Thomas Stanley's timely commitment of his force at Bosworth turned the tide in favour of his son in law Henry Tudor. Thomas effectively became Kingmaker, an act that would have significant impact upon his family during and after his lifetime.
Lord Stanley presents Richard III's crown to Henry after the battle of Bosworth
Whilst initially brilliant for Henry, this act demonstrated the Stanleys could sit on the fence until they saw an advantageous position. The pragmatism made them powerful but also untrustworthy in the eyes of many nobles at the Tudor court, old hard line Yorkists and cautious Tudor commanders alike.
Thomas's eldest son George was heir apparent but died before him, leaving George's eldest son Thomas (1485-1521) to become the 2nd Earl of Derby.
There we have some key players for the Flodden campaign.
* * * * *
Sir Edward Stanley, mustered around 6000 men from his estates in Lancashire & Cheshire at Hornby and Lancaster marching as the temporary head of the family (the usual position of his nephew Lord Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby was serving with Henry in the French campaign ), his men wearing the Stanley eagle claw livery badge, as Hall describes;
‘All Lancashire for the most part, The lusty Staney stout did lead, A flock of striplings strong of heart, Brought up from babes with beef and bread.’
These were joined on the march at Skipton by 2000 more sent by James Stanley the Bishop of Ely, who delegated command to his illegitimate son John Stanley. They carried with them the banner of St Audrey, patron saint of Ely (also throat complaints and chastity but we'll gloss over that)
Both of these Stanley contingents had a core of household men (a few hundred at most) wearing distinctive blue livery coats emblazoned with their eagle claw livery badges along with the three crowns of the Bishopric of Ely while the bulk of the remainder simply wore the livery badges, described in contemporary ballad as thus;
‘Every Bearne had on his breast brodered full fayre. A foot of the fairest fowle that ever flew on winge. With three crowns full cleare all of pure gold.’
This may be an amalgamation of Stanley livery badges or indeed both may have been worn together by household men as shown in this reconstruction.
Lancashire archer in blue Stanley livery coat
Stanley livery in the previous century was blue and white as stated in the household accounts for Thomas Stanley in the 1470-80's. There's also the Tawny and Green from their standard which may have been used for secondary items. This livery was also worn by household men during the wars of the roses though the transition to blue happens in the late fifteenth century.
By the early sixteenth century references increasingly mention blue alone and we also have a visual depiction of this in the 'Flodden window' (more on that below). This change is likely a matter of practicality and cost, coats in one colour were easier and cheaper to make. This livery would last well into the Tudor period, there is frequent mention of it up to as late as 1599.
* * * * *
This then prompted a longstanding question I'd had regarding livery and the two armies raised for Henry's 1513 campaigns. I had the understanding that English armies were all supposed to have worn white coats with the St. George's cross on royal campaigns and not any other livery. Flodden, however was a little different and I shall briefly explore why. This is a self-indulgent side note but it's really aided my understanding of this campaign.
For both campaigns the English armies were raised by the long established system of indentures whereby 'Lords spiritual and temporal, knights, gentlemen or others which had tenants or were rulers of towns' contracted with the Crown to provide a fixed number of soldiers.
It's worth noting that in 1504 Henry VII issued a statute to control private liveries and badges in the wake of the Wars of the Roses as they were symbols of potentially overmighty subjects who could raise large numbers of liveried retainers. What he specifically banned was retaining in the unlawful sense, a practice known as 'livery and maintenance' the exchange of service in your masters livery for the notional protection of your master in local disputes. This practice greatly destabilised law and order as well as royal authority.
Under these statutes the crown itself could issue livery - the king may clothe his army as he pleases. Noblemen were also still permitted to clothe their retainers in their own livery for legitimate service with royal approval. This practice was continued into Henry VIII's reign.
Thus under this system men arrayed for war could be raised by the crown or by magnates under contract and permission from the crown. The crown would pay men for daily service and 'conduct money' for the days travelling to the campaign.
When war threatened, local militias could also be raised from the shires to defend from invasion under the 'commissions of array' a short term draft of obligation with origins in the Anglo Saxon fyrd. In 1513 Queen Katherine as regent issued these to order local gentry and towns to muster 'all able men' for the defence of the realm. It's not clear how these men were paid for this campaign, if at all.
Henry VIII had many months and a full war chest to prepare for his invasion of France. This was an exercise as much about princely magnificence and puissance as it was about waging war. The troops were directly raised, paid and clothed by the crown and were liveried almost exclusively in coats of white and green, a fact that was remarked upon by foreign observers of his Army Royal. You can see the primary sources on this in this previous post.
The army raised for the Flodden campaign was not Henry's personal expedition but raised locally and hastily to repel James IV's invasion. Instead of full royal issue the majority of troops came through the retinues of the northern lords and from the commissions of array.
The composition* and appearance of the English at Flodden was threefold;
- 1200 elite marines of the fleet and a further handful of troops raised by the crown were in green and white coats.
- Indentured contract raised 8000 Stanley retainers from Lancashire and Cheshire about 5% in their blue coats and/or eagles claw livery badges and the rest with badges alone. Around 10'000 more retainers from Yorkshire, and a further 2000 or so from Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmoreland all may similarly have worn the livery coats for the household retainers** and /or badges of their masters for the remainder.
- The bulk of the remaining levies, (ascertained from the number not mentioned as raised by contract) possibly 4-5000 were raised under the commissions of array from the same areas and wore a simple St George cross on their clothing/ jacks / white coats possibly along with the livery badge of their town.
*numbers are approximate
** household men, paid directly by their master to serve them as retainers, in our terms, just those around the command and some more scattered among units to represent captains, musicians, std bearers.
In effect this army was a hybrid army of core troops raised by indenture whether to the crown or magnates were supported by bulk reinforcement from the militias and a disciplined stiffening from the fleet.
* * * * *
In total approx. 8000 soldiers were mustered from Stanley lands, just under a third of the English Army.
- Sir Edward Stanley commanded 3500 Lancashire & Cheshire men on the left of the main battle. This included those of Sir William Molyneux whom I have chosen to depict.
- Sir John Stanley commanded 2000 tenants of his father James Stanley, Bishop of Ely on the right of the main battle. They carried the Banner of St Audrey and (i consider) wore the three crowns of the Bishopric above the eagle claw badge.
- Sir Edmund Howard commanded 1000 men from Cheshire and 500 from Lancashire on the right of the Vanguard. The men were unhappy at not being commanded by a Stanley and wavered under pressure when the Scots pike under Lords Home and Early Huntly made contact.
- Sir Marmaduke Constable commanded around 1000 Lancashire men on the left of the vanguard.
At Flodden the English army was commanded by the ageing Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey (1443-1524) who was seventy and had such frequent bouts of gout that he had to be carried in a carriage. According to some chroniclers Edward Stanley was snubbed by Surrey who placed him in a less prestigious position, on the left of the main battle, effectively side lining him from the main honours of battle.
This could be interpreted as a personal mistrust as Surrey was commander to Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth and suffered under the Stanleys last minute intervention. His penalty for supporting Richard at Bosworth was three and a half years in the Tower and the loss of his estates, i love this quote when asked by Henry VII why he supported Richard, he answered.....
'he was my crowned King and if parliamentary authority set the crown on a stock I will fight for that stock and as I fought for him, I will fight for you.'
The Howard family had every reason to remember the pragmatism of the Stanleys by withholding support until the last moment. At Flodden, Surrey wasn't going to risk giving Edward Stanley the opportunity to do the same.
In the event, Surrey's strategic move to keep a potentially independent minded commander in the reserve to limit any chance of political manoeuvring would prove ironic as this positioning helped to secure glory for the English.
Stanley's opening position at Flodden
Arriving late to the battle and tired after an 11 hour march, seeing a body of Scots Highlanders under Lennox & Argyll yet to commit and able to turn the battle from their advantageous position on Pace Hill, Sir Edward Stanley sent a party to feint at their front whilst he formed the rest into three battalions to approach from their rear. These were commanded by;
- Sir William Molyneux of Sefton, Merseyside. 1481-1548
- Sir Thomas Gerrard of Bryn nr Ashton in Mackerfiled, Lancashire 1488-1523
- Sir Henry Kighley of Inskip nr Preston 1451-1526
After their scramble up the steep slopes of Pace Hill
‘His folks could scarcely fast their feet, But forced on their hands and feet to creep. And some their boots left down below, That toes may take the better hold; Some from their feet the shoes did throw, Of true men thus I have heard told. The sweat down from their bodies ran, And hearts did hop in panting breast. At last the mountain top they wan’
Flodden hill with its steep gradient, this was not wooded at the time
The archers remained in dead ground and reached the top of the hill unnoticed by the Scots. Achieving complete surprise, with a shout as one, they loosed their arrows into the unprotected backs of the clansmen.
‘My Lancashire most lively wights, And chosen mates of Cheshire strong,
From sounding bow your feathered flight, Let fiercely fly your foes among.’
The noise then made the mountains ring, And " Stanley stout !" they all did cry ;
Out went anon the grey goose wing . Against the Scots did flickering fly. Then showers of arrows sharp were shot, They rattling ran as rank as hail,
And pierced the scalp of many a Scot, No shield or pavish could prevail.’
The arrow storm caused chaos and broke up the integrity of the Highland foot.
‘to avoid the sharp storm the Scots were constrained to break their array and fight one separate from another.’
When the archers, billmen and men at arms of Molyneux, Gerrard and Keighley laid in on the Scots right flank, the rout was total, the highland earls and chiefs were cut down;
‘doing all they could to stay their people from running away.’
The ballad I quote from above was written by two authors believed to be sponsored by Stanley in the years following Flodden and republished from the original manuscript three times after in the following two centuries. The original title was
" Heare is the famous historie or songe, called Floodan Field ; in it shalbe declare how, whyle Kinge Henrie the Eight was in France, the King of Scoots, called James, the fowerth of that name, invaded the realme of England ; and how he was incountred with all at a place called Branton, on Floodan Hill, by the Earl of Surry, live- tenant-generall for the kinge, with the helpe of dyvers lords and knights in the North Countrie, as the Lord Dakers of the North, the Lord Scrope of Bolton, with the most co- ragious knight Sir Edward Standley, who for his prowis and valliantnes, shewed att the said battell, was made Lord Mount Eagle, as the sequel declareth."
This edition survived in the collection of Sir Walter Scott. It’s a mine of very detailed information, if you want to get lost in it there is a full copy of this and later editions / associated text with in depth analysis
here.
It’s certainly helped to put context to this part of the battle and helped to pinpoint the characters I have taken inspiration from.
I should probably now talk about some wargames figures !
I began the thread with merely wanting to create a base of knights to represent Molyneux and the other knights, this ballooned further with the addition of some bill. The obvious key aspect to this action were the Lancashire archers so the retinue increased even further. I should probably have doubled the archers but my self control finally took action.
Molyneux personally captured two standards from the highlanders. I have chosen him to be the lead commander for this Lancashire contingent.
Sir William Molyneux, (1481-1548) knight banneret, of around 32 years old, made the journey north in command of 'a company of archers well arrayed' from his tenants in Sefton Lancashire (around 160-200 men). Molyneux was son in law to Edward Stanley by marriage and long friendship through living in his lands.
Molyneux’ tomb lies in the Parish church of St Helen’s, it features a series of brass effigies of him (notably in older armour) his heraldic arms, his two wives (the first was Elizabeth Stanley), and images of the banners he captured though one is partially lost.
Line drawing of Molyneux funerary brass
detail of the captured Scots banner(s)
Sharing command of his archers were the aforementioned Gerrard and Keighley along with Henry Blundell of Little Crosby who would be killed in the battle. Interestingly Blundell was Molyneux' cousin by marriage.
Keighley, Molyneux, Gerrard
Blundell, unknown, Assheton
Knights led by Molyneux
The command are Perry Miniatures WOTR metals, a Steelfist dolly build and a Perry plastic foot knight, all straight from the box without conversion. At this time, lesser knights and moreover those perhaps unprepared for war relied upon older armour or simply did not have time, funds or inclination to get something contemporary.
Heraldic surcoats were also still present at this point and armour was in the stages of transition. Osprey’s Tudor Knight is worth reading on that subject. I took Assheton's heraldry from a depiction in stained glass, more on that below.
With some help from the Lead Adventure Forum I was able to find the heraldry Blundell and Gerrard.
The blackened armour was achieved by a series of washes over a gun-metal base coat with highlights on the edges.
Lancashire bill and men at arms led by Sirs Molyneux, Gerrard, Keighley and Assheton
The Bill are a mix of Steelfist Miniatures late medieval dollies and heads along with a few from Perry Miniatures WOTR plastics set. I have some in livery coats to represent the household men, others in light armour and Stanley badges for the other retainers, and a couple in simple armour and St George crosses to represent shire milita men added from the commissions of array. This principle was also applied to the archers.
To complete the group of six you can see I chose another Lancashire knight, Sir Richard Assheton of Middleton. This choice satisfyingly enabled me to link it to some further named characters, the Lancashire archers of 'the Flodden window.'
Lancashire archers led by Molyneux with Assheton in shared command
Assheton took around 200 'tall men' mostly longbowmen from his tenants and neighbours on the march to Flodden. In battle they served in Sir Edward Stanley's division. Assheton personally took the Scots standard bearer’s sword and captured the courtier, John Forman sergeant porter to James IV of Scotland, and Alexander Burnett Sheriff of Aberdeen.
Upon return, Assheton commissioned a series of stained glass windows at St Leonards church, Middleton depicting himself and his wife, 17 captains of archers (household retainers) and the priest who blessed them before marching to the battle.
The windows are therefore one of the oldest thankful war memorials in England, something I believe would not be done again until after WW1. There is a funerary brass of his Father but sadly not Richard though there is another Flodden link in the brass of his sister Anne Laurence whose husband John was killed at Flodden, likely within Richard’s retinue.
I took the time to make an appointment to visit these back in 2021 and enjoyed full access to take the following photographs of the windows and read the background that had been recorded. I also left a bespoke figure by way of thanks to the vicar.
The 'Flodden Window' St Leonards Church, Middleton.
detail of the archer captains in their livery coats with longbows and sheaths of arrows, kneeling in prayer, each individually named.
The opportunity to see these closely had a profound impact, the likenesses were all individual and may well have been from life, I was face to face with ordinary yeomen archers from 500 years ago.
The archers are named
Henry Tayler
Richard Wyld
Hugh Chetham
James Gerrarde
John Pylkyngton
Phillipe Werburton
William Steele
John Scolefelde
William ….
James Taylier
Roger Blomeley
Crystofer Smythe
Henry Whitaker
Robart Prestwyche
Richard Bexwicke
It's not often you can practically name every figure in a unit.
The Longbows are a mix of Steelfist Miniatures Tudor dollies and Perry Miniatures WOTR plastics set with a few sculpted conversions added. There are also a couple of dollies from Pete's Flags which are part of a Flodden range that he's been working upon. Many thanks to Matt Bickley for helping me out when I unexpectedly ran out of arms !
These included conversions for most of the figures, here's a few photos prior to painting. Those using the Steelfist Tudor dollies were pretty easy and there's a couple of more involved conversions straight from the Perry plastics.
I was struck by the mention of the archers taking their shoes off to clamber up the hill, along with that and a chance view of an archer doing just that in the Cowdray House depiction of the Battle of the Solent I had to try a conversion.
Archer stringing his bow, Archer tying his shoe, Archer loosing
Archers nocking, drawing and loosing
Detail from the 'square fort' in the bottom right of the Cowdray House drawing of the Battle of the Solent 1545
Stanley household retainers / captains of archers in livery jackets
Stanley liveried retainers
The men are reinforced with men raised from Stanley lands by the commissions of array
Here's the whole retinue ready for action, I have mixed them in with some unliveried figures to get the proportions right for liveried and those raised by the commissions of array. I've also added a Stanley livery standard in the rear.
With these now complementing my growing collection It's really satisfying to depict this pincer action by Stanley's men in the closing phase of the battle of Flodden field. Stanley's feint at the front occupies the Scots highlanders as Molyneux' archers come over the crest and begin attacking at their rear.
Discovering the Stanley sponsored account of Flodden has been a real inspiration for me, and along with visiting Assheton’s tomb I now feel I must see that of Molyneaux. One day when budget allows, I’ll have to make the effort to find some of the Scots nobles too. Walking the ground and seeing where nobles and their retainers came from makes this so much more vivid.
I hope this has been an interesting read, I thoroughly enjoyed creating this group of figures and telling a story through my expanding collection.
Sir Edward Stanley's command is now in the painting queue, I considered adding to this post but I think he's worthy of a bit of a biography post so hopefully that will be along in the not too distant future.
I must extend my thanks to Steelfist Miniatures for their support and Tudor dollies along with Matthew Bickley for some last minute support by raiding his bits box and also to David Grummitt for assistance with this writing.
I hope that was an interesting deep dive.
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