=20. Battle of Flodden.=--James also determined to invade England. Though the cause was not popular, the King was, and a large army was soon mustered. The King himself led the host across the Border, and encamped on the _Till_, but, as he would not take the advice of _Angus_ and others who knew more of border fighting than he did, he mismanaged the whole affair. He idled away the time till his own army began to disperse and the English had time to gather; then he let them cross the river unopposed, and finally left his strong position on the hill to meet them hand to hand in the plain. The result was an utter defeat, and the King, who was more eager to display his own valour than to act the part of the general in command, was slain in the thickest of the fight. Twelve earls and thirteen barons fell round him, and every noble house in Scotland left some of its name on the fatal field of _Flodden_ Sept. 9, 1513. The death of _James the Fourth_ was deeply mourned, for his reign had been peaceable and prosperous. He was popular with the nobles, because he kept them round him, and freely spent his father's savings; and with the commons, because of his rigorous maintenance of justice, his encouragement of commerce and agriculture, and his easy, kindly manners. James is described as middle-sized, handsome, and well-made. Besides Latin and several other foreign languages, he could speak the Irish or Gaelic, which was the native tongue of his western subjects. During his reign Scotland was more prosperous than it had been since the days of the last Alexander. Trade was flourishing and on the increase, and large quantities of wool, hides, and fish were exported to other countries. =21. Church Matters.=--In 1492, at the petition of the _Estates_, the _pallium_ was sent from _Rome_ to _Robert Blackadder_, Bishop of _Glasgow_, with licence to bear the cross and all other archiepiscopal insignia. This led to bitter strife between the two Archbishops, who referred their disputes to the Pope, to the great wrath of the Estates, who denounced and forbade all such appeals to Rome. The burning of Reseby had not put a stop to the spreading of Wickliffe's doctrines, for we find thirty persons accused of the Lollard heresy by Blackadder. Two great steps towards the advancement of learning were made in this reign: the one was the foundation of a third University at Aberdeen, on the model of the University of Paris, by _Elphinstone_, the good Bishop of _Aberdeen_; the other was the introduction of the art of printing, by means of which knowledge could be extended to the people. The first press was set up by _Walter Chapman_, under the patronage of the King.