of his reign were marked by brilliant successes, which
brought him fame as a ruler and a warrior. But in 1519 he
was an unsuccessful candidate for the imperial dignity, and
Charles, being preferred before him, became emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire.
Great was the mortification of Francis and he soon after
declared war against his rival. Both sought the alliance of
Henry VIII, and in hopes of securing his friendship, and
thereby preventing a union of the Emperor and the English
King against himself, Francis arranged the meeting so
brilliantly pictured by Brewer. But Francis, by overdoing
this gorgeous reception, gave offence to Henry, whom he
seemed to eclipse in magnificence. Meanwhile Charles,
anticipating the interview, had visited Henry in England,
and by his more politic address he secured the favor both of
the English monarch and his great minister, Cardinal Wolsey.
Situated in a flat and uninviting plain--poor and barren, as the
uncultivated border-land of the two kingdoms--Guines and its castle
offered little attraction, and if possible less accommodation, to the
gay throng now to be gathered within its walls. Its weedy moat and
dismantled battlements, "its keep too ruinous to mend," defied the
efforts of carpenters and bricklayers, as the English commissioners
pathetically complained; and could not by any artifice or contrivance be
made to assume the appearance of a formidable, or even a respectable,
fortress to friend or enemy. But on the castle green, within the limits
of a few weeks, and in the face of great difficulties, the English
artists of that day contrived a summer palace, more like a vision of
romance, the creation of some fairy dream--if the accounts of
eye-witnesses of all classes may be trusted--than the dull, every-day
reality of clay-born bricks and mortar.
No "palace of art" in these beclouded climates of the West ever so truly
deserved its name. As if the imagination of the age, pent up in wretched
alleys and narrow dwelling-houses, had resolved for once to throw off
its ordinary trammels and recompense itself for its long restraint, it
prepared to realize those visions of enchanted bowers and ancient
pageantry on which it had fed so long in the fictions and romances of
the Middle Ages. I have thought it worth while to notice so much of the
details as will enable the reader to form some slight conception for
himself of this scene of enchantment which the genius of the age had
contrived for its own amusement.
The palace was an exact square of three hundred twenty-eight feet. It
was pierced on every side with oriel windows and clear-stories curiously
glazed, the mullions and posts of which were overlaid with gold. An
embattled gate, ornamented on both sides with statues representing men
in various attitudes of war, and flanked by an embattled tower, guarded
the entrance. From this gate to the entrance of the palace arose in long
ascent a sloping dais or half pace, along which were grouped "images of
sore and terrible countenances," in armor of argentine or bright metal.
At the entrance, under an embowed landing-place, facing the great doors,
stood "antique" (classical) figures girt with olive branches. The
passages, the roofs of the galleries from place to place and from
chamber to chamber, were ceiled and covered with white silk, fluted and
embowed with silken hanging of divers colors and braided cloths, "which
showed like bullions of fine burnished gold." The roofs of the chambers
were studded with roses, set in lozenges, and diapered on a ground of
fine gold. Panels enriched with antique carving and gilt bosses covered
the spaces between the windows; while along all the corridors and from
every window hung tapestry of silk and gold, embroidered with figures.
Chairs covered with cushions of turkey-work, cloths of estate, of
various shapes and sizes, overlaid with golden tissue and rich
embroidery, ornamented the state apartments. The square on every side
was decorated with equal richness, and blazed with the same profusion of
glass, gold, and ornamental hangings; and "every quarter of it, even the
least, was a habitation fit for a prince," says Fleuranges, who had
examined it with the critical eye of a rival and a Frenchman.
To the palace was attached a spacious chapel, still more sumptuously
adorned. Its altars were hung with cloth of gold tissue embroidered with
pearls; cloth of gold covered the walls and desks. Basins, censers,
cruets, and other vessels, of the same precious materials, lent their
lustre to its services. On the high altar, shaded by a magnificent
canopy of immense proportions, stood enormous candlesticks and other
ornaments of gold. Twelve golden images of the apostles, as large as
children of four years old, astonished the eyes of the spectator. The
copes and vestments of the officiating clergy were cloth of tissue
powdered with red roses, brought from the looms of Florence, and woven
in one piece, thickly studded with gold and jewelry. No less profusion
might be seen in the two closets left apart for the King and the Queen.
Images and sacred vessels of solid gold, in gold cloth, cumbrous with
pearls and precious stones, attested the rank, the magnificence, and
devotion of the occupants. The ceilings of these closets were gilded and
painted; the hangings were of tapestry embroidered with fretwork of
pearls and gems. The chapel was served by thirty-five priests and a
proportionate number of singing-boys.
From the palace a secret gallery led into a private apartment in Guines
castle, along which the royal visitors could pass and repass at
pleasure.
The King was attended by squires of the body, sewers, gentlemen-ushers,
grooms and pages of the chamber, for all of whom suitable accommodation
had to be provided. The lord chamberlain, the lord steward, the lord
treasurer of the household, the comptroller, with their numerous staffs,
had to be lodged in apartments adapted to their rank and services. As it
was one great object of the interview to entertain all comers with
masques and banquetings of the most sumptuous kind, the mere rank and
file of inferior officers and servants formed a colony of themselves.
The bakehouse, pantry, cellar, buttery, kitchen, larder, accatry, were
amply provided with ovens, ranges, and culinary requirements, to say
nothing of the stables, the troops of grooms, farriers, saddlers,
stirrup-makers, furbishers, and footmen. Upward of two hundred
attendants were employed in and about the kitchen alone.
Outside the palace gate, on the greensward, stood a quiet fountain, of
antique workmanship, with a statue of Bacchus "birlyng the wine." Three
runlets, fed by secret conduits hid beneath the earth, spouted claret,
hypocras, and water into as many silver cups, to quench the thirst of
all comers. On the opposite side was a pillar wreathed in gold, and
supported by four gilt lions; and on the top stood an image of blind
Cupid, armed with bow and arrows. The gate itself, built in massive
style, was pierced with loop-holes. Its windows and recesses were filled
with images of Hercules, Alexander, and other ancient worthies, richly
gilt and painted. In long array, in the plain beyond, twenty-eight
hundred tents stretched their white canvas before the eyes of the
spectator, gay with the pennons, badges, and devices of the various
occupants; while miscellaneous followers, in tens of thousands,
attracted by profit or the novelty of the scene, camped on the grass and
filled the surrounding slopes, in spite of the severity of
provost-marshal and reiterated threats of mutilation and chastisement.
Multitudes from the French frontiers, or the populous cities of
Flanders, indifferent to the political significance of the scene,
swarmed from their dingy homes to gaze on kings, queens, knights, and
ladies dressed in their utmost splendor. Beggars, itinerant minstrels,
venders of provisions and small luxuries, mixed with wagoners,
ploughmen, laborers, and the motley troop of camp-followers, crowded
round, or stretched themselves beneath the summer's sun on bundles of
straw and grass, in drunken idleness. No better lodging awaited many a
gay knight and lady who had travelled far to be present at the
spectacle, and were obliged to content themselves with such open-air
accommodation. Backward and forward surged the excited and unwieldy
crowd, as every hour brought its fresh contingent of curiosity or
criticism in the shape of some new-comer conspicuous for his fantastic
bearing or the quaint fashion of his armor. Each new candidate for the
love and honor of the ladies, for popular applause, or less noble
objects, was greeted with shouts and acclamations as he succeeded in
distinguishing himself from the throng by the strangeness or splendor of
his appointments. Christendom had never witnessed such a scene. The
fantastic usages of the courts of Love and Beauty were revived once
more. The Mediaeval Age had gathered up its departing energies for this
last display of its favorite pastime--henceforth to be consigned,
without regret, to "the mouldered lodges of the past."
At the time that Henry set sail for Calais, Francis started from
Montreuil for Ardres. It was a meagre old town, long since in ruins, the
fosses and castle of which had been hastily repaired. He was attended on
his route by a vast and motley multitude. No less than ten thousand of
this poor vagrant crew were compelled to turn back, by a proclamation
ordering that no person, without special permission, should approach
within two leagues of the King's train, "on pain of the halter." As the
French had proposed that both parties should lodge in tents erected on
the field, they had prepared numerous pavilions, fitted up with halls,
galleries, and chambers, ornamented within and without with gold and
silver tissue. Amid golden balls and quaint devices glittering in the
sun, rose a gilt figure of St. Michael, conspicuous for his blue mantle
powdered with golden _fleurs-de-lis_, and crowning a royal pavilion, of
vast dimensions, supported by a single mast. In his right hand he held a
dart, in his left a shield emblazoned with the arms of France. Inside,
the roof of the pavilion represented the canopy of heaven, ornamented
with stars and figures of the zodiac. The lodgings of the Queen, of the
Duchess of Alencon, the King's favorite sister, and of other ladies and
princes of the blood were covered with cloth of gold. The rest of the
tents, to the number of three hundred or four hundred, emblazoned with
the arms of the owners, were pitched on the banks of a small river
outside the city walls. A large house in the town, built for the
occasion, served as a place of reception for royal visitors.
From June 4, 1520, when Henry first entered Guines, the festivities
continued with unabated splendor for twenty days. They were opened by a
visit of Wolsey to the French King, and gave the Cardinal an opportunity
for displaying his love of magnificence, not unaptly reckoned by poets
and philosophers as the nearest virtue to magnanimity. A hundred
archers of the guard, followed by fifty gentlemen of his household,
clothed in crimson velvet with chains of gold, bareheaded, bonnet in
hand, and mounted on magnificent horses richly caparisoned, led the way.
After them came fifty gentlemen ushers, also bareheaded, carrying gold
maces with knobs as big as a man's head; next a cross-bearer in scarlet,
supporting a crucifix adorned with precious stones. Then four lackeys
followed, with gilt batons and pole-axes, in paletots of crimson velvet,
their bonnets in hand adorned with plumes, their coats ornamented before
and behind with the Cardinal's badge in goldsmith's work. Lastly came
the Legate himself, mounted on a barded mule trapped in crimson velvet,
with gold front-stalls, studs, buckles, and stirrups. Over a chimere of
figured crimson velvet he wore a fine linen rochet. Bishops and other
ecclesiastics succeeded, and the whole procession was brought up by
fifty archers of the King's guard, their bows bent, their quivers at
their sides, their jackets of red cloth adorned with a gold rose before
and behind.
In this state the procession approached the town of Ardres. Arrived at
the King's lodgings Wolsey dismounted, amid the roar of artillery and
the sound of drums, trumpets, fifes, and other instruments of music. He
was received by the King of France, bonnet in hand, with the greatest
demonstrations of affection. The visit was returned next day by the
French. These ceremonies were preliminary to the meeting of the two
sovereigns on Thursday, June 7th. On that day, the King of England,
apparelled in cloth of silver damask, thickly ribbed with cloth of gold,
and mounted on a charger arrayed in the most dazzling trappings overlaid
with fine gold and curiously wrought in mosaic, advanced toward the
valley of Ardres. No man, from personal inclinations or personal
qualities, was better calculated to sustain his part in a brilliant
ceremonial such as then struck the eyes of the spectators. An admirable
horseman, tall and muscular, slightly inclined to corpulence, with a red
beard and ruddy countenance, Henry VIII was at this time, by the
admission of his rivals, the most comely and commanding prince of his
age. Closely attending on the King was Sir Henry Guilford, the master of
the horse, leading a spare charger, not less splendidly arrayed in
trappings of fine gold wrought in ciphers, with headstall, reins, and
saddle of the same material. Nine henchmen followed in cloth of tissue,
the harness of their horses covered with gold scales. In front rode the
old Marquis of Dorset, bearing the sword of estate before the King;
behind came the Cardinal, the Dukes of Buckingham and Suffolk, with the
Earl of Shrewsbury and others.
A shot fired from the castle of Guines, and responded to by a shot from
the castle of Ardre, gave warning that the two princes were ready to set
forward. As Henry advanced toward the valley with all his company in
military array, the French King might be descried on the opposite hill
with his dazzling company, in dress, deportment, and the splendor of his
retinue not less glorious or conspicuous than his rival. Over a short
cassock of gold frieze he wore a mantle of cloth of gold covered with
jewels. The front and the sleeves were studded with diamonds, rubies,
emeralds, and large loose-hanging pearls; on his head he wore a velvet
bonnet adorned with plumes and precious stones. Far in advance rode the
provost-marshal with his archers to clear the ground. Then followed the
marshals of the army in cloth of gold, their orders about their necks,
mounted on horses covered with gold trappings; next the grand master,
the princes of the blood, and the King of Navarre. After them came the
Swiss guard on foot, in new liveries, with their drums, flutes,
trumpets, clarions, and hautboys; then the gentlemen of the household;
and immediately preceding the King was the grand constable, Bourbon,
bearing the sword naked, and the _grand ecuyer_, with the sword of
France, powdered with gold fleurs-de-lis.
As the two companies approached each other, there was a momentary pause.
The French watched with some jealousy the close array of the English
footmen, who, stretched in a long line on the King's left, marched step
for step with all the solemn gravity of their nation, as if they were
rather preparing for battle than pastime, while, on the other side, the
superior numbers of the French awakened the national jealousy of the
Englishmen. "Sir, ye be my king and sovereign," broke in the lord
Abergavenny in breathless haste; "wherefore, above all I am bound to
show you truth, and not to let [stop] for none. I have been in the
French party, and they may be more in number; double so many as ye be."
Then spoke up the Earl of Shrewsbury, "Sire, whatever my lord of
Abergavenny sayeth, I myself have been there, and the Frenchmen be more
in fear of you and your subjects than your subjects be of them.
Wherefore," said the Earl, "if I were worthy to give counsel, your grace
should march forward." "So we intend, my lord," replied the King. "On
afore, my masters!" shouted the officers of arms; and the whole company
halted, face foremost, close by the valley of Ardres.
A minute's pause--a breathless silence, followed by a slight stir on
both sides. Then from the dense array of cloth of gold, silver, and
jewelry, of white plumes and waving pennons, amid the acclamations of
myriads of spectators on the surrounding hills, and the shrill burst of
pipes, trumpets, and clarions, two horsemen were seen to emerge, and, in
the sight of both nations, slowly descend into the valley from opposite
sides. These were the two sovereigns. As they approached nearer they
spurred their horses to a gallop; then, uncovering, embraced each other
on horseback, and, after dismounting, embraced again. While the two
sovereigns proceeded arm in arm to a rich pavilion--which no one else
was allowed to enter, except Wolsey on one side and the Admiral of
France on the other--the officers on both sides, intermingling their
ranks, made good cheer, and toasted each other in broken French and
English, "Bons amys, French and English!"
Friday and Saturday were occupied in preparing the field for the
tournament. The lists, nine hundred feet in length and three hundred
twenty feet broad, were pitched on a rising ground in the territory of
Guines, about half way between Guines and Ardres. Galleries hung with
tapestry surrounded the enclosure, and on the right side, in the place
of honor, were two glazed chambers for the two Queens. A deep foss
served to keep off the crowd. The entrances were guarded by twelve
French and twelve English archers; and at the foot of the lists, under a
triumphal arch, stood the _perron_, or tree of nobility, from which the
shields of the two Kings were suspended on a higher line than those of
the other challengers and answerers. The perron for Henry VIII was
formed of a hawthorn; and for Francis I a raspberry (_framboisier_), in
supposed allusion to his name. Cloth of gold served for the trunk and
dried leaves; the foliage was of green silk; the flowers and fruits of
silver and Venetian gold. Under the tree, which measured in compass not
less than one hundred twenty-nine feet, the heralds took their stand on
an artificial mound, surrounded by railings of green damask.
On Sunday, while the French King dined at Guines with the Queen of
England, the English King dined with the French Queen and the Duchess of
Alencon at Ardres. On arriving at the Queen's lodgings, Henry was
received by Louis of Savoy and a bevy of ladies magnificently dressed.
Passing slowly through their ranks, in leisurely admiration of their
charms, he reached the apartment where the Queen attended his coming. As
he made his reverence to the Queen, she rose from her chair of state to
meet him. Kneeling with one knee on the ground, his bonnet in his hand,
he first kissed the Queen, next Madame, then the Duchess of Alencon, and
finally all the princesses and ladies of the company. This done, dinner
was announced. At the third service, Mountjoy's herald entered with a
great golden goblet, crying in the name of the King of England, "Largess
to the most high, mighty, and excellent prince, Henry, King of England,
etc. Largess, largess!" The banquet ended at five in the evening, when
the King took his leave. To display his skill before the ladies, he set
spurs to his horse, making it bound and curvet "as valiantly as any man
could do."
The jousts commenced on Monday, the 11th. The rules adopted to secure
fair play and guard against accidents may be read by those curious in
such matters in the original black-letter _Ordonnance_, printed at the
time.
On the first day the Kings of England and France, with their aids, held
the lists against all comers; and, with the exception of Wednesday, when
the wind was too high, the jousts continued without interruption
throughout the week. On Sunday, the two Kings exchanged hospitality as
before. On this occasion, Francis, dropping all reserve, visited the
King of England before eight in the morning, attended by four companions
only, and, entering his apartment without ceremony, embraced him as he
was seated at breakfast. The jousts were concluded in the following
week, with a solemn mass sung by the Cardinal in a chapel erected on the
field. The arrangements observed on this occasion, not less elaborate
than those by which the feats of arms were regulated, may be read in the
same volume as the _Ordonnance_. Here, as in the ceremonial of the
lists, the spirit of chivalry reigned triumphant. When the Cardinal of
Bourbon, according to the usages of the time, presented the Gospel to
the French King to kiss, Francis, declining, commanded it to be offered
to the King of England, who was too well bred to accept the honor. When
the _Pax_ was presented at the _Agnus Dei_, the two sovereigns repeated
the same mannerly breeding. The two Queens were equally ceremonious.
After a polite altercation of some minutes, when neither would decide
who should be the first to kiss the _Pax_, woman-like they kissed each
other instead. A sermon in Latin, enlarging on the blessings of peace,
was delivered by Pace at the close of the service; and a salamander was
sent up in the air in the direction of Guines, to the astonishment and
terror of the beholders. The whole was concluded with a banquet, at
which the royal ladies, too polite to eat, spent their time in
conversation; but the legates, cardinals, and prelates dined, drank, and
ate _sans fiction_ in another room by themselves.
On Sunday, June 24th, the Kings met in the lists to interchange gifts
and bid each other farewell. Henry and his court left for Calais;
Francis returned to Abbeville.
The two Kings parted on the best of terms, as the world thought, and
with mutual feelings of regret. Yet Henry had already arranged to meet
the Emperor at Gravelines, there settle the terms of a new convention,
to the disadvantage of the French King. The imperial envoy, the Marquis
d'Arschot, arrived at Calais on July 4th, and was received by the Duke
of Buckingham. On the 5th the King visited Gravelines, and returned with
the Emperor to Calais three days after. The interview, graced by the
presence of Charles, his brother Ferdinand, Herman, the Archbishop of
Cologne, and the Lord Chievres, though less splendid, was more cordial
than the interview with the French King, and was meant for business.