The two young kings, each desperate to outshine the other, erected temporary palaces, golden fountains flowing with wine, and staged tournaments of astonishing extravagance. Despite the friendly wrestling match between the monarchs (which Henry lost) and lavish gift-giving, the summit produced little lasting peace, and England and France were again at war within years.
For over two weeks in June and July 1520, a temporary city of silk tents and a fake palace with glass windows and gold-leafed roofs rose from the fields near Calais, all so Henry VIII and Francis I could out-dazzle one another under the guise of friendship. Wine literally flowed from a fountain topped by a statue of Bacchus. Six thousand people attended, including nobles, servants, and craftsmen who had worked for months to construct the spectacle.
Beneath the pageantry lay real rivalry. The two kings, both in their twenties, competed at everything — archery, wrestling, and dress — trying to project magnificence and dominance without tipping into war. Henry reportedly challenged Francis to a wrestling match and lost, an episode said to have stung his pride for years.
The summit, arranged largely through the diplomacy of Cardinal Wolsey, aimed to seal an alliance against the rising power of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Yet within four years, England and France were fighting each other again, proof that gold cloth and wine fountains could not paper over the deeper machinery of European power politics.
Key people: Henry VIII, Francis I