This day in Tudor history, 7th June 1520, was the first day of that historic meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France.
The meeting was known as the Field of Cloth of Gold and although it was a diplomatic meeting, it was a chance for these two Renaissance kings to show off to each other and try to outdo each other with their wealth, costumes and even strength.
Find out more about this famous meeting in today's video.
Also on this day in history:
- 1532 – Birth of Amy Robsart (later Lady Dudley) probably at Stanfield Hall, Norfolk. Amy was the daughter of Sir John Robsart of Syderstone, Norfolk, and his wife, Elizabeth. Amy married Robert Dudley, Elizabeth I's favourite, in 1550.
- 1536 – A water pageant was held in honour of Jane Seymour, the new queen, on the Thames.
- 1546 – Henry VIII and Francis I signed the Treaty of Ardres (also known as the Treaty of Camp).
- 1592 – Death of Peter Osborne, administrator. He was buried at St Faith's under St Paul's. He held offices in the Exchequer during Edward VI's reign and is thought to have supported Lady Jane Grey. Osborne served Elizabeth I as an ecclesiastical commissioner and various other posts.
- 1594 – Roderigo Lopez, Elizabeth I's physician, was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn after being accused by Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, of conspiring with Spanish emissaries to poison the Queen. Lopez maintained his innocence, and the Queen seemed unsure of his guilt. It is thought that the charges were trumped up. Trivia: Lopez may have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's character, Shylock, in “The Merchant of Venice”.
- 1599 – Death of Henry Porter, playwright, after being mortally wounded in his left breast by a rapier in an assault carried out by John Day, a fellow writer.
- 1604 – Death of John Ley, explorer, in London. He was buried in the chancel of St Andrew by the Wardrobe. Ley was the first Englishman to enter the Amazon and one of the first to explore the coast of Guiana.
- 1618 – Death of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, colonial governor (of Virginia), at sea, on his way to Virginia.