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I've decided to write a TL based on the premise I set out in this thread - a French-backed Yorkist invasion of England in 1513!
Comments, questions etc very welcome!
The Withering Rose
PART ONE
The ascension of Henry VIII to the English throne after the death of his father Henry VII in April 1509 signalled what many saw as a new dawn for the country. Academic thinking and sporting achievement flourished in the vibrant court of the teenage King. In the realm of foreign affairs too, Henry awaited a chance to flex the military muscles of his kingdom. An opportunity to do just that presented itself in the constant battle for European supremacy that raged between the royal houses of Habsburg and Valois, rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and France respectively. England was courted by both sides, but Henry saw war with France as the most attractive option as it offered him the chance to attempt to regain lands lost in France since the death of Henry V in 1422. To this end Henry took England into the Holy League, an alliance formed by Pope Julius II and consisting of the Papal States, Venice, the HRE, Spain and Switzerland, in 1511 and followed this up with a declaration of war against France in 1512. The Treaty of Westminster, signed with Spain and co-ordinating Anglo-Spanish strategy against France, called for Henry to begin an offensive from the remaining English territories in Northern France (centred around the port of Calais). For this purpose an army of close to 30,000 men was raised, primarily from the southern counties of England and Calais itself.
England's charismatic king - Henry VIII in 1509.
In June 1513 the English fleet, which included the flagship Mary Rose (named for Henry’s sister) along with a number of smaller vessels, transported Henry’s army across the English Channel to Calais. Had the King known of the imminent threat to his Kingdom, it is unlikely that he would have chosen to personally lead the army in France. As it was, he felt confident enough to make his wife – Catherine of Aragon – Queen Regent for the length of his absence on the continent. As the English made their way to France, another army was preparing to make the opposite journey. King Louis XII of France, seeking a way to counter English aggression to the north of his country, had helped to resurrected the fortunes of Richard de la Pole – claimant to the Earldom of Suffolk – for his own ends. De la Pole had been, since the death of his brother Edmund earlier in the year, the recognised head of the House of York. Louis XII planned, through patronage of Richard, to destabilise the Tudor monarchy and force Henry VIII out of the war. In May 1513 Richard was given a command in the French army and with substantial financial aid from the French court managed to raise a force of 12,000 mercenaries – a relatively small force, but superior to the army that his brother, John de la Pole, had organised before the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487. Through the summer of 1513 a sizeable fleet was assembled in the port of St Malo, on the Brittany coast in order to transfer the army across to England, and emissaries were sent to the Scots to seek their aid.
Louis XII of France - shrewd operator.
Louis and the Scottish King James IV (married to the sister of Henry VIII) contrived to co-ordinate the landing of Richard on the south coast with an invasion from Scotland, planning to draw the remaining English troops to the defence of the northern border. To support this endeavour the entire Scottish fleet was sent south in order to, with the help of a French squadron, wrest naval superiority in the Channel away from the English. The Scottish navy at this time presented a formidable threat, as it counted amongst its vessels the largest warship in Europe – the Great Michael, which was twice the size of the Mary Rose. Henry VIII had responded to the Michael by ordering the construction of a similar ship – nicknamed the Great Harry – but in 1513 it was still many months away from completion. In late July 1513 the Scottish fleet set sail for France, whilst in St Malo the final preparations for the invasion continued. On the Scottish border, James was in the process of mustering an army of some 30,000 men.
For a short time the most powerful ship in Europe - the Scottish Great Michael.