The Field of the Cloth of Gold: The greatest show on turf

Henry VIII is known for tyranny, beheading wives and braking with the church but before Henry was the larger than life monarch (and physically quite large too), Henry was the flower of Renaissance Europe and excellent example of that is the Field of the Cloth of Gold.

A mid 16th century depiction of the Field of the Cloth of Gold commissioned by Henry VIII SOURCE: The Royal Collection (public domain)

The Renaissance Princes

when you hear ‘Henry VIII’ it tends to conjure up images of the man mountain king that created his own church because of a divorce, but Henry didn’t start life or his reign as he ended it. Coming to the throne in 1509 at the tender age of 18, determined to recreate the glory of his ancestors, Henry looked to France and his (very) distant claim to its throne as a way of etching his name into the history books forever. by the 1510’s, Henry was known around Europe as the flower of both chivalry and a great patron of the arts and learning, both attributes essential for a successful reign in the 16th century but England as a kingdom was always in the shadow of both the vastly rich France, and the all powerful Holy Roman Empire, a point that irritated Henry beyond belief. By 1513, Henry was already at war with France, taking his opportunity to press his claim to the throne but very little land was ever taken.

A portrait of a young Henry SOURCE: Public domain

Henry was described by Venetian ambassador, Sebastian Giustiniani as:

"His Majesty is the handsomest potentate I have ever set eyes on; above the usual height with an extreme fine calf to his leg, his complexion fair and bright with auburn hair combed straight and short in the French fashion, and a round face so very beautiful that it would become a pretty woman, his throat being rather long and thick."

this description shows the feeling of the European elite when it came to Henry but, he wasn’t the only royal prince with “an extreme fine calf to his leg” as Francois of France was equally as popular as his English counterpart. Francois (anglicised to Francis) came to the throne in 1515 at the age of 20, after his cousin Louis XII died without a son. Francois was every bit the Renaissance Prince that Henry was, tall and broad and a very able military commander in his own right.

Francois and Henry were two peas in a pod but this didn’t stop them from clashing, with both likely jealous of each other, especially Henry of Francois who saw perhaps a lesser man on the throne of a much richer and more powerful kingdom.

Portrait of Francois by Jean Clouet, c. 1530 SOURCE: Public domain

The third man to mention is the future Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, Henry’s nephew through his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and a potential ally of the English. Both Francois and Henry had thrown their hats in the the ring to become the next HRE after Maximillian died in 1519 but, the electorates went instead with his grandson, the Spanish Habsburg (yes, he did have a massive chin) Charles.

Cardinal Wolsey and the Treaty of Universal Peace

After several years of fighting in France, Henry and the English government had started to run out of money, an issue that had plagued marauding English Kings of old, forcing Henry’s brilliant and all powerful Chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, to come up with a plan to both stop the war (and the costs associated with it) and propel his King to the forefront of European politics.

In 1518 one of the worlds first ‘modern’ no aggression pacts was signed between England, France, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and over a dozen smaller nation states and kingdoms, all orchestrated by the brilliant Wolsey. Wolsey (b. March 1473) was the son of a humble butcher but quickly learned that taking on the more boring and mundane tasks of administration, both civil and ecclesiastical, was a quick way to the top, soon finding himself in charge of Henry VIII’s government. The Treaty of Universal peace, often referred to as the Treaty of London (due to it being signed in London) was designed to keep the European powers from killing each other as Pope Leo X, with Wolsey’s help was planning on yet another crusade to retake Constantinople that had fallen to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.

To seal the treaty, a meeting between Henry, Francois and the Holy Roman Emperor was planned but, when the Emperor Maximillian died, it forced Wolsey to postpone his planned meeting until the summer of 1520. With the meeting set to take place in June of 1520, both Henry and Francois set about planning perhaps, the fanciest party in the history of fancy parties, the stage was set for the Field of the Cloth of Gold to take place.

The Field of the Cloth of Gold

The party planners knew the importance of this event and the potential repercussions of getting it wrong. Both kings were strong in their opinions of themselves and to a lesser degree, of each other, with both viewing the other with a sort of distant, mistrusting respect.

Every single effort was made to make sure that the event was the most equal it could possibly be, the choice of venue would be land between the English-owned Guînes and the French town of Ardres, allowing both sides a quick exist to friendly land if things turned sour. As the area chosen was technically in English hands, to make the French King feel safer, he was allowed to come up with the rules for the tournaments that would take place throughout the event, with jousting, group (but very staged) combat between mixed groups of French and English knights ( to avoid actual combat) and wrestling planned throughout the two week event. More extreme than the choice of location was the choice to completely flatten the chosen land to make sure that nether king was housed above the other.

Even though every effort was made to make sure that the two monarchs felt as equal as possible, both men attempted to out do each other in every aspect of their extravagance and show. Henry, had an entire palace constructed on a brick foundation, complete with stained glass windows and most Renaissance of all, a fountain that flowed with wine, obviously… Francois on the other hand, focused instead on his sense of style, shocking the English court with extravagant clothing on both himself and his fellow courtiers, frustrating Henry in the process. Francois also had a giant gold tent constructed for his loggings but unlike Henry’s brick built palace, the tent partially collapsed, forcing a quick rebuild to avoid embarrassment.

A close up of Henry’s wine fountain that allowed the 15,000 courtiers access to 24 hour booze SOURCE: The Royal Collection (public domain)

By the start of the festivities in early June, a small town had all but been constructed for the two frenemies to parade themselves around, pretended all was well and peace was the new war. The two kings met on the 7th June with both sides tense, but the two young men embraced each other as brothers and so the partying could commence.

Mock battles known as ‘the Melee’ and jousting (henry’s favourite) was the centrepiece of the event with feasting, drinking and masquerades going on well into the night, both Kings enjoying each others company, playing tricks on each other and having a good ol’ time whilst Wolsey and the other planners made sure that the two monarchs never met directly on the mock battle field, keeping the two men as even as possible. Things were going almost perfectly until Henry, called out his French counterpart whilst watching some wrestling.

‘Its my ball, i’m going home’

Greco-Roman wrestling was popular in France and wrestling was a big part of the French festivities. Francois enjoyed both watching and, unknown to Henry at the time, taking part in wrestling matches. Whilst watching some Frenchmen wrestle, Henry reportedly grabbed Francois by the collar goading him into fighting the very large English king, Francois agreed, surprising the crowd who saw the mountainous Henry tower above the still large French King, but Francois was able to make quick work of Henry, taking him to ground with relative ease. Francois had spent many years training as a wrestler and was quite adept at beating larger opponents.

Reports of this event are few and far between but most agree that if it did happen, it all but ruined Henry’s day. Henry is known to history for his temper but on this occasion, he didn’t publicly show it but, this all but marked the end of the Field of the Cloth of Gold and at this point, it looked like the massive propaganda party had been a massive success.

Short lived successes

With the meeting behind him, its likely that Wolsey believed he had orchestrated a lasting peace between the two most war-like kings the two nations had seen in some time but unfortunately for him, Henry wasn’t messing around. Within just a few weeks of returning to England, Henry was meeting with Francois enemy, Charles V, the new Holy Roman Emperor. Related through marriage, Henry and Charles would eventually agree to an alliance, alienating the French king so much that within two years of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, England, France and the Holy Roman Empire were once again, at war.

So, was the meeting of the two monarchs a complete failure? Well, if the hoped outcome was an actual universal peace then yes, it was a complete and utter waste of time and money but, if the intended result was arguable the fanciest party in human history, then i’d call it a complete success. Between the masquerade balls, the lavish gifts, the jousting and the golden tents, the Field of the Cloth of Gold shows us the true extent of the Renaissance and the levels that both Henry VIII and Francois I would go to impress each other.

I hope you enjoyed this and would love to hear what you think, please leave me a comment and follow me on Instagram @chrisriley_ for more medieval history!