Great Battles FLODDEN

On the morning of 9 September 1513, King James lV of Scotland stood atop Flodden Hill with what seemed an insurmountable advantage over the English. Yet by the day's end he would lay slain and his army shattered

- MARC DESANTIS

Scotland’s King James IV was a quintessential Renaissance prince, ruling his kingdom in an era when the great works of Greece and Rome were being recovered and classical culture reborn across Europe. He vigorously supported the new learning, but a king’s first and foremost role in that day was that of war-leader, and James was every bit the warrior-monarch.

He adopted new weapons and tactics for his army, and poured vast resources into developing a national navy for Scotland that could compare with that of young King Henry VIII in England, Scotland’s larger and more powerful neighbour to the south.

There had already been much conflict between England and Scotland for hundreds of years. In 1502, an attempt was made to bring calm to long-troubled AngloScottish relations with the nations entering into the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, which saw James IV wed to Henry VII’s daughter Margaret Tudor (also the sister of Henry VIII) in the next year. While this agreement was not without its merits, it created an obvious threat to Scotland’s long-standing alliance with France should events force James to choose between peace with England or his connections with the French.

Centuries earlier, Scotland and France had entered into the Treaty of Paris in 1295, which called for either to come to the aid of the other in times of war with England. This was the beginning of what was known in Scotland as the ‘Auld Alliance’, and it would play a significant role in the Flodden campaign. In 1513 Henry VIII, eager for martial glory, departed for France as part of his commitment to the anti-French Holy League. In response, James declared war against his brother-in-law, mustered his army in late July and struck into Northumberland in the north of England in a bid to show his support for his French allies.