Scotland's Renaissance king
On 10 April 1512, James IV launched the Great Michael at Newhaven near Edinburgh. She was the largest warship in the world — 240 feet long, with walls ten feet thick, carrying 27 great guns and a crew of over 300 sailors and 1,000 soldiers. Her construction reportedly consumed all the timber of Fife and required imports from Norway and France.
James IV was Scotland's Renaissance king — cultured, ambitious, and determined to make Scotland a major European power. He spoke Gaelic, Scots, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and possibly Dutch. He founded the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, established Scotland's first printing press, and invested heavily in the navy. The Great Michael was the centrepiece of his naval ambitions.
But James's reign ended in catastrophe. Honouring Scotland's Auld Alliance with France, he invaded England in September 1513 while Henry VIII was fighting in France. On 9 September, at the Battle of Flodden in Northumberland, the Scottish army was annihilated. James himself was killed, along with his son the Archbishop of St Andrews, nine earls, thirteen barons, and an estimated 10,000 soldiers. It was the worst military disaster in Scottish history.
The Great Michael, meanwhile, was sold to France after James's death. She was allowed to rot in Brest harbour. The ship that was meant to project Scottish power across Europe became a symbol of the nation's shattered ambitions. Flodden cast a shadow over Scotland for generations — the phrase "the Flowers of the Forest" (from the ballad commemorating the dead) is still played at Scottish remembrance ceremonies to this day.