It’s curious that while Scotland becomes a more confident nation, it continues to be muddled about its past.
Rejecting the romantic for something closer to the real ought to be part of the maturing process, so George Goodwin’s study of the lead-up to the Battle of Flodden ought to be welcomed on that ground alone.
Goodwin has previous form, having written an account of the battle of Towton, the largest and bloodiest battle of the Wars of the Roses. This previous conflict has a bearing on Goodwin’s more recent book, as the Scots took advantage of civil war on England and indeed supported the Yorkist ‘Pretender’ Perkin Warbeck. The Tudor dynasty that emerged from the conflict recognised the need for peaceable relations with its northern neighbour.
By the early sixteenth century, relations between the two kingdoms had improved considerably, with a ‘perpetual peace’ signed with Henry VII and the marriage of James IV and Margaret Tudor.
Margaret’s brother, Henry VIII was, however, anxious to assert his right to dominate the British Isles, referring to James as his ‘great homager’ and demanding that Scotland’s first capital ship, the Great Michael, be handed over. He also withheld monies owing to Margaret.
Aggressive, blundering and mercurial, Henry seemed bound to aggravate relations with his brother-in-law at some point.
That came as a result of war between France and England. The treaty made between James and Louis XI of France in 1512 had renewed the ‘Auld Alliance’ and, as English troops landed again on French soil, put pressure on James to assist his ally by a diversionary invasion of England.
This was initially successful, reducing Wark Castle and other strong points. The leader of the English force sent against the Scots was Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey. In favour with the previous English monarch, Howard had fallen foul of Henry VIII and was anxious to regain royal favour. He had been, however, on very good terms with James IV when the marriage of the latter to Margaret Tudor had been arranged. Over seventy, facing a much larger force than this own, his prospects of pleasing his monarch with victory looked slim.
The ground originally chosen for the battle made these even slimmer – the Scots had camped on Flodden Hill, overlooking a stretch of flat ground, ideal for the pike blocks which made up most of James’ army. Although Howard had agreed to give battle here, he led his troops on a long flank march that took them to the rear of the Scots original position.
The ground here at Branxton was far less suitable for the Scots, who had to descend a slope, always difficult for pikes to achieve without losing cohesion. The advancing Scots were also faced with waterlogged ground, not visible from their previous position, between themselves and the English.
The result is too well known to much detain us here: some 10,000 Scots were killed, including James and some 100 nobles, many gentry and lesser folk. Yet Henry VIII’s sister, a widow with an infant son, with a handful of remaining aristocracy, steered the country through what elsewhere might have proved a major crisis.
This point was well brought out in the audience discussion by Dr. Jenny Wormald, who has written extensively on the Renaissance and Reformation in Scotland.
"Fatal Rivalry: Flodden 1513" by George Goodwin (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, £20, 2013)