Good Friends and Brothers? Francis I and Henry VIII

On April 27th, 1989, at Sangatte on the northern coast of France, a ceremony was held to mark the commencement of the main work on the Channel Tunnel. At the tunnel entrance stood two giant pasteboard figures. One was of Henry VIII of England and the other was of Francis I of France. Their symbolic presence at the beginning of an ambitious project designed to link England and France was especially appropriate.

Henry VIII is often called a 'Renaissance prince' and is popularly remembered for his ebullience and the extraordinariness of his reign. What is often not so well appreciated, is the extent to which his style of monarchy and the events of his reign were influenced by his relationship with that other 'Renaissance prince', Francis I. Rarely, since their time, have France and England been so drawn together by some higher ideal or imperative. Now it is the single market and European unity. Then, it was magnificent, competitive, kingship.