ABSTRACT
Drawing strongly on evidence from letters, which is expanded by reference to inventories, accounts and portraits, this chapter begins by reviewing what magnificence meant to a sixteenth-century king. Henry VIII and many of the other rulers in Europe consciously used their clothes to reinforce their nationality, status and authority. The chapter places Henry VIII in his social and political context by comparing him to his fellow monarchs and rulers in Europe. For Henry VIII to be seen in context, he must be compared with his peers, his fellow monarchs and princes of Christendom. English kings before and after Henry consciously sought interaction with their European neighbours and links were made and maintained through marriage, alliances, the sending and receiving of ambassadors and trade. Although England was on the periphery of the Continent physically in 1509, she was closely bound into Europe by trade, political affinity and religious allegiance.
