Battle of Pinkie Cleugh - Background

Background

In the last years of his reign, King Henry VIII of England tried to secure an alliance with Scotland by the marriage of the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, to his young son, the future Edward VI. When diplomacy failed, he launched a war against Scotland that became known as the Rough Wooing. The war also had a religious aspect; the Scots refused to have Reformation imposed on them by England. During the battle, the Scots taunted the English soldiers as loons (persons of no consequence), tykes and heretics. A thousand monks from various orders formed part of the Earl of Angus's division. Many died in the battle. Reformation came to Scotland twelve years later.

When Henry died in 1547, Edward Seymour, maternal uncle of Edward VI, became Lord Protector and Duke of Somerset, with (initially) unchallenged power. He continued the policy of forcible alliance with Scotland by the marriage of Mary to Edward, and of imposing an Anglican Reformation on the Scottish Church. Early in September 1547, he led a well-equipped army into Scotland, supported by a large fleet. The Earl of Arran, Scottish Regent at the time, was forewarned by letters from Adam Otterburn, his representative in London, who had observed English war preparations.