Luminarium Encyclopedia: The Battle of Flodden Field (Sept. 9, 1513)

"Flodden Field," From Church's, The Chantry Priest of Barnet. NY, Scribner, 1885.

THE BATTLE OF FLODDEN FIELD (Sept. 9, 1513)

THE BATTLE OF FLODDEN FIELD (Sept. 9, 1513), was fought between James IV of Scotland and the English under the Earl of Surrey. The most noteworthy circumstances of this engagement are: (1) The skilful movement by which the Earl of Surrey succeeded in crossing the river Till, and cutting off all communication between King James and Scotland. (2) The omission of the Scots to take advantage of the favourable movement for attack presented by the passage of the English army over the river. (3) The utter defeat of the English right win under Sir Edward Howard, and the loss of this success to the Scots through the misconduct of the troops of Earls Huntly and Home, who, instead of following up their victory, abandoned themselves to pillaging the luggage of both armies. (4) The prowess of the English archers, whose murderous volleys threw the Scottish right, led by Lennox and Argyle, into complete confusion. and rendered their subsequent defeat and ruinous flight a comparatively easy matter. (5) The desperate resistance against overwhelming numbers made by the Scottish centre, and the death of James IV during the heat of the contest. (6) The indecisiveness of the conflict. Notwithstanding reverses elsewhere, and the death of their king, the Scots succeeded in holding Flodden Hill during the night, and only abandoned their position at the dawn of the next day on learning the real state of affairs. Meanwhile, on the English side, the contest had so nearly resulted in defeat that Surrey was quite unable to prosecute the war with any vigour.

The Dictionary of English History. Sidney J. Low and F. S. Pulling, eds.
London: Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1910. 504.

Other Local Resources:

Books for further study: Goodwin, George. Fatal Rivalry: Flodden, 1513: Henry VIII and James IV
           and the Decisive Battle for Renaissance Britain.
           New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2013.

Reese, Peter. Flodden: A Scottish Tragedy.
           Edinburgh: Birlinn, Ltd., 2003.

Sadler, John. Flodden 1513: Scotland's Greatest Defeat.
           Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2006.

The Battle of Flodden Field on the Web:

The Battle of Flodden Field - Flodden.net
The Battle of Flodden Field - NE England History Pages

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