On 7th June 1520 the stage was set for a momentous summit between the two great rival nations of France and England.
The occasion became known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold, a meeting which brought together King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France in a splendid tournament full of pomp and ceremony, designed to put their differences aside in a quest for lasting peace.
Consisting of eighteen days of celebration, the event took place in a valley very close to Calais, which at the time was in the control of the English. It was here that an array of activities, festivities, religious ceremonies, sports tournaments and feasting took place in opulent tents and banqueting marquees.
Such expense was lavished on the event that the tents and outfits of its participants were adorned with such vast quantities of cloth of gold, a combination of gold and silk, that the meeting was forever referred to as such.
