Tournai (), was a possible former

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

Overview

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

, the only town (now city) in modern

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

ever to have been ruled by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, was under English control from around 23 September 1513 (after its capture from France during the 1513 Battle of Guinegate) and remained so until its return in 1519 to France upon the payment of 600,000 crowns following the

Treaty of London (1518) The Treaty of London in 1518 was a non-aggression pact between the major European states. The signatories were Burgundy, France, England, the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands, the Papal States and Spain, all of whom agreed not to attack one an ...

. Aged 22,

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

entered the town ceremonially on 25 September 1513. During part of the time during which the town was under English sovereignty, it was possibly represented in the

by two Members of Parliament. However, Oxford historian C. S. L. Davies has argued that no such constituency ever existed.

Election

An election is believed by some to have taken place in about December 1513.S. T. Bindoff, ed., The History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1509–1558, vol. 2 (London: History of Parliament Trust, 1982), 521

Members of Parliament

Coinage

Groat and half-groat coins were issued without a portrait of King Henry VIII but did display his name. Dated 1513, these were struck subsequent to the town's capture in 1513 from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and nowadays are exceptionally rare especially since they are the earliest British dated coins.

External links

History Today article on Henry VIII in Tournai

References

* ''The House of Commons 1509-1558'', by S.T. Bindoff (Secker & Warburg 1982) 1513 establishments in England Constituencies in the Parliament of England Political history of Belgium 1519 disestablishments in England Politics of Wallonia 1510s in the Habsburg Netherlands History of Tournai Constituencies established in 1513 Constituencies disestablished in 1519 {{coin-stub