eyewitness is to be believed, Henry defied the terms of the encounter by drunkenly challenging Francis to a wrestling match: Henry was heavier, but Francis threw him to the floor, using a famous Breton technique.
At the tranquil Leeds Castle, it may be a stretch to imagine the clamour, tumult and stench of the swarming throngs of people and horses amassed here in May 1520 to pitch golden tents acrossthe grounds. The huge logistical exercise of transporting 6,000 people from London to Calais — and all the food and materials needed to maintain and shelter them — is almost inconceivable — but here they were.
After such vast expense, it is chastening to consider that this extravagant celebration of military power and stupendous wealth in the name of peace, between two such great rivals, had few lasting political consequences. Within three years, England and France were once again at war.
FOOD IN TUDOR ENGLAND
Many people have a vision of Tudor food and eating habits drawn straight from Hollywood’s depiction of Charles Laughton as Henry VIII throwing a greasy, gnawed chicken leg over his shoulder. Instead, people in Tudor England had a pronounced sense of table etiquette and ate a rich and varied diet, even if they didn’t consider it desirable to consume their ‘five a day’.
Red meat was the linchpin of the Tudor diet, and beef most important of all. Thomas Cogan’s The Haven of Health of 1589 states that beef ‘of all flesh is most usual among English men’, while physician Andrew Boorde considered that, once salted, beef ‘doth make an Englishman strong’. All Tudor food was, of course, organic, and farm animals and game raised solely on pasture and other vegetation would have had a rich flavour. The second most popular meat was mutton, while capons — young castrated male chickens — and pigeons were also regularly on the menu. Pig meat, once cheap and commonly available, declined in favour in the sixteenth century, whilerabbit eating greatly increased. The wealthy Willoughby family of Wollaton Hall employed their own ‘coninger’ (named after ‘conies’ or full-grown rabbits) Thomas Hill. Those at the high end of the social scale, especially the monarch, had access to a wide range of other meats, including venison, pheasant, partridge, quail, swan, goose and stork. Our Christmas bird, the turkey, was an exotic novelty: it was first mentioned in accounts in the 1570s.
Meat was supplemented by the ‘white meats’. Tudor diets were rich in butter, cheese and eggs, which were eaten with a large quantity of bread. One of the best breads was ‘white manchet’, made with fine white wheat flour, though it was sometimes adulterated with chalk.
Meat was not eaten on fast days, which were every Friday and Saturday, and throughout Lent and Advent except Sundays. Instead, the Tudors ate fish, both salted fish such as cod, ling and pollock, and fresh fish such as haddock, turbot and plaice. A visitor to England in 1598 noted the large quantities of oysters on sale in London.
Fruit and vegetables were not thought to agree with man’s digestion. The Book of Keruynge [ Carving ] of 1508 warned its readers to ‘beware of green salads and raw fruits for they will [make] your souerayne [stomach] sick’, and Sir Thomas Elyot had the same message in his book from 1541, The Castle of Health . ‘All fruits generally,’ he wrote, ‘are noyfull [harmful] to man and do engender ill humours.’ Such attitudes naturally encouraged relatively low consumption of fruit and vegetables for those who could afford otherwise but, nevertheless, the kitchen garden featured in every diet to some extent. Tudors had access, if they chose, to apples, pears, damsons, peaches, oranges, lemons and berries; and cabbages, beans, peas, leeks,turnips, onions and parsnips, although garden produce was, of course, seasonal and not all fruits and vegetables were available all year round. Carrots were still relatively new, and potatoes only
At the tranquil Leeds Castle, it may be a stretch to imagine the clamour, tumult and stench of the swarming throngs of people and horses amassed here in May 1520 to pitch golden tents acrossthe grounds. The huge logistical exercise of transporting 6,000 people from London to Calais — and all the food and materials needed to maintain and shelter them — is almost inconceivable — but here they were.
After such vast expense, it is chastening to consider that this extravagant celebration of military power and stupendous wealth in the name of peace, between two such great rivals, had few lasting political consequences. Within three years, England and France were once again at war.
FOOD IN TUDOR ENGLAND
Many people have a vision of Tudor food and eating habits drawn straight from Hollywood’s depiction of Charles Laughton as Henry VIII throwing a greasy, gnawed chicken leg over his shoulder. Instead, people in Tudor England had a pronounced sense of table etiquette and ate a rich and varied diet, even if they didn’t consider it desirable to consume their ‘five a day’.
Red meat was the linchpin of the Tudor diet, and beef most important of all. Thomas Cogan’s The Haven of Health of 1589 states that beef ‘of all flesh is most usual among English men’, while physician Andrew Boorde considered that, once salted, beef ‘doth make an Englishman strong’. All Tudor food was, of course, organic, and farm animals and game raised solely on pasture and other vegetation would have had a rich flavour. The second most popular meat was mutton, while capons — young castrated male chickens — and pigeons were also regularly on the menu. Pig meat, once cheap and commonly available, declined in favour in the sixteenth century, whilerabbit eating greatly increased. The wealthy Willoughby family of Wollaton Hall employed their own ‘coninger’ (named after ‘conies’ or full-grown rabbits) Thomas Hill. Those at the high end of the social scale, especially the monarch, had access to a wide range of other meats, including venison, pheasant, partridge, quail, swan, goose and stork. Our Christmas bird, the turkey, was an exotic novelty: it was first mentioned in accounts in the 1570s.
Meat was supplemented by the ‘white meats’. Tudor diets were rich in butter, cheese and eggs, which were eaten with a large quantity of bread. One of the best breads was ‘white manchet’, made with fine white wheat flour, though it was sometimes adulterated with chalk.
Meat was not eaten on fast days, which were every Friday and Saturday, and throughout Lent and Advent except Sundays. Instead, the Tudors ate fish, both salted fish such as cod, ling and pollock, and fresh fish such as haddock, turbot and plaice. A visitor to England in 1598 noted the large quantities of oysters on sale in London.
Fruit and vegetables were not thought to agree with man’s digestion. The Book of Keruynge [ Carving ] of 1508 warned its readers to ‘beware of green salads and raw fruits for they will [make] your souerayne [stomach] sick’, and Sir Thomas Elyot had the same message in his book from 1541, The Castle of Health . ‘All fruits generally,’ he wrote, ‘are noyfull [harmful] to man and do engender ill humours.’ Such attitudes naturally encouraged relatively low consumption of fruit and vegetables for those who could afford otherwise but, nevertheless, the kitchen garden featured in every diet to some extent. Tudors had access, if they chose, to apples, pears, damsons, peaches, oranges, lemons and berries; and cabbages, beans, peas, leeks,turnips, onions and parsnips, although garden produce was, of course, seasonal and not all fruits and vegetables were available all year round. Carrots were still relatively new, and potatoes only
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