Ancient history

Field of Cloth of Gold | British and French History

Field of gold cloth , in European history the meeting point between Guînes and Ardres at Calais in France, where Henry VIII From England and Franz I. of France and his followers assembled between June 7th and 24th, 1520. The castles in both villages fell into ruin, and therefore splendid provisional palaces and pavilions were erected for Henry Guînes and for Francis in Ardres. Henry's palace covered almost 1 hectare and was lavishly decorated; it contained a great hall and a spacious chapel; and outside splashed a gilded fountain Red wine, hippocras (spiced wine), and water by separate runlets.

The kings met for the first time on June 7 in Val Doré, halfway between the two camps. The meetings and conversations that followed were conducted with much apparent cordiality, although "many of those present could not understand one another." There were tournaments and mummies, and on the last day, Sunday June 24, parts of the Fair sung alternately in French and English. Although its magnificence made the meeting very impressive to contemporaries, its political outcome was negligible. Henry met the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V , Francis' rival, was at Gravelines near Calais on July 10 and agreed not to have a new one for two years to form an alliance with France.