Today in 1520 marked the beginning of what may have been the biggest, most expensive party of all time, involving two kings, 18 days and $19 million.
This is known today as the Field of the Cloth of Gold; even the name tells you just how over the top this thing got.
This extra big get-together was an extra big deal for the two rulers, England’s King Henry VIII and King Francis I of France.
They were two of the three biggest names in Europe at the time.
Like so many other European monarchs before them and after them, each wanted to grow their own power and foil their rivals’ ambitions for Europe, and usually this led to war.
But Henry’s leading advisor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, convinced the two kings and other big names in Europe to join a broad peace treaty instead.
To seal the deal, he and others suggested that the kings meet in person in Calais.
Now when two monarchs got together in the 16th century, expenses were rarely spared.
But these two monarchs were eager to prove themselves, extremely competitive and big fans of living large.
So their festival of friendship turned into a continent’s worth of extravagance.
Thousands of workers built temporary homes, banquet halls, even faux castles.
They brought entire herds of deer and other animals from elsewhere and kept them in pens until it was time for the chefs to turn the animals into the main courses of enormous feasts – which of course the kings ate on literal gold plates and with silver spoons.
There were concerts, tournaments, all kinds of entertainment; the grand finale was a kite filled with fireworks.
And the two would-be rival kings got along like old friends!
At one point a reportedly tipsy Henry asked Francis to wrestle him, and when he lost, Henry didn’t even mind, suggesting they just move on to archery next.
Now if you thought all that work and spectacle would lead to a long-lasting peace between the two European powers, um, no.
Two years later, they were fighting on opposite sides of a war involving the Holy Roman Empire.
But after that, the two countries actually did coexist for many years.
So the millions they spent over those 18 days really did make for peace… apart from the wars.
Starting tomorrow in New Orleans, it’s the French Market Creole Tomato Festival.
There will be two days of food and festivities, including what’s known as the Ripe & Ready Second Line.
They do encourage people to dress in “tomato attire.”
The Field of the Cloth of Gold(Historic-UK.com)
French Market Creole Tomato Festival
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Image via Wikicommons
