The Battle of Flodden 1513

On September 9, 1513, at the Battle of Flodden Fields, the English defeated James IV of Scotland. A short excerpt from the article:

"The day before battle, Surrey began marching his army north so that by the morning of the battle on the 9th September 1513, the English were in a position to start approaching the Scots from the north. This meant that King James’ lines of retreat across the River Tweed at Coldstream would be cut off if he remained at Flodden Edge, forcing him to march the Scots a mile from Flodden Edge to Branxton Hill, a less daunting but still uneven vantage point.

The outcome of The Battle of Flodden was mainly due to the choice of weapons used. The Scots had advanced in the continental style of the time. This meant a series of massed pike formations. The Scottish armies’ great advantage of using high ground became its downfall as the hilly terrain and ground became slippery underfoot, slowing down the advances and attacks. Unfortunately, the pike is most effective in battles of movement which The Battle of Flodden was not.

The English chose a more familiar weapon, the bill (shown on the right). This favoured the terrain and the flow of the battle, proving to have the stopping power of a spear and the power of an axe.

Surreys style of using the medieval favourites of the bill and bow against the more Renaissance style of the Scottish with their French pikes proved superior and Flodden became known as the victory of bill over pike!

The English Army led by the Earl of Surrey lost around 1,500 men at the Battle of Flodden but had no real lasting effect on English history. The 70-year old Earl of Surrey gained his fathers title of Duke of Norfolk and went on to live on into his 80’s!

The repercussions of the Battle of Flodden were much greater for the Scots. Most of the accounts on how many Scottish lives were lost at Flodden conflict, but it is thought to be between 10,000 to 17,000 men. This included a large proportion of the nobility and more tragically its King. King James IV of Scotland’s death meant a minor noble ascended the throne (an unfortunately familiar tale in Scottish history) causing a new era of political instability for the Scottish nation."