The Rough Wooing: Henry VIII's War on Scotland

In 1544, as an aging and increasingly paranoid Henry VIII prepared for war with France, he also launched a brutal military campaign against his northern neighbour, Scotland. The goal was to force a marriage between his infant son, the future Edward VI, and the even younger Mary, Queen of Scots — a union that would unite the crowns and neutralise the Auld Alliance with France. What followed was a campaign of terror known as the Rough Wooing. At the Battle of Solway Moss in 1542, the Scots had been humiliated, leaving James V dead and his baby daughter as queen. Henry saw his chance. But when the Scottish Parliament balked at the marriage treaty, Henry ordered the Earl of Hertford — later the Duke of Somerset — to burn and pillage his way through the Lowlands. Edinburgh was sacked, Holyroodhouse burned, and entire villages destroyed. This episode explores the politics, the violence, and the long-term consequences: the Rough Wooing backfired spectacularly, driving Scotland deeper into the arms of France and setting the stage for Mary's eventual marriage to the Dauphin. It also shaped the childhood of Mary, Queen of Scots, who was smuggled to France at age five for safety. Lucas and Luna walk through the key figures — Henry VIII, Cardinal David Beaton, the regent James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, and the English commander Edward Seymour — and ask whether this brutal policy was a strategic failure or a deliberate act of scorched-earth diplomacy. #RoughWooing #HenryVIII #MaryQueenOfScots #TudorHistory #Scotland #SolwayMoss #BattleOfSolwayMoss #EdwardSeymour #EarlOfHertford #DavidBeaton #JamesHamilton #AuldAlliance #TudorScotland #16thCentury #Edinburgh #Holyroodhouse #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo