Scottish Renaissance Armies 1513–1550

Osprey Elite #167

by Jonathan Cooper

This book details the armies of what is known as "the Rough Wooing" - the most active period of Scottish warfare, which saw conflicts against both the English Tudor monarchs and notable internal struggles between the Stuart kings and their unruly lords in the Marches and highlands. Militarily, this covers an important transition period, which saw the change from medieval to Renaissance armies, with the spread of firearms and cannon, the involvement of various foreign mercenaries and tactics ranging from lightning cavalry raids to pitched battles and sieges, as well as early instances of the classic Highland Clan charge. The author analyzes these changes in the context of the ongoing conflict as well as examining the colorful costumes, armor and heraldry worn during the period, a diverse mix of late medieval, Elizabethan and Highland clothing and armor.

The major battles are also discussed and described, such as Flodden Field (1513) and Linlithgow Bridge (1526), including engagements between the armies of rival lords, such as Douglas and Lennox, which could involve up to 10,000 men. Ultimately, this was a time of great success for the Scots. By the fall of Lauder in 1550 the English had lost every fortress north of the border. Scotland's independence was secure and 50 years later King James VI of Scotland became the first Stuart king of England.

Genres: History, Military History, Scotland

64 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2008

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice military history book. Well laid out with a lot of nice pics. Recommended

[CaenLeranzo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend people looking up the names of historical people that were talked about in Scottish Renaissance Armies 1513-1550 because sometimes there were spelling errors that I encountered while reading this book. And I would recommend people researching the information that Jonathan Cooper talked about online to connect the dots to understand the fragment of Scottish history during the 1400's and 1500's better. There needed to be more history written in this book because I would not recommend this book for people who are very young amateurs who have no knowledgeable awareness of what happened in ancient times and no ability to access the internet or the dictionary since there were no footnotes for explaining events sometimes, why the people were the causations of those events to some extent, and fancy wording. Jonathan Cooper did an exquisite job of encompassing the emotional chaos, rambunctious violence, ingenious battlefield planning, political agendas, and hostilities between the Scottish and English peoples during the renaissance armies in Scotland in the 1500's, though.

[Harry Glasgow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book. My favourite Osprey book so far!

[Keiran Thegreat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched and fascinating look at a specific period of Scotland's military history. Detailed information and excellent artwork as visual references. As with many Osprey books the colour plates are the best part of the book and the detailed analysis of these is a welcome element.
This book is pretty specific but for anyone interested in late medieval and early Renaissance Britain it explains how modern, progressive, well equipped, and badly led Scottish armies were in this period.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Jon's second book - it's very comprehensive and packed with loads of good information.