The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton or Brainston Moor was fought on 9 September 1513 between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland as part of the War of the League of Cambrai and resulted in an English victory. The battle was fought near Branxton, in the county of Northumberland, in northern England, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey. In terms of troop numbers, it was the largest battle ever fought between the two kingdoms.The Seventy Greatest Battles of All Time. Published by Thames & Hudson Ltd. 2005. Edited by Jeremy Black. pp. 95–97. .
After besieging and capturing several English border castles, James encamped his invading army on a commanding hilltop position at Flodden, awaited the English force that had been sent against him, and declined a challenge to fight in an open field. Surrey's army, therefore, carried out a circuitous march to position themselves in the rear of the Scottish camp. The Scots countered that by abandoning their camp and occupying the adjacent Branxton Hill and denying it to the English.
The battle began with an artillery duel followed by a downhill advance by Scottish infantry armed with pikes. Unknown to the Scots, an area of marshy land lay in their path, which broke up their formations. That gave the English troops the chance to bring about a close-quarter battle for which they were better equipped. James IV was killed in the fighting and became the last monarch from Great Britain to die in battle. That and the loss of a large proportion of the nobility led to a political crisis in Scotland.
British historians sometimes use the Battle of Flodden to mark the end of the Middle Ages in the British Isles; another candidate is the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.
Background Centuries of intermittent warfare between England and Scotland had been formally brought to an end by the Treaty of Perpetual Peace which James IV of Scotland and Henry VII of England signed in 1502.Goodwin 2013, pp. 38–41 However, relations were soon soured by repeated cross-border raids, rivalry at sea leading to the death of the Scottish privateer Andrew Barton and the capture of his ships in 1511,Goodwin 2013, pp. 120–121 and increasingly bellicose rhetoric by King Henry VIII of England in claiming to be the overlord of Scotland. Conflict began when James declared war on England to honour the Auld Alliance with France by diverting Henry's English troops from their campaign against King Louis XII of France. At this time, England was involved as a member of the "Catholic League" in the War of the League of Cambrai, defending Italy and the pope from the French, a part of the Italian Wars.
Pope Leo X, already a signatory to the anti-French Treaty of Mechlin, sent a letter to James threatening him with ecclesiastical censure for breaking his peace treaties with England on 28 June 1513, and subsequently James was excommunicated by Cardinal Christopher Bainbridge. James also summoned sailors and sent the Scottish navy, including the Great Michael, to join the ships of Louis XII of France.Hannay, Robert Kerr, ed., Letters of James IV (Edinburgh: SHS, 1953), 307–308, 315–316, 318–319: James Orchard Halliwell, Letters of the Kings of England, vol. 1 (London, 1848), pp. 210–219. The fleet of twenty-two vessels commanded by James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran, departed from the Firth of Forth on 25 July accompanied by James as far as the Isle of May, intending to pass around the north of Scotland and create a diversion in Ireland before joining the French at Brest, from where it might cut the English line of communication across the English Channel. However, the fleet was so badly delayed that it played no part in the war; James had sent most of his experienced artillerymen with the expedition, a decision which was to have unforeseen consequences for his land campaign.Goodwin 2013, pp. 155–156
Henry was in France with Emperor Maximilian I at the siege of Thérouanne. The Scottish Lyon King of Arms brought James IV's letter of 26 July'Henry VIII: July 1513, 16–31', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, vol. 1: 1509–1514 (1920), pp. 952–967. Date accessed: 26 July 2012 to him. James asked him to desist from attacking France in breach of their treaty. Henry's exchange with Islay Herald or the Lyon King on 11 August at his tent at the siege was recorded. The Herald declared that Henry should abandon his efforts against the town and go home. Angered, Henry said that James had no right to summon him, and ought to be England's ally, as James was married to his (Henry's) sister, Margaret. He declared:And now, for a conclusion, recommend me to your master and tell him if he be so hardy to invade my realm or cause to enter one foot of my ground I shall make him as weary of his part as ever was man that began any such business. And one thing I ensure him by the faith that I have to the Crown of England and by the word of a King, there shall never King nor Prince make peace with me that ever his part shall be in it. Moreover, fellow, I care for nothing but for misentreating of my sister, that would God she were in England on a condition she cost the Schottes King not a penny.Brewer, J. S., ed., Letters & Papers, Henry VIII, vol. 1, (1920), pp. 972 no. 2157, (Henry VIII refers to the issue of money possibly owed as a legacy to Margaret Tudor, see Letters & Papers Henry VIII, vol. 1 (1920), p. 623 no. 1342)
Henry also replied by letter on 12 August, writing that James was mistaken and that any of his attempts on England would be resisted.James Orchard Halliwell, Letters of the Kings of England, vol. 1 (London, 1848), pp. 216–219.Foedera, vol. 6 part 1 (1741), p. 52: Foedera, vol. 13 (London, 1712), p. 382 Using the pretext of revenge for the murder of Robert Kerr, a Warden of the Scottish East March who had been killed by John "The Bastard" Heron in 1508, James invaded England with an army of about 30,000 men. However, both sides had been making lengthy preparations for this conflict. Henry VIII had already organised an army and artillery in the north of England to counter the expected invasion. Some of the guns had been returned to use against the Scots by Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy. A year earlier, Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, had been appointed Lieutenant-General of the army of the north and was issued with banners of the Cross of St George and the Red Dragon of Wales.Letters & Papers Henry VIII, vol. 1 (London, 1920), p. 609 no. 1317, p. 623 no. 1342, wardrobe warrant for banners for Earl of Surrey, 1 August 1512. Only a small number of the light horsemen of the Scottish border had been sent to France. A northern army was maintained with artillery and its expense account started on 21 July. The first captains were recruited in Lambeth. Many of these soldiers wore green and white Tudor colours. Surrey marched to Doncaster in July and then Pontefract, where he assembled more troops from northern England.J. D. Mackie, 'The English Army at Flodden' in Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, vol. 8 (Edinburgh 1951), pp. 53–57,
"Ill Raid" On 5 August, a force estimated at up to 7,000 Scottish border reivers commanded by Lord Home, crossed into Northumberland and began to pillage farms and villages, taking anything of value before burning the houses. Surrey had taken the precaution of sending Sir William Bulmer north with 200 mounted archers, which Bulmer augmented with locally levied men to create a force approaching 1,000 in strength. On 13 August, they prepared an ambush for the Scots as they returned north laden with the spoils of their looting, by hiding in the broom bushes that grew shoulder-high on Milfield Plain. Surprising the Scots with a sudden volley of arrows, the English killed as many as 600 of the Scots before they were able to escape, leaving their booty and the Home family banner behind them.Reese 2003, p. 85 Although the "Ill Raid" had little effect on the forthcoming campaign, it may have influenced James's decision not to fight an open battle against Surrey on the same ground.Goodwin 2013, p. 157 Whether the raid was undertaken solely on Lord Home's initiative, or whether it had been authorised by James is unknown.Taylor 1913, p. 250
Invasion
On 18 August, five cannons brought down from Edinburgh Castle to the Netherbow Port at St Mary's Wynd for the invasion set off towards England dragged by borrowed oxen. On 19 August two gross culverins, four culverins pickmoyance and six (mid-sized) culverins moyane followed with the gunner Robert Borthwick and master carpenter John Drummond. The king himself set off that night with two hastily prepared standards of St Margaret and St Andrew.Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 4, (1902), pp. 515–522
The queen, Catherine of Aragon, was regent in England. On 27 August, she issued warrants for the property of all Scotsmen in England to be seized.Letters & Papers Henry VIII, vol. 1 (London, 1920), no. 2222, item 16. On hearing of the invasion on 3 September, she ordered Thomas Lovell to raise an army in the Midland counties.Rymer, Thomas, ed., Foedera, vol. 6 part 1 (Hague, 1741), pp. 49–50: Foedera, vol. 13 (London, 1712), pp. 375–376 She prepared banners for an army, including her heraldry, in case she herself was called north.Courtney Herber, 'Katherine of Aragon: Diligent Diplomat and learned Queen', Aidan Norrie, Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), p. 53.
In keeping with his understanding of the medieval code of chivalry, King James sent notice to the English, one month in advance, of his intent to invade. This gave the English time to gather an army. After a muster on the Burgh Muir of Edinburgh, the Scottish host moved to Ellemford, to the north of Duns, Scottish Borders, and camped to wait for Angus and Home. The Scottish army, numbering some 42,000 men, crossed the River Tweed into England near Coldstream;Goodwin 2013, pp. 163–165 the exact date of the crossing is not recorded, but is generally accepted to have been 22 August.Goodwin 2013, p. 252 The Scottish troops were unpaid and were only required by feudal obligation to serve for forty days. Once across the border, a detachment turned south to attack Wark on Tweed Castle, while the bulk of the army followed the course of the Tweed downstream to the northeast to invest the remaining border castles.Goodwin 2013, p. 165
On 24 August, James IV held a council or parliament at Twiselhaugh and made a proclamation for the benefit of the heirs of anyone killed during this invasion.Tytler, Patrick Fraser, History of Scotland, vol. 5 (1841), p. 57: Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1814), p. 278 By 29 August after a siege of six days, Bishop Thomas Ruthall's Norham Castle was taken and partly demolished after the Scottish heavy artillery had breached the recently refurbished outer walls.Goodwin 2013, p. 167 The Scots then moved south, capturing the castles of Etal and Ford.Macdougal, Norman, James IV (Tuckwell: East Linton, 1997), pp. 272–273.