The Fall of a King

Battle of Flodden on 9th September 1513 by Sir Edward Burne-Jones

A Day in History - 9th September 1513

At 4pm on the 9th of September 1513, a salvo of artillery marked the beginning of one of the most devastating battles in Scottish history - the Battle of Flodden. The clash effectively ended the Treaty of Perpetual Peace signed in 1502 between England and Scotland, an agreement that had tentatively drawn a close to over a century of intermittent warfare. Yet by 1513, tensions had returned, fuelled by dynastic ambition, competing alliances, and the aggressive rhetoric of England’s new king, Henry VIII, who asserted himself as the overlord of Scotland - an affront that reignited old hostilities.

The immediate cause of the conflict lay in international politics. When Henry VIII invaded France as part of the War of the League of Cambrai, he left his northern border vulnerable. James IV of Scotland, in accordance with the Franco-Scottish Auld Alliance, declared war on England in an effort to draw English troops away from their continental campaign against King Louis XII of France.

James IV, King of the Scots

James led the largest army ever raised by a Scottish monarch at the time, with contemporary estimates ranging between 30,000 and 40,000 men. He successfully besieged and captured several key English fortresses near the border, including Etal and Ford castles. James awaited the English forces on top of a commanding hilltop position at Flodden, in the country of Northumberland. Commanded by Thomas Howard, the Earl of Surrey, the English army, numbering approximately 26,000, manoeuvred his forces behind James’s position on Flodden Edge, compelling the Scots to abandon their superior defensive high ground and reposition on Branxton Hill. In doing so, James sacrificed a commanding artillery position and allowed the English to exploit the terrain to their advantage.

Map of the Battle of Flodden on 9th September 1513: map by John Fawkes 

The Scottish forces were heavily influenced by continental military developments. In line with French military doctrine, they were equipped with 18-foot-long pikes – ideal for use in disciplined, cohesive formations and highly effective on level ground. However, these weapons proved ill-suited to the boggy and uneven terrain around Branxton Hill. In contrast, the English relied on more traditional weapons: the billhook, a shorter but more versatile polearm, and a significant contingent of longbowmen whose devastating volleys remained a staple of English battlefield supremacy.

Scottish artillery, under the command of royal secretary Patrick Paniter, included heavy siege guns such as the ‘Seven Sisters’, state-of-the-art cannons capable of firing 30kg projectiles up to 1800 metres. Yet these proved ineffective in the battle. Poorly positioned for downhill fire and hindered by their slow rate of fire (one shot every 20 minutes), the Scottish guns were quickly outmatched by the lighter, more manoeuvrable English field artillery.

Types of cannon made in the 16th Century

After the initial discharge of the Scottish guns, the fighting began on the left, where Lord Home’s men advanced against Sir Edmund Howard’s division. Despite being under intense arrow fire, the heavily armoured Scottish troops broke through the English line, but the momentum stalled when Lord Dacre’s English cavalry reserves swept in. Though the Scottish left had effectively neutralised their opposition, it held its ground rather than turning to aid the rest of the army. According to later sources, when Lord Huntly urged a return to the fight, Lord Home allegedly retorted, ‘The man does well this day who saves himself. We fought those who were opposed to us and beat them; let our other companies do the same!’

Advancing Scottish pikemen roughly handle the English troops of Edmund Howard.

The central and largest division of the Scottish army then advanced, but their descent into the marshy low ground proved disastrous. Recent rainfall had turned the area into a quagmire, disrupting formations and nullifying the advantages of the long pike. As Scottish troops abandoned their unwieldy weapons, an English chronicler remarked that it seemed ‘as if a wood were falling down.’ In close quarters, the shorter English bills proved far more effective, and the Scots were driven back with heavy casualties.

Despite the deteriorating situation, King James IV personally led the final assault on the English centre, directly engaging the Earl of Surrey’s forces. James IV’s decision to join the front lines reflected his commitment to the chivalric ideals of personal courage and honour. Fighting alongside his nobles and bodyguard, he reached the heart of the English formation but was soon overwhelmed. As the English centre gained the upper hand, they reinforced Surrey’s position, encircling the Scottish king’s division. Contemporary accounts suggest that an order was issued to take no prisoners, resulting in heavy casualties among the Scottish nobility and contributing to the collapse of Scottish command.

James IV was killed in the final stages of the battle - the last British monarch to die in combat. His body was found with numerous wounds: an arrow to the jaw and slashes to his neck and wrist. His remains were ultimately lost. Alongside James, an estimated ten earls, fifteen barons, and hundreds of knights were killed. The political aftermath plunged Scotland into a regency under the infant James V and left a generation of leadership decimated. While England suffered losses too, they were far less severe in terms of national consequence.

Today, Flodden is commemorated not just as a military defeat, but as a national tragedy. The haunting poem The Flowers of the Forest, written nearly 300 years after the battle, remains a powerful tribute to the fallen:

Dool and wae for the order sent oor lads tae the Border!

The English for ance, by guile wan the day,

The Flooers o’ the Forest, that fought aye the foremost,

The pride o’ oor land lie cauld in the clay