June 1520 is the 500th anniversary of the Field of Cloth of Gold, that historic and incredibly lavish meeting between Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France. To celebrate the anniversary, Sarah Morris of the Tudor Travel Guide has put together a wonderful two-day virtual summit. I was supposed to be taking part, but ill-health earlier in the year and my research prevented me from doing so – sorry!
Over to Sarah for more details…
“During a blustery 18 days in June 1520, an historic event took place in the Pale of Calais. Here King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France met in an ostentatious display of power, wealth and status. Masterminded by Thomas Wolsey, the aim was to join the two kingdoms in a pact of solidarity and friendship, notably against the insurgence of the Ottoman Empire, which was threatening Christian Europe at the time.
It was a spectacular event that became famous in its own lifetime. Now 500 years on, over the weekend of the 9-10 May 2020, The Tudor Travel Guide is celebrating this historic event by holding a FREE two-day virtual summit. You will hear from experts in their fields talking about a range of different aspects of the event: from the social, political and cultural context, to original research to locate Henry’s celebrated temporary palace, clothing & textiles, food and more…”
Speaker line up:
Saturday 9 May:
- Professor Glenn Richardson: The Context and Aims of the Field of Cloth of Gold – The English Perspective.
- Julian Munby: Location Henry VIII’s Famous Temporary Palace at Guines.
- Brigitte Webster: Food and Feasting at the Field of Cloth of Gold.
Sunday 10 May:
- Professor Charles Giry-Deloison: The Context and Aims of the Field of Cloth of Gold – The French Perspective.
- Tracy Borman: All the King’s Men – Influential Courtiers at the Field of Cloth of Gold.
- Professor Maria Hayward – Clothes and Textiles at the Field.
- Natalie Grueninger and Sarah Morris – Henry VIII and the Road to Calais.
One lucky participant, picked at random, will win a book bundle of books by the speakers.
Books included in the bundle are “The Field of Cloth of Gold” by Glenn Richardson, “In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII” by Sarah Morris and Natalie Grueninger, “Henry VIII and the Men who made Him” by Tracy Borman, “A Banquet at the Old Hall: An Invitation to participate in Historic Cooking” by Brigitte Webster, “Tudor London” by Natalie Grueninger, and “The Great Wardrobe Accounts of Henry VII and Henry VIII” by Maria Hayward (tbc). A colour paper by Julian Munby of his original research on finding the location of the temporary palace at the Field of Cloth of Gold will also be included. Yale University Press have also kindly offered to make free sample chapters available from a range of their Tudor related books (details still to be finalised) for EVERY registrant to the summit.
How to sign up:
This online summit is FREE attend. You simply need to register you name and email address. Don’t worry if you can’t make the dates and times advertised or are in a different time zone. All the videos will remain available to view until the 24 June 2020 to coincide with the final day of the actual event, 500 years ago. However only those registering for the event will have access to the videos.
Sign up will open on Thursday 9 April 2020 and will remain open until 48 hours before the event, i.e. Midnight on Weds 7 May 2020.
Follow this link to the sign-up page: https://thetudortravelguide.lpages.co/the-field-of-cloth-of-gold-500-register.
