Regent Queen Katherine and the Battle of Flodden

Today is the 507th anniversary of the English defeat of the Scottish army led by King James IV of Scotland on Flodden Field. Among those killed among the Scots on September 9, 1513 were:

·         James IV, king of Scotland—Henry VIII’s brother-in-law (Margaret Tudor)

·         George Douglas, Scottish nobleman

·         William Douglas of Glenbervie, Scottish nobleman

·         William Graham, 1st Earl of Montrose, Scottish politician

·         George Hepburn, Scottish bishop—uncle of Adam Hepburn the Earl of Bothwell and brother of Adam Hepburn of Craggis

·         Adam Hepburn, 2nd Earl of Bothwell, Scottish politician, Lord High Admiral of Scotland

·         Adam Hepburn of Craggis, Scottish nobleman

·         David Kennedy, 1st Earl of Cassilis, Scottish soldier

·         Alexander Lauder of Blyth, Scottish politician

·         Alexander Stewart, Scottish archbishop—James IV’s illegitimate son who had studied with Erasmus

·         Matthew Stewart, 2nd Earl of Lennox, Scottish politician

Those losses, and thousands more, inspired a lament, "Flowers of the Forest".

But Henry VIII was not in England to lead his troops near Branxton in Northumberland--he was in France and had left his Queen, Katherine of Aragon as Regent. She had to respond to King James IV's declaration of war. Thomas Howard, the 2nd Duke of Norfolk, his sons Thomas (future 3rd Duke) and Edmund, Thomas Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre, and Edward Stanley, lst Baron Monteagle led the English troops into battle. This website provides details of the battle and why the English defeated the Scots.

Catherine, whom historian John Edwards argues may have been Henry VIII's greatest Queen or consort in this BBC History Magazine article (registration required), sent Henry VIII a letter about the victory, carefully according him all the glory, and offering her prayers and humble service:

My Lord Howard hath sent me a letter open to your Grace, within one of mine, by the which you shall see at length the great Victory that our Lord hath sent your subjects in your absence; and for this cause there is no need herein to trouble your Grace with long writing, but, to my thinking, this battle hath been to your Grace and all your realm the greatest honor that could be, and more than you should win all the crown of France; thanked be God of it, and I am sure your Grace forgetteth not to do this, which shall be cause to send you many more such great victories, as I trust he shall do. My husband, for hastiness, with Rougecross I could not send your Grace the piece of the King of Scots coat which John Glynn now brings. In this your Grace shall see how I keep my promise, sending you for your banners a king’s coat. I thought to send himself unto you, but our Englishmens’ hearts would not suffer it. It should have been better for him to have been in peace than have this reward. All that God sends is for the best.

My Lord of Surrey, my Henry, would fain know your pleasure in the burying of the King of Scots’ body, for he has written to me so. With the next messenger your Grace’s pleasure may be herein known. And with this I make an end, praying God to send you home shortly, for without this no joy here can be accomplished; and for the same I pray, and now go to Our Lady of Walsingham that I promised so long ago to see. At Woburn the 16th of September.

I send your Grace herein a bill found in a Scotsman’s purse of such things as the French King sent to the said King of Scots to make war against you, beseeching you to send Mathew hither as soon as this messenger comes to bring me tidings from your Grace.

Your humble wife and true servant, Katharine.

Catherine was pregnant at the time of her Regency and the battle; on September 17, 1513, she delivered a baby boy, who died soon after birth.

As John Edwards comments in the article linked above:

Looking back from a distance of 500 years, the battle of Flodden can be regarded as a high point in Catherine’s life. Here was a queen who, almost from the day she arrived in England, had been a favourite of the English people. Here was a woman whose keen intellect had impressed some of the sharpest minds in 16th-century Europe. And now to these accomplishments could be added a display of grit, initiative and no little skill in the midst of a national emergency.

But as well as being a moment of triumph, the autumn of 1513 was also a high point for Catherine’s marriage. Though she couldn’t have known it at the time, it marked the start of a long decline – one that, by 1533, had led to acrimony, the annulment of her marriage and a long exile into the margins of history. So where did it all go wrong for Henry’s first, and arguably greatest, queen?

As readers of this blog--and Tudor history--know, hundreds of books and articles have been written to answer that question either with regret or satisfaction.