Catherine of Aragon will win all your battles
I know the question that has kept you up in a torment of unknowing is “DID famed 16th century English queen Catherine of Aragon protect England against invading Scots or is that all a bunch of nonsense.”
WELL here we are. It’s 1513. Newly crowned Henry VIII is all “I’m the King of Scotland” and the actual king gets very ANGRY and so he marches on England. Meeting him are troops led by the Earl of Surrey (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard’s grandfather). Where is Henry VIII. In France, obviously.
What’s Catherine’s role. Well, she’s regent in Henry’s absence. And pregnant. Because medieval/Renaissance times were weird, you had to give notice that you were going to invade. So James IV, King of Scotland, does. Catherine obviously gathers an army. Obviously because her ACTUAL title at this time was “Governor of the Realm and Captain General of the Forces,” which is awesome.
The army kicks Scotland’s ass, James IV dies in battle, along with 12 earls and a bunch of other nobility, along with somewhere between 5,000 - 17,000 soldiers, because war is a waste and a curse. Then Catherine writes to Henry and congratulates him on his victory. Lol.
The point is women can do things and Catherine should have been queen so long as she didn’t bring the Inquisition to England like her rightfully embittered daughter Mary did. Happy Thursday!