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The great Scot Patriot who fought King Edward ILongshanksforScottishindependence.
William Wallace (c1270 - 1305) William Wallace is one of Scotland'sgreatest nationalheroes,undisputedleader of the Scottish resistanceforces during thefirst yearsof thelong and ultimately successful struggleto free ScotlandfromEnglishrule at the end of the 13th Century.
Records of Wallace's life are patchy and often inaccurate.Thisispartlybecause early accounts of his heroic deeds arespeculative,andpartlybecause he inspired such fear in the minds ofEnglish writersatthetime, that they demonised him, his achievements, andhis motives.
Many of the stories surrounding Wallace have been tracedtoalate-15thCentury romance 'The Wallace', ascribed to Henrytheminstrel,or 'BlindHarry'. This epic is vehemently anti-Englishinlanguage andtone. Themost popular tales about Wallace are notsupportedbydocumentaryevidence, but they show his firm hold on theimaginationofhis people.He represented the spirit of the common manstrivingforfreedom againstoppression, and exposed the Scottish nobilityof thetimeas a group ofunprincipled opportunists.
Wallace's place as a hero in Scottish history is assured.Therecanbelittle doubt that he has always been revered asaself-effacingandpassionate patriot by later generations of Scots.UnliketheconnivingScottish nobles who had collaborated with the Englishinreturnforfinancial benefits, Wallace had never sought personalfamenorbenefitedfrom it. He had accrued neither wealth nor land.
Wallace was born in around 1270, probably near Ellerslie(nowElderslie),inAyrshire, Scotland. His father was Sir MalcolmWallace,Laird ofElderslieand Auchinbothie, a small landowner andlittle-knownScottishknight. [Note:in 1999 the seal of Sir Wallace wastranslatedfrom thearchaic latin. Onhis seal it says he is the son of'Alan'.] Hismotheris believed to havebeen the daughter of Sir HughCrawford, SheriffofAyr, and he is thought tohave had an elder brother,also calledMalcolm.Because he was the secondson, William did not inherithisfather's titleor lands.
At the time of Wallace's birth, Alexander III had alreadybeenonScotland'sthrone for over twenty years. His reign had seen aperiodofpeace, economicstability, and prosperity and he hadsuccessfullyfendedoff continuingEnglish claims to suzerainty. KingEdward I (knownasEdward 'Longshanks')came to the throne of England in1272, twoyearsafter Wallace was born.
There is almost no reliable information about WilliamWallace'searlylife.He is said to have spent his childhood at Dunipace,nearStirling,underthe supervision of his uncle, who was a priest.Wallaceprobablyled acomfortable and peaceful life as the son of anobleman. Heand hisbrotherMalcolm must also have trained in the martialarts of thetime, -includinghorsemanship and swordsmanship. Contemporarychroniclerssaythat Williamwas a large, powerful man. He reportedly stoodmore thansixand a halffeet tall, - a veritable giant at a time whentheaverageheight of aninfantryman was only slightly more than five feet.
Carrick, in his Life of Sir William Wallace ofElderslie,consolidatessomeof the available historical descriptions ofWallace asfollows:
'His visage was long, well-proportioned, and exquisitelybeautiful;hiseyeswere bright and piercing, the hair of his head andbeardauburn,andinclined to curl; that on his brows and eyelashes was ofalightershade.His lips were round and full. His stature was loftyandmajestic,risinghead and shoulders above the tallest men in thecountry.Yet hisform,though gigantic, possessed the most perfect symmetry,andwith adegreeof strength almost incredible, there was combined suchanagilityof bodyand fleetness in running that no-one, except whenmountedonhorseback,could outstrip or escape from him when he happenedtopursue.'
In 1286, by the time he was about sixteen, Wallace mayhavebeenpreparingto pursue a life in the church. In that year,AlexanderIIIdied afterriding off a cliff during a wild storm. NoneofAlexanderIII's childrensurvived him. After his death, hisyounggranddaughter,Margaret, the'Maid of Norway', was declared QueenofScotland by theScottish lords,but was still only a little girl of 4whowas living inNorway. An interimScottish government run by 'guardians'wasset up togovern until Margaretwas old enough to take up thethrone.However,Edward I of England tookadvantage of the uncertaintyandpotentialinstability over the Scottishsuccession. He agreed withtheguardiansthat Margaret should marry hisson and heir EdwardofCaernarvon(afterwards Edward II of England), onthe understandingthatScotlandwould be preserved as a separate nation.
Margaret fell ill and died unexpectedly in 1290 at the age of8intheOrkney Islands on her way from Norway to England. 13claimantstotheScottish throne came forward, most of whom werefromtheScottishnobility.
Scotland was essentially occupied by the English at this time,andwasbesetby its own internal conflicts. The variousaristocraticScottishguardiansof the throne plotted against one another,variouslyaligningthemselveswith King Edward or defying their loyalty tohim whenitsuited them. At thesame time English troops, includingmercenariesandfrequently disgruntledWelsh and Irish conscripts,operatedfreelythroughout Scotland fromstockaded camps andfortifiedgarrisons.Civilian life was precarious, andabuses by theoccupiersagainst thecommon people were rife. The Scottishnobles didlittle tomaintain therule of law and protect Scots fromatrocities.
In this climate of lawlessness, William Wallace's father waskilledinaskirmish with English troops in 1291. It is likely that thedeathofhisfather at the hands of the English contributedtoWallace'slifelongdesire to fight for his nation's independence.However,little isknownabout Wallace's life during this period, exceptthat helived thelife ofan outlaw, moving constantly to avoid theEnglish,andoccasionallyconfronting them with characteristic ferocity.
Carrick's describes Wallace's skills as a warrior:
'All powerful as a swordsman and unrivalled as an archer,hisblowswerefatal and his shafts unerring: as an equestrian, he wasamodelofdexterity and grace; while the hardships he experienced inhisyouthmadehim view with indifference the severest privations incidenttoamilitarylife.'
In the absence of a clear successor to the Scottish throne,theclaimantstothe Scottish throne requested Edward I's arbitration.Thethreemaincandidates were all descendants of David, Earl ofHuntingdon,who wasthebrother of William the Lion, king of Scotland from1165 to1214. JohndeBalliol was the grandson of David's eldest daughter;Robertde Brucewasthe son of David's second daughter, and John deHastings wasthegrandsonof David's youngest daughter. In 1292, Balliolwas chosen askingby aspecial commission one half of whose whose memberswere chosenbyBruceand the other half by Balliol.
Balliol took an oath of fealty, paid homage to Edward, andwasacceptedinScotland. However, Edward I's motives had not really beentohelptheScots as an arbitrator. He saw himself as the feudalsuperioroftheScottish crown, and wished to install a Scottish monarchwhomhecouldmanipulate.
Edward underestimated the Scots' belief in their ownsovereignty.Whenhesought to exert his suzerainty by taking law casesonappealfromScottish courts to his own court in England, and bysummoningBallioltodo military service for him against France, he turnedtheScottishthroneagainst him. In the meantime, England had been at warwithFrance.In1295, a treaty was negotiated between Edward I andtheFrenchthatprovided for the marriage of John de Balliol's son EdwardtotheFrenchKing's niece. Edward demanded the surrender of threecastlesontheScottish border and, on John's refusal, summoned him tohiscourt.Johndid not obey, and war was inevitable.
Edward marched north with his armies. After afive-monthcampaign,heconquered Scotland in 1297. Following his victory,heappointed hisownagents to enforce peace in Scotland. He deposedandimprisoned JohndeBalliol and declared himself ruler of Scotland. Healsohad the StoneofDestiny, the coronation stone of Scone, taken southtoWestminster.Thegovernment of Scotland was placed in the handsofEnglishmen led byHughCressingham, the Earl of Surrey.
Outside the south-east corner of Scotland, therewaswidespreaddisorder,and defiance against the English wasincreasing.Wallace wasinvolved ina fight with local soldiers in thevillage of Ayr.Afterkilling severalof them, he was overpowered and throwninto adungeonwhere he was slowlystarved. Wallace was left for dead,butsympatheticvillagers nursed himback to health. When he had regainedhisstrength,Wallace recruitedseveral local rebels and began hissystematicandmerciless assault onthe hated English and their Scottishsympathisers.
As his support grew, Wallace's attacks broadened. In May 1297,withasmanyas 30 men, he avenged his father's death by ambushingandkillingtheknight responsible and some of his soldiers. Now, he wasnolongermerelyan outlaw but a local military leader who had struckdownone ofEdward'sknights and some of his soldiers. William Wallacehadbecome theking'senemy.
Although most of Scotland was in Scottish hands byAugust1297,Wallacesuccessfully recruited a band of commoners andsmalllandowners toattackthe remaining English garrisons between theRiversForth and Tay.Wallaceand his co-leader, Sir Andrew de Moray,marchedtheir forcestowardsStirling Castle, a stronghold of vitalstrategicimportance totheEnglish. The English commanders must have beenfalselyconfident thattheupstart Scots would retreat or surrender. On Sept11,1297, theEnglisharmy under John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey,confrontedhim nearStirling.Wallace's forces were greatly outnumbered, butSurreyhad tocross anarrow bridge over the River Forth before he couldreachtheScottishpositions. Wallace's men lured the English intomakinganimpulsiveadvance, and slaughtered them as they crossedtheriver.Englishfatalities are reported to have approached 5,000,gainingWallaceanoverwhelming victory. He had shown not only that hewasacharismaticleader and warrior, but also that histacticalmilitaryability wasstrong. Never before had a Scottish army sotriumphedover anEnglishaggressor. Wallace captured Stirling Castle andfor themomentScotlandwas almost free of occupying forces.
At the time of the battle of Stirling Bridge, Wallace and deMoraywerebothin their late twenties. Neither could yet claim tobeScottishnationalheroes, and they were not recognised bytheiraristocraticenemies inScotland as anything more than localcommanders.UnderWallace, the Scots, -commoners and knights, rather thannobles, -wereunited in a focused fightfor freedom from foreign rule.WhereastheScottish nobility had usuallygiven in to English demandsforallegiance,Wallace's patriotic forceremained unequivocally dedicatedtothestruggle for Scottish independence.
In October of 1296, Wallace invaded northern Englandandravagedthecounties of Northumberland and Cumberland. UponreturningtoScotlandearly in December 1297, he was knighted andproclaimedguardianof thekingdom, ruling in Balliol's name. In less thansix years,he hadrisenfrom obscurity to become Sir William Wallace, holderof one ofthemostpowerful posts in the kingdom. Nevertheless, manyScottishnobleslenthim only grudging support, and he had yet to meetEdward I inahead-onconfrontation.
Wallace's acclaim following the battle of StirlingBridgewasshort-lived.Edward returned to England from campaigning inFranceinMarch 1298. OnJuly 3 he invaded Scotland, intending to crushWallaceandall thosedaring to assert Scotland's independence. OnJuly22,Edward's90,000-strong army attacked a much smaller Scottish forceledbyWallacenear Falkirk. The English army was at atechnologicaladvantage.Itslongbow-men decimated Wallace's spearmen andcavalry byfiring scoresofarrows over great distances. As many as 10,000Scots mayhavebeenkilled. Although Edward failed to subdueScotlandcompletelybeforereturning to England, Wallace's militaryreputation wasruined.Heretreated to the thick woods nearby and resignedhisguardianshipinDecember. He was succeeded as guardian of the kingdombyRobert deBruce(later King Robert I) and Sir John Comyn 'the Red'.
From the autumn of 1299 until 1303, nothing certain isknownaboutWallace'sactivities. There is some evidence to suggest that hewenttoFrance withseveral loyal supporters on a diplomatic missiontoseeksupport from KingPhilip IV. Philip may have furnished himwithlettersof recommendation toPope Boniface VIII and King Hakon ofNorway.Then,in 1303, the Treaty ofParis effectively endedhostilitiesbetweenEngland and France.
Having made peace with the French, Edward renewed hisconquestofScotlandin earnest. He captured Stirling in 1304, and althoughmostoftheScottish nobles pledged allegiance to the English crown,hecontinuedtopursue the outlaw Wallace relentlessly. Edward'srefusaltoacknowledgeWallace as a worthy enemy from a separate countrymeantthatthe Englishcould officially regard Wallace as a traitor totheEnglishnation.
On Aug 5 1305, Wallace was betrayed by a Scottish knight inservicetotheEnglish king, and arrested near Glasgow. He was taken toLondonanddeniedthe status of a captured soldier. He was tried forthewartimemurder ofcivilians (he allegedly spared 'neither age nor sex,monknornun'). Hewas condemned as a traitor to the king even though,ashecorrectlymaintained, he had never sworn allegiance to Edward.
On 23rd August 1305, he was executed. At that time (and forthenext550years), the punishment for the crime of treason wasthattheconvictedtraitor was dragged to the place of execution, hangedbytheneck (butnot until he was dead), and disembowelled (or drawn)whilestillalive.His entrails were burned before his eyes, he wasdecapitatedandhis bodywas divided into four parts (or quartered).Accordingly,thiswasWallace's fate. His head was impaled on a spike anddisplayedatLondonBridge, his right arm on the bridge atNewcastle-upon-Tyne,hisleft armat Berwick, his right leg at Perth, andthe left leg atAberdeen.Edwardmay have believed that with Wallace'scapture andexecution, he hadatlast broken the spirit of the Scots. He waswrong. ByexecutingWallaceso barbarically, Edward had martyred a popularScotsmilitaryleader andfired the Scottish people's determination to befree.
Almost immediately, Robert I the Bruce revived thenationalrebellionthatwas to win independence for Scotland. He succeededand wascrownedking ofScotland in 1306.
On his way to reconquer Scotland, Edward died near Carlisle.
Several hundred years later in the 19th century,statuescommemoratingSirWilliam Wallace were erected overlooking the RiverTweedand inLanark. In1869, the 220-foot high National WallaceMonumentwascompleted on a hillnear Stirling. This huge tower nowdominates theareawhere the Scotsfought their most decisive battlesagainst the Englishinthe thirteenthand fourteenth centuries at StirlingBridgeandBannockburn.
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Thomas
Schäfer
