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In this year, James IV of Scotland was killed at the Battle of Flodden and Margaret, Henry VIII’s sister, became Regent.
Since 1502, in the reign of Henry VII, there had been a growing animosity between France and the Papacy. James IV, who wanted to be on good terms with both powers, tried to mediate between the two; albeit not very successfully.
When Henry VIII came to power, relations weren't good between James and the new king, which had a negative impact on foreign policy. In 1512, James signed a treaty with France which promised to intervene if either country was invaded. Therefore, when Henry tried again in 1513 to invade France, Scotland was required to get involved. They had been preparing for war for years, and James issued Henry with an ultimatum, before crossing the border to Northumberland in August of 1513.
The Scotish army took Norham castle, and a couple of smaller forts, and waited for the English army, led by Thomas Howard, at the top of Flodden Hill.
Against the advice of those around him, James insists on leading the army himself. Despite having a well populated army, it was a bad result for Scotland: the boggy ground meant that the men simply could not hold formation and were slaughtered by the English.
There were thousands of casualties, of which James IV was one. However, because of his ongoing animosity with the Papacy, James had been excommunicated prior to battle and therefore was not entitled to a state funeral.
With James IV dead, that left his one year old son, James, as James V of Scotland and wife of James IV, Margaret, sister of Henry VIII, as Regent of Scotland. However, this was not a favourable solution and the following year she was replaced by James IV’s cousin, the Duke of Albany.
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