On this day in Tudor history, 18th September 1544, following the French surrender of Boulogne to the English, King Henry VIII rode triumphantly through its streets.
This First Siege of Boulogne had seen the town “sore assaulted and so besieged with such abundance of great ordinance that never was there a more valianter assault made”, and the English troops were victorious.
On 13th September, the French surrendered Boulogne and five days later, Henry VIII entered the town and was given its keys by his good friend, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.
England had done its part, but its ally, the Holy Roman Emperor, wasn’t behaving himself.
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