The Battle of Flodden enters the novel not as a battlefield scene but as a story about regency, royal expectation, and Katherine of Aragon’s political character. While Henry VIII was campaigning in France, Katherine governed in his absence; after the Scots were defeated and their king killed, she proposed sending Henry the king’s head, then sent the dead king’s surcoat instead.## Background and RegencyHenry VIII had gone to France for war and left Katherine as regent. The novel presents the Scottish invasion and defeat at Flodden through this account of her acting in the king’s place: the battle’s significance lies not only in its outcome, but in the political responsibilities Katherine exercised during her husband’s absence.## Katherine’s ResponseAfter the Scottish king was killed, Katherine proposed that his head be sent to Henry in a bag, as a way of cheering her husband in his camp. Her advisers dissuaded her, judging such a gesture un-English. She sent a letter instead, accompanied by the dead king’s surcoat, stiffened with his blood. The substitution preserves the force of her response while making it a message conveyed through a tangible trophy rather than the proposed head.## Retelling and SignificanceThe episode is recounted during a conversation about Katherine’s history and character. It complicates her image as a pale, angelic queen: the same account that recalls her difficult early years and diplomatic experience depicts her as decisive in the aftermath of a military victory. Flodden thus becomes a brief but telling measure of the difference between the queen Henry imagined and the political woman acting in his stead.