The Wives of Henry the Eighth and the Parts They Played in History
David Hume · en
By the time that Henry and Francis met early in June on the ever-memorable
field between Ardres and Guisnes, the riot of splendour which surrounded
the sovereigns and Wolsey, though it dazzled the crowd and left its mark
upon history as a pageant, was known to the principal actors of the scene
to be but hollow mockery. The glittering baubles that the two kings
loved, the courtly dallying, the pompous ceremony, the masques and devices
to symbolise eternal amity, were not more evanescent than the love they
were supposed to perpetuate. Katharine went through her ceremonial part of
the show as a duty, and graciously received the visit of Francis in the
wonderful flimsy palace of wood, drapery, and glass at Guisnes; but her
heart was across the Flemish frontier a few miles away, where her nephew
awaited the coming of the King of England to greet him as his kinsman and
future ally. Gravelines was a poor place, but Charles had other ways of
influencing people than by piling up gewgaws before them. A single day of
rough, hearty feasting was an agreeable relief to Henry after the
glittering insincerity of Guisnes; and the four days following, in which
Charles was entertained at Calais as the guest of Henry and Katharine,
made up in prodigality for the coarseness of the Flemish fare;[30] whilst
Wolsey, who was already posing as the arbitrator between all Christian
potentates, was secured to the side of the Emperor in future by a grant of
the bulk of the income from two Spanish bishoprics, Badajoz and Palencia.