parti-coloured garment was on the other side of gold, with the
motto,--

"Cloth of gold, do not despise
That thou be match'd with cloth of frise."

Besides mottoes, cyphers and monograms were the fashion, embroidered
with heraldic devices. These particulars we find in Hall's account of
the tournament, with a detailed description of the golden tent in
which the monarchs met, and which gave its name ever after to the
plain near Guisnes, where the jousts were held. What we read of its
construction recalls the Alexandrian erections, of which I have spoken
already, as well as their hangings and embroideries.

[Illustration: Pl. 81.
English Specimens of Spanish Work. Time of Henry VIII. Lord
Middleton's Collection.]

[Illustration: Pl. 82.
English Specimen. Spanish Work. Henry VIII. Louisa, Lady Waterford's
Collection.]

Incrustations of pearls and precious stones gave a dazzling brilliancy
to the tent, divided into many rooms, and adapted to the climate of
the north. It covered a space of 328 feet. Hall describes the tent,
the jousts, and the splendid apparel belonging to this last chapter of
the magnificence of chivalry. Brewer remarks that magnificence was, in
those days, often supposed to be synonymous with magnanimity (at any
rate, it was erected into a royal virtue). "The Mediaeval Age," he
says, "had gathered up its departing energies for this last display of
its favourite pastime, henceforth to be consigned without regret to
the mouldering lodges of the past."[601]

We cannot say how much of French taste was imported from this meeting
of French and English luxury. The spirit of the Renaissance, fresh
from Italy, was reigning in France, but we had also in Italy our own
emissaries. John of Padua was probably only one of many Englishmen who
travelled to learn and improve themselves in their special crafts.

Catherine of Aragon introduced the Spanish taste in embroidery, which
was then white or black silk and gold "lace stitches" on fine linen
(plate 81). This went by the name of "Spanish work," and continued to
be the fashion down to and through the reign of Mary Tudor, who
remained faithful to the traditions of her mother's and her
grandmother's work[602] (plate 82). Catherine of Aragon had learned
her craft from her mother, Queen Isabella, who always made her
husband's shirts. To make and adorn a shirt was then an artistic feat,
not unworthy of a queen. Isabella instituted