II - Lord Admiral Lisle and the Invasion of Scotland, 1544

Summary

England's rulers have only occasionally resorted to sea power in their attempts to coerce their northern neighbour. England's own Conqueror did so in 1072, and was followed by Edward I, as the previous contribution has illustrated, and by the future Richard III in 1480. Where the aim was prolonged occupation, the main force always had to travel overland. But when in 1544 Henry VIII intended a swift savage attack, a seaborne strike on Scotland's capital was the obvious strategy. The political and military history of this invasion is familiar, and recently rehearsed in two valuable studies. The present collection looks at the specifically Naval aspects of the operation, which would be repeated to even greater effect in the invasion of 1547. It also focuses on the role of the newly appointed Lord Admiral, John Dudley, Viscount Lisle – best remembered as Duke of Northumberland in Edward VI's reign, but whose work for the Royal Navy is now properly credited.

This collection includes several documents here printed for the first time from the State Papers. Our knowledge of the operation as a whole derives chiefly from the MS collection of the Duke of Hamilton now in the British Library. Since these papers are already published in full transcript, only relevant extracts are printed here. Apart from the documents, the chief contemporary source is a printed tract written by an unknown soldier in the English army.

The 1544 campaign was essentially a punitive expedition, the context of which originated in Henry VIII's desire to renew his alliance with the Emperor Charles V by making war on France. An agreement for that purpose had been signed in June 1542, committing Henry to a campaign in France the following summer. The King, however, was mindful of what had happened when he had launched a similar war 30 years before. Louis XII had invoked the ‘auld alliance’ and the Scots opened a second front by invading Northumberland. This ended with the English victory at Flodden, but Henry VIII did not want the scenario repeated. His quarrel with the papacy put a further strain on Anglo-Scottish relations, since James V had refused all inducements to follow his uncle into schism. Henry therefore decided upon a pre-emptive strike in the north before committing his main army across the Channel.