07 April, 2008

Holiday Notes Easter 2008


Cardinal Wolsey was on holiday in France last week, and was pleased to pass a sign on the autoroute pointing out the Champ du Drap d'Or (Field of the Cloth of Gold), near to Calais.

This was the extravagant meeting in 1520 between Henry VIII and Francis I, suggested by myself. Each monarch tried to outdo the other in pomp and display of riches.

It was rather expensive for taxpayers on both sides, and failed to result in an Anglo-French alliance, which was the original idea.

In the relevant episode in TV's The Tudors, Henry wrestles Francis in a manly way, loses, and throws some chairs around. Grr!

2 comments:

Margaret said...

How nice to be in France! The Tudors is good fun--as long as you don't mistake it for history! Besides, I'm sure it has generated a lot of traffic for your blog. ;)

cardinal_wolsey said...

Thanks. Yes I get a lot of people searching on "Cardinal Wolsey Suicide"!! Look out for a fun post on "The Tudors" coming up....