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In Search of Lost Time [volume 1] vocabulary
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Field of the Cloth of Gold
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► definition
Definition:A June 1520 summit between King Henry VIII (he was) of England and King Francis of France.Although the meeting was intended to improve the relations between the two kings, it turned into a contest over who was wealthier. Some absurd amount of gold and other wealth was on display and thousands of animals were consumed. After drinking too much wine (just a conjecture) King Henry challenged the French king to a wrestling contest - and lost.The end result was a war the following year.
painting: By Unknown,(1545) https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49241403
► uses
Uses:
We got ready to play and, since this day which had begun so sadly was destined to end in joy, as I went up, before the game started, to the friend with the sharp voice whom I had heard, that first day, calling Gilberte by name, she said to me: "No, no, I'm sure you'd much rather be in Gilberte's camp; besides, look, she's signalling to you." She was in fact summoning me to cross the snowy lawn to her camp, to 'take the field,' which the sun, by casting over it a rosy gleam, the metallic lustre of old and worn brocades, had turned into a Field of the Cloth of Gold.
Marcel Proust. In Search of Lost Time [volume 1] (1913).
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Before he grew too fat, Henry VIII was so fond of wrestling that he took a fall out of Francis I on the field of the Cloth of Gold.
Ambrose Bierce. Tangential Views
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