The Battle of Flodden 1513 AD

it's the year 1513 Scottish King James Stewart crosses the English border with a large army and invades Northumberland to honor the old alliance between Scotland and France in the absence of the English King Henry the Earl of su is left in charge to gather troops able to push the Invaders back to Scotland on the 9th of September both armies met near the village of brankston King James had no idea that the impending battle was to become one of the biggest disasters in Scottish history it's the beginning of the 16th century the Scottish kingdom is ruled by James the fourth who has proven to be a wise Monarch and competent administrator over the years popular among the people of Scotland his growing Prestige and international Ambitions raised Scotland's position in the Western European political Arena despite the initial conflicts with England he stabilized Mutual relations by signing a treaty of Perpetual peace with English King Henry iith and marrying his daughter Margaret a year later James's International progress faced its first obstacles in 1509 when Henry viith died and the crown was was passed to his ambitious young son Henry VII who soon got involved in the ongoing Continental conflict and joined the holy League against France James found himself in a difficult position being an ally to both England and France he tried to dissuade Henry from taking action against France but to no avail in the meantime the old alliance between Scotland and France had been renewed but that didn't change Henry's mind either in June 1513 King Henry invaded the French Coast with a large army forcing James to decide which side to join wared Scottish nobility together with the queen urged James not to attack England and rethink his options but the king probably influenced by his French allies and the queen of France had already made a decision War preparations began in Scotland James sent an Envoy to Henry in a final attempt to avoid the war but the English king refused to stop the French invasion once again making it clear enough conflict was inevitable meanwhile the French reinforcements arrived aiding Scotland with arms money and experienced officers the king's Call to Arms attracted crowds of men eager to fight for their beloved Monarch Scottish forces assembled at Edinburgh in August and departed South it was one of the biggest and best equipped armies leaving Scotland to invade English soil counting more than 40,000 men James comforted his advisers stating that the majority of the English forces were busy in France and that they probably couldn't field yet another Army big enough to match the Scottish one but young King Henry anticipated the Scottish Invasion and delegated veteran Thomas Howard Earl of su to command the English resistance upon possible Scottish aggression following the medieval code of chivalry James sent a notice to the English of his intent to invade one month in advance he crossed the border on the river Tweed near Coldstream on the 22nd of August and captured nearby castles in Northumberland James probably wanted to perform a limited attack just enough to compel Henry to give up his actions against France which possibly explained the slow progress of the Scottish Army at the same time the English hastily gathered their troops using the Manpower of the northern shes which remained unaffected by Henry's previous enrollment having used the southern shires to equip the invasion force with the invaluable help from Queen Catherine sui managed to amass 25,000 soldiers willing to defend their land and headed north nor despite the provision shortage caused by the hurried Army assembly James had his own problems too as many of the Scottish soldiers were happy with the amount of loot already collected and were simply deserting the king's forces leaving him with around 34,000 men s reached the vicinity of Fort Castle and upon seeing the good Scottish PHS he followed the advice of local Outlaw John Heron whose family owned the Ford Castle and decided to March North along the river till on the 9th of September they crossed the river at the twizzle bridge and headed back south to engage the Scots cutting off their direct line of retreat James of course could easily see the surprise English movement and proceeded to the brankston hill to prevent the enemy from taking the ridge the battle commenced with an exchange of cannon fire Scott artillery pieces though far superior to the light cannons used by the English weren't properly positioned on the brankston hill and provided ineffectual fire in contrast English pieces dealt significant damage to the Scottish line which combined with the Arab barrage reigned by longbowman provoked James's Left Flank led by Lord home to leave their favorable positions and Rush forward probably disobeying James's order to to remain in the line the impetuous charge struck su's right flank and quickly overwhelmed it forcing the remaining units to flee immediately English light Cavalry rode up in support and engaged the Scottish Highlanders pushing them back encouraged by the initial success of the hot-headed troops on the Left Flank King James together with his retinue dismounted and left his strategic position leading the attack from the center the Scottish charge inflicted solid initial damage to the English line but the bogy ground between the opposing troops crippled a significant portion of James's charge potential it's worth noting that a substantial number of Scots especially in the front ranks used long and unwieldly Continental Pikes which were brought to Scotland by their French allies months prior to the battle used correctly such Pikes were lethal and effective weapons but the Scottish soldiers had little time to get used to the new arms and rough swampy terrain decreased the efficacy of the long Pikes even further the majority of English soldiers in the center used B hooks a type of pole arm similar to a hir but with a hooked blade shape this weapon proved to be a crucial counter to Scottish Pikes being more suitable for close combat and able to cut the Pikes to Pieces as battle raged Su started to gain the advantage in the center English cavalryman on his right managed to push back lord Holmes troops much to James's dismay eventually s's late Eastern flank reached the battlefield and immediately reigned arrows on the unarmored Scottish troops on the right which had just rushed to flank The English Center things didn't look well for James as his right flank was decimated and routed by Stanley's troops who soon began to flank the Scottish Center James probably didn't even realize how Dreadful his situation had become he fought the Battle in medieval style fighting arm in-arm with his best men in the middle of the low-lying swamp lacking the good view of the battlefield in comparison the seasoned and battle experienced Earl of sui held his unit in the back commanding English troops from elevated terrain soon the death toll on the Scottish side inflated and the English Advantage became even more clear James was killed along with the elite of Scottish nobility remaining troops scattered in an uncoordinated Retreat as most of their officers were lying dead the battle was an unexpected Scottish disaster with as much as a third of james' soldiers killed by the English whose losses were much lower probably around 1 and a half thousand what was initially planned as a brief invasion of England in order to honor the old alliance between Scotland and France turned out to be one of the biggest calamities in Scottish history not only the king died many Earls Barons and even Bishops lost their lives near brankston Hill the whole country plunged into grief James's Heir was just an infant which resulted in almost 30 years of isolation for Scotland in the European arena with long lasting indirect consequences of the [Music] [Music] battle [Music]

Channel: BazBattles

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Keywords: battle of flodden, 1513, james iv, james stewart, thomas howard, earl of surrey, kingdom of scotland, scottish kingdom, kingdom of england, battle of branxton hill, scotland vs england, scottish wars, medieval history, history of europe, european history, medieval europe, medieval period, history videos, battle strategy, battle tactics, simple history, history documentary, alternate history, animated battle, history, education, battle, total war, henry viii, bazbattles

Id: 9aQFjhp2j8w

Length: 10min 10sec (610 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 13 2017