Two Queens at the Field of Cloth of Gold 

Katherine of Aragon (1485 to 1536), the first wife of Henry VIII (and a survivor of this union) is often unfairly remembered for being unable to produce a male heir for the Tudor dynasty, thereby triggering the English reformation. Most forget that she was married to Henry for 24 years, and for most of that time, quite happily.

Beloved by her people and talented in her role as queen. Katherine acted as regent in 1513, with the title of Governor of the Realm and Captain General, whilst Henry made war in France (1512 to 1514).

Katherine was born in 1485 and was the youngest child of Ferdinand I of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille. She was raised for a life in politics and received an elite education including in philosophy, French and Latin, as well as in practical skills such as embroidery.

In 1501, she was married to Arthur, Prince of Wales, the son of King Henry VII and heir to the English throne. Just a year later, in 1502, Arthur died leaving Katherine a widow at the age of sixteen.

A feud broke out between Spain and England over Katherine's dowry and during this time she became the first female ambassador in European history.

In 1509, she married Arthur's brother, Henry VIII. Henry was a young monarch with grand ambitions and an education and intellect to match. The two became a true renaissance couple.

Just three years into their marriage, in 1513, a pregnant Katherine rode with her husband from London to Dover at the head of 11,000 men. At Dover Castle, she was named regent, with William Warham (Archbishop of Canterbury) and Thomas Howard (Earl of Surrey) named as her advisors.

By July 1513 the Scots were planning an attack, likely assuming they could easily defeat England with Henry VIII away in France. On 22 August 1513, the Scottish King James VI led an army of 80,000 men into England, presenting Katherine with her first major challenge as regent.

She travelled north, making a rousing speech to the troops, urging them to fight for England's cause against the Scots. The English victory at the Battle of Flodden on 9 September saw 10,000 Scottish soldiers and their King, James VI perish.

Sadly, Flodden exhausted her and caused the premature birth and death of her son.

Having originally counselled Henry VIII against an alliance with King Francis I, Katherine went on to play an important role in the peace and reconciliation between the two nations at the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520.

Using her diplomatic skills and status, the Queen hosted dignitaries, dances and theatrical entertainments. Individually hosting the French King Francis I in the French camp for a lavish banquet, she also appeared side-by-side with the French Queen Claude signifying the new union between the two countries.

Before the summit had even begun, the Royal entourage stopped on the way at Canterbury where she hosted a banquet for the new Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, a key player in European politics and Katherine's nephew.

Unfortunately, as with most Medieval queens, her successes, skills and political abilities are overlooked by her ability to bear children and produce an heir and spares for the king. Katherine gave birth to six children but only one child, the future Mary Tudor survived. Only having a daughter was problematic for Henry VIII and this triggered his desire for a divorce.

In 1527, the King requested a divorce from Pope Clement VII on the grounds that the marriage was not valid due to her previous marriage to his brother. Katherine refuted the claim saying that her marriage to Arthur was never consummated and was therefore not valid in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Pope Clement was reluctant to dissolve the marriage, as Katherine's nephew was the Holy Roman Emperor.

This eventually led to the separation of the church from state as Henry VIII pursued a marriage to Anne Boleyn, who he secretly married in 1533, in a ceremony performed by Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Henry VIII then separated Katherine from her daughter Mary for the rest of her life, but she never acknowledged the legitimacy of the annulment nor the marriage to Anne Boleyn. When Anne gave birth to her daughter Elizabeth, Mary was illegitimated, and Elizabeth became the new heir to the throne.

Katherine still saw herself as Queen of England and refused to give her crown jewels to Anne.

In 1536, she died at the age of 50 at Kimbolton Castle in Cambridgeshire. She is buried at Peterborough Cathedral.

Well known as the dutiful wife of King Frances I (1494 to 1547) and subject to his many mistresses, Claude of France (1499 to 1524) was similarly educated and politically savvy, but she was also personally invested in French Catholic religious reform.

Claude often made political appearances without her husband and regularly appeared side by side with her influential mother-in-law, Louise de Savoie. She was present at the public acceptance of the political engagement of their ten-month old son Francis to Mary I of England, the daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, in Paris in 1518.

Like Katherine her most notable public appearances were at the Field of Cloth of Gold, where she hosted feasts, dances and theatrical shows to entertain the royal guests.

She individually hosted Henry VIII for a banquet in the French camp whilst her husband hosted the English Queen in the English camp. To highlight the positive new relationship between England and France, Katherine and Claude also appeared side by side at the joust.

Beyond her diplomatic role at the Field of Cloth of Gold, Claude was known to wield great influence and gained respect with a number of notable Venetian ambassadors and within the higher echelons of the Roman Catholic Church.

She spent much of her life in a cycle of annual pregnancies. At the time of the Field of Cloth of Gold, she had already given birth to two sons and was nine months pregnant with her third child.

Claude and her sister Renée were the only children of Louis XII, King of France and Anne of Brittany to survive to adulthood (Anne was pregnant 14 times). Both were groomed from a young age for marriages that would create political alliances. Claude and Renée were surrounded by women employed specifically to help them prepare for a life in politics and at court. It is believed her mother, Queen Anne, who was literate in Greek wanted to empower her children through education.

Claude was only five years old when it was decided she would marry her second cousin, Francis who then became the heir to the French throne. In 1514, Queen Anne died and the following year, in 1515 Louis XII died. Claude aged 15, married Francis and became Queen of France.

King Francis I quickly appointed his mother Louise to his council, where she twice acted as his regent. His older sister Marguerite also intervened in politics, creating a challenging dynamic for Claude. However, her physical presence at court was dogged enough to sway some influence, particularly in the political spaces she inherited from her mother, including the territories of Brittany, Blois, Montfort, Étampes, Soissons and Vertus.

Her marriage to Francis I, however, was purely political. Immediately after their union, he began pursuing mistresses - often women she knew from the royal court.

Despite this, she relentlessly prioritised and pursued her political position and developed a passion for religious reform.

After the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520, she turned her attention to the Catholic Religious Reformation of France and always wore a girdle with a tiny version of Book of Hours on her waist, which acted as her prayer book.

Arguably, her two main contributions to French religious reform include overseeing the reconstruction of the parish church of Saint-Solenne (today the Cathedral of Blois) and the rebuilding of the Augustinian Convent of Saint Jean of Blois, for nuns known as the ‘Véroniques', renowned for the good education they give to their boarders.

Although Claude's life was short, dying at the young age of 24, she prioritised religious reform over a pursuit of power, fostering learning and the traditional queenly domains of justice, peace, piety and culture. She also provided Francis with three male heirs and a solid foundation for his succession.