Tudor Minute October 3: The Treaty of London is celebrated

Today in 1518 the Tudor Court celebrated the Treaty of London, a treaty of Universal Peace agreed between the leading European nations, and called for non-aggression as well as coming to each others’ aid if they were attacked. This was a wonderful bit of political maneuvering by Cardinal Wolsey, who managed to get everyone to agree to this treaty of peace, and if arguments came up, Henry would be the one to arbitrate them in London.

This is also the treaty that started the talks for England and France to meet and have a summit, which was the famous Field of the Cloth of Gold. While the Treaty didn’t last long, and soon enough the European powers were making war on each other, at the time the idea that you could have non aggression in Europe was an incredibly forward thinking idea, and shows Wolsey’s creative thinking. He made England look like a peaceful leader, which was something that greatly appealed to his humanist king.

That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.

Dig Deeper into the Treaty of London and Field of Cloth of Gold with the newest

Tudor Activity Book - Field of Cloth of Gold Edition