This month we are thrilled to have Julian Humphrys from the Battlefields Trust as our guest expert speaker. Julian has given us a wonderful talk on the Battle of Flodden in 1513, the battle that took place when Catherine of Aragon was regent for Henry VIII and which was between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey.
An excellent video production and one that brings Flodden to life in the way no book can. When you think how well equipped the Scots were, it is a bit of luck that they had not trained with the pikes as the Ironsides of Oliver Cromwell would train many years later and that the terrain was not pike friendly. The battle in fact should have favoured James and did to begin with. Once surrounded, however, it was all over and the terrible slaughter began. I don’t agree that Towton could not have produced 28,000 dead as it was the largest battle fought on English soil and grave pits support the possibility of such figures. Most historians accept this figure. The dead at Flodden certainly reflect that such numbers are proportional to those there with 5000 for the English and 9000 for the Scots. Why accept Tudor chronicles and not Medieval ones?
When the battlefield was cleared and the dust settled the political situation had completely changed. Scotland was left with an infant King and the Howards rose again to prominence in England, regaining their title as Dukes of Norfolk and being in the fore front of Tudor domestic and international affairs.