Battle of Flodden 1513
Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary. Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1513 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | England | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War of the League of Cambrai | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 55.6269, -2.1753 | Wikidata P625 |
| Official record | Historic England list entry 1000011 | OGL v3 |
| Registered area | 282.2 ha | OGL v3 |
About the battle
The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton or Brainston Moor was fought on 9 September 1513 between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland as part of the War of the League of Cambrai and resulted in an English victory. The battle was fought near Branxton, in the county of Northumberland, in northern England, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey. In terms of troop numbers, it was the largest battle ever fought between the two kingdoms.
After besieging and capturing several English border castles, James encamped his invading army on a commanding hilltop position at Flodden, awaited the English force that had been sent against him, and declined a challenge to fight in an open field. Surrey's army, therefore, carried out a circuitous march to position themselves in the rear of the Scottish camp. The Scots countered that by abandoning their camp and occupying the adjacent Branxton Hill and denying it to the English.
The battle began with an artillery duel followed by a downhill advance by Scottish infantry armed with pikes. Unknown to the Scots, an area of marshy land lay in their path, which broke up their formations.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Flodden (revision 1377060654), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Battlefield boundary © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. See also this battlefield on Battlefields of Britain.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Wark (1138) 1138 · 7 km
- Battle of Yeavering 1415 · 8 km
- Battle of Skaithmuir 1316 · 8 km
- Battle of Carham · 9 km
- Battle of Homildon Hill 1402 · 11 km
- Battle of Haddon Rig 1542 · 11 km
Other battles of the War of the League of Cambrai
- Siege of Padua 1509
- Battle of Polesella 1510
- Siege of Mirandola (1511) 1510
- Battle of Ravenna (1512) 1512
- Battle of Saint-Mathieu 1512
- Battle of La Motta (1513) 1513
- Battle of Novara (1513) 1513
- Battle of the Spurs 1513
- Siege of Crema (1514) 1513
- Siege of Dijon 1513
All 15 battles of the War of the League of Cambrai →
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