Foljambe Thos Cokyn Cockayne Devonshire Lord FitzWaren feudal baron of Bampton i e John Bourchier 1st Earl of Bath 1470 1539 created Earl of Bath in 1536 Sir William Courtenay 1477 1535 The Great of Powderham Sir Edmund Owen Sir John Basset 1462 1528 of Umberleigh Sir Nic Kyrkeham possibly Nicholas Kirkham the 2nd son of Nicholas Kirkham 1433 4 1516 of Blagdon Paignton His sister Margaret Kirkham married firstly to John Cheney of Pinhoe whose sister Cecily Cheney was the mother of Sir William Courtenay 1477 1535 The Great of Powderham and Sir Edward Pomeroy 1478 1538 feudal baron of Berry Pomeroy Dorset Hen Strangwyshe Giles Strangwyshe John Horsey Sir Thos Trenchard Essex The Earl of Essex Lord FitzWalter Sir Henry Marny Sir John Raynysford Sir Thos Tyrell Sir Ric Lewys Sir Roger Wentworth Wm Pirton Sir Whitstan Browne John Marnye Gloucester The Duke of Buckingham Sir Maurice Barkeley William Denys Sir Wm Kyngston Sir Christopher Baynham Sir John Hungerford Sir Edw Wadham Sir John Brydges Hants Lord Audeley Sir Wm Sandes Sir John Lyle Wm Pownd John Pawlet junr Sir John Lye Sir Geo Putenham Sir Wm Gyfford Rob Walop Arthur Plantagenet Sir Maurice Barow Hereford Lord Ferrers Sir Ric Cornewall Hertford Lord Barnesse Berners Sir Edw Benstede Thos Clyfford Kent Lord Bargeveny Lord Cobham Lord Clynton Sir Edw Ponynges Sir Wm Scot Sir John Pechie Sir Edw Guldeford Sir Hen Guyldeford Thos Cheynye Sir Rauf Seyntleger Sir John Darell Raynold Pymp Sir John Scott Sir Wm Crowner Sir John Fogge Sir John Norton Leicester The Lord Marquis Lord Hastyngs Sir John Digby Sir Edw Feldyng Sir Ric Sacheverell Lord John Gray Lord Leonard Gray Lord Richard Gray Sir Wm Skevyngton Sir John Villers Hasylrygge Lincoln Lord Willoughby Sir Christopher Willoughby Sir John Husey Sir Geoffrey Paynell Sir Miles Bushe Sir Rob Scheffeld Sir Wm Tirwytt Wm Askew Geo Fitzwilliam Sir Rob Dymocke Wm Hansard Middlesex The Lord of Saint John s Sir Thos Lovell Norfolk Lord Edmund Howard Sir Ph Calthorp Sir Robt Clere Sir John Haydon Sir Thos Wodehows Sir Thos Wyndham Wm Paston Sir Robt Lovell John Shelton Sir Thos Benyngfeld Nic Appylyerd Edw Knyvet Northampton Sir Nic Vaux Sir Wm Parre Sir Thos Lucy Thos Empson Nottingham Sir Wm Parpoynt Pierpoint Sir Thos Sutton Sir Brian Stapleton Robt Clyfton Humphrey Hersy Rowland Dygby John Beron Sir Wm Meryng Sir Hen Willoughby Oxford Sir Adryan Fortesku Sir Edw Chamberlayn Sir Wm Rede Walter Bulstrode Sir John Daunce Shropshire The Earl of Shrewsbury Sir Ric Laykyn Sir Thos Blount Sir Thos Leyghton Sir Rob Corbett Sir Thos Cornwall Somerset The Earl of Wiltshire Sir John Trevelian Sir Nicholas Wadham Sir John Rodney Sir Ric Ware Strangwyshe Lord Daubenye Stafford Sir John Feryes Sir Loys Lewis Bagot Sir John Gifford Sir John Asheton John Egyrton Sir John Braycot Sir John Stanley John Blount Suffolk Sir Thos Bolayn Sir Rob Brandon Sir Rob Drury Sir Ant Wyngfeld Sir Wm Walgrave Sir Ric Wentworth Sir John Shelton Sir Arthur Hopton Sir Rob Courson Sir John Audley Thos Felton Branzton Sir Wm Sidney Surrey Sir Henry Wyatt Sir Matthew Brown Sir John Ywardby Sir Edw Bray Sussex The Duke of Norfolk the Earl of Surrey Lord Matravers Sir Thos West Lord Dacre Sir David Owen Sir Godard Oxynbridge Wm Ashbornham Sir Edw Lewkenor Sir John Dawtry Warwick Lord Dudley Sir Gilbert Talbot junr Geo Throgmorton Sir Edward Belknap Edw Gryvill Sir John Burdute Sir Thos Lucy Sir Edw Ferys Edw Conway Westmoreland Sir Thos Parre Wilts Sir Edward Hungerford Sir John Seymour Sir Edw Darell Sir John Dakers Sir John Newport Sir Maurice Barow Sir John Scrope Sir Thos Long Worcester Rhys ap Thomas Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Thomas York The Earl of Northumberland Lord Darcy Lord Lumley Sir John Constable Sir Rob Constable Lord Conyers Sir Geo Fitzhew Sir Rauf Ellerkar Sir Wm Gaskoyn Sir Ric Tempest Sir Wm Skargill Sir Guy Wolstrope Sir Rauf Evers Sir Wm Evers Sir Wm Bulmer Sir John Bulmer Sir Edw Pekeryng All of the English Knights of the Garter some 23 in all were present In popular culture EditG P R James the British novelist dramatized the meeting in his second novel Darnley or The Field of the Cloth of Gold 1830 The Showtime Series The Tudors dramatized the meeting in its first season 2007 The plot of Magnus Mills 2015 novel entitled The Field of the Cloth of Gold echoes elements of the meeting The hit open air historical night show Kynren features a scene based on the Field of the Cloth of Gold The Starz Series The Spanish Princess includes a fictionalized version of the meeting in its second season 2020 Charles V of Spain is erroneously shown attending the summit at the invitation of his aunt Catherine of Aragon as she wants to convince Henry VIII to betroth six year old Princess Mary to the twenty year old Charles rather than the two year old son of Francis I of France In Marcel Proust s work Swann s Way he references the Field of the Cloth of Gold during a scene when the narrator meets Gilberte She Gilberte was in fact summoning me to cross the snowy lawn to her camp to take the field which the sun by casting over it a rosy gleam the metallic lustre of old and worn brocades had turned into a Field of the Cloth of Gold Remembrance of Things Past vol 1 Swann s Way Marcel Proust p 433 First Vintage Books edition 1982 References Edit Richardson Glenn July 2020 Field of the Cloth of Gold History Today Vol 7 no 7 pp 28 39 Richardson Glenn 2014 The Field of Cloth of Gold New Haven Connecticut Yale University Press pp 68 69 ISBN 978 0 3001 4886 2 a b Jerdan William 1842 Rutland Papers Original Documents Illustrative of the Courts and Times of Henry VII and Henry VIII Selected from the Private Archives of His Grace the Duke of Rutland Camden Society pp 28 49 Image of St Michael Richard II s Treasure Institute of Historical Research Royal Holloway College University of London 2007 Retrieved 26 September 2018 a b c d e f nbsp One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Field of the Cloth of Gold Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 10 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 327 a b Hall Edward 1809 Chronicle London p 605 Grafton Richard 1809 1569 Grafton s Chronicle or Chronicle at Large Vol 2 London pp 303 304 Reese Gustave 1954 Music in the Renaissance New York W W Norton p 291 ISBN 0 393 09530 4 Nicholson N amp Fawcett E 1994 Ightham Mote National Trust HOASM William Cornysh junior www hoasm org Michelle Beer Between Kings and Emperors Catherine of Aragon Helen Matheson Pollock Joanne Paul Catherine Fletcher Queenship and Counsel in Early Modern Europe Palgrave Macmillan 2018 p 48 Watts Karen Tournaments at the court of King Henry VIII PDF Archived from the original PDF on 24 September 2015 Retrieved 10 November 2019 Brewer J S ed 1867 Letters indented specifying in accordance with the treaty of 12 March 1519 the number and rank of the lords ladies and gentlemen to attend the King and Queen at the interview with Francis I Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic Henry VIII Vol 3 1519 1523 Institute of Historical Research March 1520 21 30 R T 137 Richardson Glenn 2013 Appendix A The Field of Cloth of Gold ISBN 9780300148862 While contemporary references are made to the Bishop of Chester there was not Bishop of Chester until 1541 Therefore it is most likely that it was the Bishop of Chichester who attended the Field of Cloth of Gold son of Thomas Grenville died 1513 Further reading EditHayward Maria 2017 Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII Routledge Lynn Eleri 2020 Tudor Textiles Yale University Press Mattingly Garrett March 1938 An Early Nonaggression Pact Journal of Modern History Vol 10 no 1 pp 1 30 JSTOR 1898719 Richardson Glenn 2017 The King the Cardinal Legate and the Field of Cloth of Gold PDF Royal Studies Journal Vol 4 no 2 pp 141 160 Richardson Glenn 2002 Renaissance Monarchy The Reigns of Henry VIII Francis I amp Charles V Russell J G 1969 Field of Cloth of Gold Men and Manners in 1520 London Routledge ISBN 0 7100 6207 9 Smith Pamela H et al 2020 The Matter of Ephemeral Art Craft Spectacle and Power in Early Modern Europe Renaissance Quarterly Vol 73 no 1 pp 78 131 Eyewitness descriptions appear in Edward Hall s Chronicle and Richard Grafton s Chronicle at Large External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Field of Cloth of Gold Field of the Cloth of Gold on In Our Time at the BBC Nichols John Gough ed The Chronicle of Calais Camden Society 1846 19 29 77 90 documents and eyewitness accountsDetailed description of the image from Alecto Historical Editions Publications Group 50 51 8 28 N 1 55 22 44 E 50 8523000 N 1 9229000 E 50 8523000 1 9229000 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Field of the Cloth of Gold amp oldid 1174277604, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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