This 1526 battle was part of a Scottish power struggle to control the young King James V, fought near Linlithgow between two rival noble factions.
Key Facts
- Date
- 4 September 1526
- Location
- Linlithgow Bridge, near Linlithgow, Scotland
- Force A (Lennox)
- 10,000 men
- Force B (Arran)
- 2,500 men
- Battlefield Inventory
- Listed in Historic Scotland's national Inventory of Historic Battlefields
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the minority of King James V of Scotland, rival noble factions competed for control of the young monarch. The Earl of Lennox and James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran, represented opposing interests in this struggle for political dominance over the Scottish crown.
On 4 September 1526, a force of 10,000 men under the Earl of Lennox clashed with 2,500 men commanded by James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran, at the village of Linlithgow Bridge near Linlithgow in Scotland. The engagement was a direct military expression of the broader contest for regency power.
The battle settled, at least temporarily, the immediate contest between Lennox and Arran for influence over James V. The battlefield was later recognised for its historical importance and added to the national Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Earl of Lennox.
Side B
1 belligerent
James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran.