Of all England’s kings and queens, Henry VIII must certainly be one of the most well-known. The second of England’s Tudor monarchs, Henry is perhaps best remembered for his string of turbulent marriages, that are now so well known that a famous rhyme immortalizing their fates, “divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived”, has slipped into popular culture.
Besides being history’s most well-married king, Henry also set in motion the rift from the Catholic Church that led to the formation of the Anglican branch of Christianity and the so-called Dissolution of the Monasteries, which saw him launch devastating attacks on religious institutions all across his kingdom that refused to accept his newly created church. During his rule, he also secured an English victory over Scotland at the famous Battle of Flodden; warred with his unending string of cardinals and advisors, including Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, and Cardinal Wolsey; and found the time to father no less than three future English monarchs, namely his children Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I.
But of all the events in Henry VIII’s life, perhaps one of the least well known, and arguably one of the most unusual — took place during a lavish royal summit in northern France in 1520.
At that time, much of Western Europe was under the control of three young, powerful, and ambitious rulers: 29-year-old Henry VIII in England, 23-year-old Francis I of France, and 20-year-old Charles V of Spain. Two years earlier, in 1518, the three young kings—along with several other western rulers—had signed a treaty, agreeing to set aside any mutual hostilities and together they would fight against the growing threat of the Ottoman regime in eastern Europe. That treaty had united the three kings not only politically but personally, and so together the rulers were considered to be on good terms.
But in 1519, Charles V was suddenly elected ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, a disparate collection of states and territories incorporating much of central and southern Europe. As such, Charles now controlled an enormous amount of the continent, as well as his native Kingdom of Spain. This developed led to a sudden and uneasy imbalance between the three united kings, and so in response England and France started to seek a secondary alliance, combining their two forces in an attempt to equal those now wielded by King Charles.
It fell to Cardinal Wolsey to make arrangements for the alliance, and under his guidance, a grand conference was arranged at Balinghem, in northeastern France, at which the two sides could meet, negotiate terms, and celebrate their coalition. Both of the young kings, however, had something of a macho reputation to uphold, and as a result, both England and France viewed the conference as an opportunity to show off to the other side, and demonstrate their nation’s flair, power, and culture.
What began merely as a political summit consequently soon morphed into a grand royal symposium, so vast and extravagant that it almost bankrupted both nations. Fountains of wine, enormous banquet halls, and even makeshift palaces were all erected to make the occasion more regal, while more than 3,000 sheep, 800 calves, and 300 oxen were brought on-site to keep the royal parties fed across the three-week event. The kings and their courts’ negotiations were likewise housed in suitably luxurious accommodation, with a sea of gold-embroidered tents erected in a nearby meadow, stretching as far as the eye could see. It was from this spectacular sight that the ceremony eventually gained its suitably extravagant name: ‘The Field of the Cloth of Gold’.
One of the centerpieces of the Field was a vast sports competition, at which the French and English kings’ men could compete against one another in shows of fitness and military prowess. And, not wanting to be outdone, the two young kings were keen to join in with the games and festivities themselves. As a result, Henry VIII challenged the King of France to a wrestling match.
Both men were not only of similar age but were of similar athletic ability. Both were keen sportsmen and hunters too, and although Henry VIII went on to gain a reputation for his less-than-athletic frame in later life, in his twenties he was a strong, strapping young man. (He was also remarkably imposing: the average height of an English man in the Tudor period was 5’ 4”, whereas Henry stood an impressive 6’ 1”!) It seems likely, then, that both kings must have fancied their chances against the other—but on this occasion, it was King Francis that came out victorious.
Precisely what happened in this royal rumble is unclear, but it seems Henry was initially keener to wrestle than Francis, who worried that a quick bout of hand-to-hand combat might sour their fledgling alliance. Nevertheless, Francis eventually agreed, and reportedly thanks to a clever French wrestling technique known as the “Breton Trip,” promptly succeeded in throwing Henry VIII to the ground and claimed victory.
Happily, despite his infamously irascible temper, Henry seemingly took the defeat well and both kings walked away from the bout laughing and smiling. The English-French alliance was, for a short while at least, still intact.