stantly urged by the
French hostages in England by order of Francis, as a means of showing to
the world that he could count upon Henry. To the latter the meeting was
agreeable as a tribute to his power, and as a satisfaction to his love of
show, and to Wolsey it was useful as enhancing his sale value in the eyes
of two lavish bidders. To Charles, who shared none of the frivolous tastes
of his rival sovereigns, it only appealed as a design against him to be
forestalled and defeated. When, therefore, the preparations for the Field
of the Cloth of Gold were in full swing early in the year 1520, Charles,
by a brilliant though risky move such as his father Philip would have
loved, took the first step to win England to his side in the now
inevitable struggle for supremacy between the Empire and France. Whilst he
was still wrangling with his indignant Castilian parliament in March,
Charles sent envoys to England to propose a friendly meeting with Henry
whilst on his way by sea from Spain to Flanders. It was Katharine's
chance and she made the most of it. She had suffered long and patiently
whilst the French friendship was paramount; but if God would vouchsafe her
the boon of seeing her nephew in England it would, she said to his envoys,
be the measure of her desires. Wolsey, too, smiled upon the suggestion,
for failing Francis the new Emperor in time might help him to the Papacy.
So, with all secrecy, a solemn treaty was signed on the 11th April 1520,
settling, down to the smallest details, the reception of Charles by Henry
and Katharine at Sandwich and Canterbury, on his voyage or else at a
subsequent meeting of the monarchs between Calais and Gravelines.

It was late in May when news came from the west that the Spanish fleet was
sailing up the Channel;[29] and Henry was riding towards the sea from
London ostensibly to embark for France when he learnt that the Emperor's
ships were becalmed off Dover. Wolsey was despatched post-haste to greet
the imperial visitor and invite him to land; and Charles, surrounded by a
gorgeous suite of lords and ladies, with the black eagle of Austria on
cloth of gold fluttering over and around him, was conducted to Dover
Castle, where before dawn next morning, the 27th May, Henry arrived and
welcomed his nephew. There was no mistaking the cordiality of the English
cheers that rang in peals from Dover to Canterbury and through the ancient
city, as the two monarchs rode side by side in gorgeous arra