Field of The Cloth of Gold

The Field of the Cloth of Gold or Camp du Drap d'Or (in French)http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_du_Drap_d%27Or is the name given to a place in Balinghem, between Guînes and Ardres, in France, near Calais.

It was the site of a meeting that took place from 7 June to 24 June 1520, between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France.

The site is indicated by a commemorative plaque on the D231 road (Route de Marquise) at 50°51′08″N 1°55′22″E / 50.8523°N 1.9229°E / 50.8523; 1.9229Coordinates: 50°51′08″N 1°55′22″E / 50.8523°N 1.9229°E / 50.8523; 1.9229.

The meeting was arranged to increase the bond of friendship between the two kings following the Anglo-French treaty of 1514. The form "Field of Cloth of Gold" has been in general use in the English language since at least the 18th century. It would be the last meeting between an English or British monarch and a French one until Queen Victoria met with King Louis Philippe I, the last king to rule France, in 1843, excepting the meeting of James V of Scotland and Francis I of France merely sixteen years later.

Under the guidance of England's Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief nations of Europe sought to outlaw war forever among Christian nations. Mattingly (1938) studied the causes of wars in that era, finding that treaties of nonaggression such as this one could never be stronger than the armies of their sponsors. When those forces were about equal, these treaties typically widened the conflict. That is, diplomacy could sometimes postpone war, but could not prevent wars based on irreconcilable interests and ambitions. What was lacking, Mattingly concludes, was a neutral power whose judgements were generally accepted by either impartial justice or by overwhelming force.