On 29th October 1532, according to Wynkyn de Word, Henry VIII accompanied Francis I to Morgison, situated seven miles outside of Calais, and bid farewell to him there. Francis I then carried on to Paris. Chronicler Edward Hall dates the farewell to 30th October and writes:
“The morowe after beyng the thirtie daie of October, the two kynges departed out of Caleis, and came nere to Sadyngfeld, and there alighted in a faire grene place, where was a table set, and there the Englishemen serued the Frenchemen of wyne, Ypocras, fruite, & spice abondantly. When the two kynges had communed a litle, they mounted on their horses, and at the very enteryng of the French grounde, they toke handes, and with Princely countenaunce, louyng behauor, and hartie wordes, eche embrased other and so depart there departed.”
I love that description: “loving behaviour”!
Anne Boleyn may have felt snubbed when Francis I prevented her from meeting with his sister, Marguerite of Angoulême, but the trip had been successful. Anne had acted as Henry VIII’s consort and Francis I had shown his support for their proposed union. The trip gave them the confidence to take things to another level. Edward Hall records that the couple got married on Thursday 14th November 1532, St Erkenwald’s Day, the day after they arrived back in England. Whatever the truth of this, the couple did begin co-habiting when they arrived back.
Notes and Sources
- The Maner of the tryumphe of Caleys and Bulleyn and The noble tryumphaunt coronacyon of Quene Anne, wyfe unto the most noble kynge Henry VIII, Wynkyn de Worde, p16
- Hall’s Chronicle, Edward Hall, p794
- Picture: Henry VIII and Francis I of France, manuscript, from http://www.marileecody.com/temporary/images.html
