INTRODUCTION

Henry was reluctant to let go of his ambitions. To make the peace between England and France seem more honourable, Wolsey organised a magnifi cent celebration of peace. In June 1520, Henry VIII and Francis I met in France. For two weeks the young kings tried to outdo each other with displays of wealth and fl amboyance. Henry and Francis even met each other in the wrestling ring, where Francis I won, much to Henry’s anger. Many of the tents in which the visitors stayed were made from cloth threaded with gold, so the event became known as the ‘Field of the Cloth of Gold’.

The Field of the Cloth of Gold, painted for Henry VIII in 1545

Fact

In 2004, a historian looking through an inventory of Henry VIII’s royal wardrobe made a surprising fi nd: the king, who loved sport, owned a pair of leather football boots.

Thomas Wolsey

Masterminding Henry VIII’s early successes was a priest named Thomas Wolsey. The son of an Ipswich butcher, Wolsey rose from humble beginnings to become the most powerful man in England, aside from the king. In 1514 Wolsey became Archbishop of York. The following year, the Pope made him a Cardinal and Henry appointed him Lord Chancellor, the king’s chief advisor. Through sheer drive, Wolsey had gained complete control of English politics and the church. He worked tirelessly, organising the affairs of state so that Henry could enjoy himself. Whatever the king wanted, Wolsey would deliver.

Wolsey became magnifi cently rich, and liked to show off his wealth, travelling through London each morning in a grand procession fl anked by two silver crosses. He built himself a house beside the River Thames, which was grander and larger than any belonging to the king. Wolsey named it Hampton Court Palace. Many in Henry’s court were envious of Wolsey, resenting the fact that this ‘butcher’s boy’ had risen to such wealth and power. His enemies nicknamed him the ‘fat maggot’, and began to plot his downfall.

Check your understanding

1. Who was Henry VIII’s fi rst wife, Catherine of Aragon, previously married to? 2. What military successes did England enjoy in 1513? 3. Why did Cardinal Wolsey persuade Henry VIII to make peace with France? 4. What was the purpose of the Field of the Cloth of Gold celebrations in 1520? 5. What positions of power did Thomas Wolsey hold?

Unit 9: Mughal India Babur of Kabul

In the early 16th century, a Muslim warlord from central Asia conquered much of northern India. He became the founder of a dynasty called the Mughals, who would rule India for centuries.

This ruler was Babur of Kabul. He was born in 1483 in the Ferghana Valley, in what is today Uzbekistan in central Asia. At birth he was called Zahir-ud-din Muhammad, but he later took the name Babur, which means ‘tiger’. Babur was descended on his father’s side from Timur Lenk and on his mother’s from Chinggis Khan – the two greatest Mongol conquerors. Babur was famous for his strength and skill as a warrior. He commanded armies from a very young age, conquering the great city of Samarkand when he was only 14 – although he lost control of it shortly afterwards. It was said that he could run up slopes carrying a man on his back, and that he had swum across every river he ever encountered, including the Ganges. He was ruthless to his enemies, but he was also a sensitive and intellectual man who loved gardening and poetry, and wrote many books. During his conquest of India, he personally wrote detailed reports on the country’s culture, wildlife and fl owers.

Fact

Babur thought of himself as Turkic (the native people of his region), and always referred to himself and his followers as Turks. However, he and his heirs were often identifi ed by others as Mongol rulers. The name ‘Mughal’ is simply the Persian version of the word ‘Mongol’.

The conquest of India

Babur became ruler of Ferghana at the age of 11, but he was soon forced out of his homeland by the rise of a powerful Uzbek warlord named Muhammad Shaybani Khan, who defeated him in battle in 1501. Babur became a wandering prince, seeking an empire to rule. The place he really wanted to rule was Samarkand, which had been the capital of his ancestor Timur. However, after failing again to capture it, he turned south and took control of the city of Kabul in Afghanistan in 1504. Babur spent 15 years consolidating his rule of Afghanistan, and failed in several more attempts to conquer central Asia. In 1519 he gave up on Samarkand, and instead turned his attention south-east – towards India. India at the time was fragmented into many small kingdoms. Most of the states in the north were either small Hindu kingdoms called the Rajput states, or they were sultanates under Islamic rulers. India’s most powerful rulers were the Lodi, an Afghan dynasty who governed much of northern India, including the sultanate of Delhi.

Babur holding Court, 1589