The Field of Cloth of Gold Virtual Summit

June 2020 marks 500 years since King Henry VIII and King Francis I of France hosted an elaborate festival known as the Field of Cloth of Gold to improve relations between the two countries. Sarah Morris from the Tudor Travel Guide is hosting a special virtual summit that you can attend! Here's what Sarah has to say:

"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.

Professor Maria Hayward - Clothes and Textiles at the Field.

Tracy Borman: All the King's Men - Influential Courtiers at the Field of Cloth of Gold.

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.

Julian Munby: Location Henry VIII’s Famous Temporary Palace at Guines.

Natalie Grueninger and Sarah Morris - Henry VIII and the Road to Calais.

One of the lucky participants will have a chance at winning a book bundle of books written by the speakers!

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.

To register:

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 

Katharine of Aragon's "miscarriages" (MYTH BUSTER)

Sometimes myths and misconceptions about the Tudors are so well-entrenched that they often gain the status of "truths". I've seen historians referring to Katharine of Aragon's "many miscarriages" in almost every book about the Tudor period but guess what, this is a myth.

Katharine didn't have MANY MISCARRIAGES. Six of her pregnancies are recorded - perhaps there were more, but we're talking about those that we know of. And none of them ended up in miscarriage!

Let's start in the beginning, Katharine's first recorded pregnancy and its outcome. On 31 January 1510 she gave birth to a stillborn daughter. It wasn't a miscarriage - a fully formed child was born dead towards the end of Katharine's pregnancy.

Despite the stillbirth, Katharine "took to her chamber" because her belly was still swollen and her physicians assumed she was still pregnant with another child. No baby was born - and no miscarriage followed.

On 1 January 1511 she gave birth to a baby boy who was named Henry - sadly, Henry died on 22 February.

On 30 September 1511 Cardinal Wolsey wrote that “the Queen is THOUGHT to be with child” but noting further was heard about her condition - this, perhaps, was a miscarriage. Or she wasn't pregnant after all.

In October 1513 the Venetian ambassador reported that Katharine "had given birth to a son". Nothing further is known about this boy, he probably died following the birth.

Another son was born to Katharine and Henry in November 1514. According to the Venetian ambassador “the Queen has been delivered of a stillborn male child of eight months to the very great grief of the whole court”.

On 18 February 1516 Katharine gave birth to Princess Mary - her only child who would live to adulthood.

In November 1518 Katharine was delivered of a stillborn daughter in the eighth month of pregnancy.

So when you look at the evidence, you come to a startling conclusion - most of Katharine's pregnancies ended in stillbirths, not miscarriages.

She perhaps miscarried in 1511 - but her pregnancy wasn't even confirmed.