On this day in 1520 King Henry VIII stayed at Leeds Castle with Queen Catherine of Aragon and an entourage of 5000 people. This was
the best-documented royal visit to Leeds Castle and was a stop off between
Greenwich and northern France for a ceremonial meeting with Francis I of
France. This meeting became known from its magnificence as the Field of Cloth
of Gold and was part of unsuccessful diplomatic attempts by Francis to woo the
English away from their alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
King Henry VIII travelled from London to Dover with an entourage of 3,997
people set out from Greenwich Palace on Sunday 21 May, 1520 and reached Leeds Castle on Monday 22nd May on the way to France. Queen Catherine of Aragon,
Henry’s first wife, travelled in the same cavalcade accompanied by a personal
suite numbering 1,175. Obviously not all of this vast concourse would have
found quarters in the Castle, but the King, Cardinal Wolsey and nine other
Bishops would have. The entire upper
floor of this part of the Castle was exclusively reserved for the Queen and her
closest household staff, indeed the fireplaces decorated with her royal
coat-of-arms and the symbols of Castile, a castle and a pomegranate, remain to
this day.
At the time, Sir Henry Guildford was the Constable
of the Guard at Leeds and as such was responsible for preparing the Castle for
the King’s visit. It
was his job to ensure food and sleeping places for everyone. He was paid
£66-3s-3D (approx. £25,500 in today’s money). And given that the King had already paid
some £860 for the necessary repairs and alterations to the Castle, the visit
was an expensive undertaking; especially considering the Royal party only
stayed for one night before moving on to Dover Castle.
From the castle, they moved to Charing for
their next night’s stay. They reached
Canterbury on the 25th of May, from where they moved on to Dover, before
proceeding to France on the 31st of May, probably on board the flagship of the
fleet, the ‘Henri Grace de Dieu’, or ‘Great Harry’.
Embarkation from Dover
Henry VIII rested in Priory while all the 27 ships
were loaded, sailed across to France, unloaded, returned and reloaded. The
hulls of the ships were too deep to come right inshore and so, small rowing
boats were used to take the people to the ships, and they then had to climb up
rope ladders to get on board. Once on board they hung their coats of arms on
the side of the ship. This represented the passenger list and was a record of who
was on which ship.
A copy of the painting of the “Embarkation from
Dover” hangs in the Henry VIII Banqueting Hall at Leeds Castle. Henry VIII
commissioned the paintings and in all probability the artist had not even
visited Dover. They were pained around 1540, at least 20 years after the event.
The Field of Cloth of Gold
The kings spent huge amounts of money, wanting to
outshine the other. Tents for people to stay in were made of gold cloth and
there were wresting competitions, fountains which ran with wine, jousting
tournaments, and much feasting and dancing. On the last day there was even a
firework display.
They took all of their own food to eat during the 17
day meeting. Royal records show that venison from the Leeds park and butter
from the dairies were supplied. We also know from Royal Household accounts that
their fish menu included; 9100 plaice, 7836 whiting, 5554 soles, 2800 crayfish,
700 conger eels, 3 porpoises and a dolphin.
The original painting of the Field of Cloth of Gold
is in Hampton Court palace.
Do you fancy sleeping
under canvas just as Henry VIII’s entourage would have done in 1520? Leeds
Castle has launched a new glamping site based on Medieval design to form a ‘village’
on the one-acre castle vineyard.
Bookable until September,
Knight’s glamping offers guests a spectacular setting and the luxury of a four
poster bed, warming log burning stove, crisp cotton bedding and cosy fur throws. Book your tent here!
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