ABSTRACT
Princess Mary Tudor's marriage to Louis XII was a major political event, not only in the tortuous course of Anglo-French relations, but also for the future of the Valois-Orleans dynasty. It was, equally, an important cultural event at a time when the new Italian artistic influences were slowly being assimilated by French artists. Because Mary landed in Boulogne, she had to travel to Paris through towns and fields that still carried the stigmas of many Anglo-French wars. The relations between the two crowns were also still very tense in the autumn of 1514, although peace had been signed on 7 August in London and Henry VIII had hosted a lavish reception for the French ambassadors at Greenwich. On several occasions, French officials and nobles scarcely disguised their feelings to the two English embassies sent to France in August-November 1514 and to Princess Mary's retinue.
