WI: Catherine dies at Flodden?

The scenario is that Catherine decides her presence near the battle line will inspire the troops. The Scottish artillery was placed on a hill and fired over the battle line. A stray cannonball later and one very dead Catherine of Aragorn...

Thoughts?
 
Well, Henry (if Catherine dies instead of James) is going to hate the Scots almost as much James V hated the English. I don't think even his sister being the consort of their king is gonna save them from a possible Edward Longshanks invasion.

That said, Henry doesn't have a male heir, so he's probably gonna start fishing around for princesses in any anti-French powers - like Austria-Spain-Burgundy. Portugal's infantas are too young at the time of Flodden. The same goes for the king of Denmark's cousin, the kings of Poland and Hungary's daughters. Navarrese princesses are thick on the ground, but might be seen as too French. Bona Sforza might be an interesting match, or a Neapolitan princess if Austria-Spain-Burgundy's are unavailable.
 
Well Scotland is getting invaded. Killing a widely loved Queen will not sit well with anyone in England. How successful this would be is obviously debatable, but France is already a bit too occupied to send aid, and the Scottish nobility at Flodden were basically wiped out, along with their king. So I'd guess England has the edge.

No Catherine also makes me wonder whether we see Henry break from Rome. He may still, but I recall it was largely due to the pope not granting him the annulment he wanted. Though I'm sure the piles and piles of treasure and the acres of land he seized may have been an inducement. Still no protestant England has many ripples.

Edit; with the Scottish nobility at Flodden, I mean those present were wiped out, not that all their nobility was killed in its entirity. That would be silly and ridiculously bad planning
 
IIRC Eleanor of Habsburg (elder sister of Charles V and Ferdinand) was 15 at the time. So Henry would not have to wait too long, before he can marry her (certainly by standards of that time). All other Habsburg candidates are too old or too young.

At the time Eleanor was still in the Low Countries, so Maximilian had more influence over her fate than Ferdinand II of Aragon. Maximilian will probably favour a marriage proposal, and since Aragon & Castille don't have any other real alternatives, Ferdinand would also give his consent.

ITTL Isabella of Habsburg might be destined for a Portuguese match and not like IOTL a Danish match (OTL she married Christian II of Denmark), if Eleanor (her first OTL marriage was with Manuel I of Portugal) ITTL marries Henry VIII of England.
 
Well, Henry (if Catherine dies instead of James) is going to hate the Scots almost as much James V hated the English. I don't think even his sister being the consort of their king is gonna save them from a possible Edward Longshanks invasion.

Henry would surely invade, but to what purpose? There is a great deal between a large raiding campaign of retribution and a campaign of subjugation.
 

Redhand

Banned
Henry would surely invade, but to what purpose? There is a great deal between a large raiding campaign of retribution and a campaign of subjugation.

With the Scottish nobility decimated at Flodden and morale pretty low on the part of the Scots, with the English thirsting for revenge, an invasion could break Scottish Military Power to the point of subjugation. Of course, the Reformation could completely screw this, but I can see English domination over Scotland being achieved in a year from Flodden if Henry moves the army up to Edinburgh quickly enough.

It might not be a massive raid but rather a brutal conquest that Henry had the ability to pull off at this point. The Longbow and Billhook Army had thrashed the Scottish Continental Pike Army and really broke their military psychology.

And the French wouldn't be able to do much with events on the Continent taking up all of their attention.
 
With the Scottish nobility decimated at Flodden and morale pretty low on the part of the Scots, with the English thirsting for revenge, an invasion could break Scottish Military Power to the point of subjugation. Of course, the Reformation could completely screw this, but I can see English domination over Scotland being achieved in a year from Flodden if Henry moves the army up to Edinburgh quickly enough.

What form would this hypothetical subjugation or domination take? Henry doesn't really have even a weak claim to the Scottish throne, does he?
 
What form would this hypothetical subjugation or domination take? Henry doesn't really have even a weak claim to the Scottish throne, does he?

He could claim right by conquest. There is a precedent, as Henry VII claimed his kingship by right of conquest.
 
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