William Wallace

For other people named William Wallace, see William Wallace (disambiguation).

Sir William Wallace
Born	about 1270 Elderslie, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Died	23 August 1305 (aged 31–33) Smithfield, London, England
Cause of death	Decapitation
Occupation	Commander in the Scottish Wars of Independence
Children	None recorded
Parent(s)	Alan Wallace (father), Margaret Crauford (mother)

Sir William Wallace (Medieval Gaelic: Uilliam Uallas; modern Scottish Gaelic: Uilleam Uallas; 1272 or 1273 – 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight and landowner who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, and was Guardian of Scotland, serving until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk. In 1305, Wallace was captured in Robroyston near Glasgow and handed over to King Edward I of England, who had him hanged, drawn, and quartered for high treason.

Since his death, Wallace has obtained an iconic status far beyond his homeland. He is the protagonist of the 15th century epic poem The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, by Blind Harry. The poem is almost entirely fictional, describing him adopting the disguises of a monk, an old woman, and a potter while a fugitive; and travelling to France to enlist support for the Scottish cause, there defeating two French champions as well as a lion.

Wallace is also the subject of literary works by Sir Walter Scott and Jane Porter. The best known depiction of Wallace is in the Academy Award winning epic film Braveheart, which was directed by Mel Gibson and based upon a screenplay by Randall Wallace. Randall Wallace has acknowledged Blind Harry's poem as a major source of inspiration for the film.

Background

Although he was a minor member of the Scottish nobility, little is known for certain of William Wallace's family history. The early members of the family are recorded as holding estates at Riccarton, Tarbolton, and Auchincruive in Kyle, and Stenton in Haddingtonshire. They were vassals of James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland as their lands fell within his territory.

The seal attached to a letter sent to the Hanse city of Lübeck in 1297 appears to give his father's name as Alan. His brothers Malcolm and John are known from other sources. An Alan Wallace appears in the Ragman Rolls as a crown tenant in Ayrshire, but there is no additional confirmation. The traditional view is that Wallace's birthplace was Elderslie in Renfrewshire, but it has been recently claimed to be Ellerslie in Ayrshire. There is no contemporary evidence linking him with either location, although both areas were linked to the wider Wallace family.

Around the time of Wallace's birth, King Alexander III ruled Scotland. His reign had seen a period of peace and economic stability. Alexander had maintained a positive relationship with the kings of England, while successfully fending off continuing English claims to sovereignty over Scotland. In 1286, however, Alexander died after falling from his horse, and none of his children survived him.

The Scottish lords declared Alexander's four-year-old granddaughter, Margaret, Maid of Norway, as Queen. As she was still a child, the Scottish lords set up an interim government to administer Scotland until Margaret came of age. King Edward I of England took advantage of the instability by negotiating the Treaty of Birgham and betrothed Margaret to his son, Edward, Prince of Wales. The treaty stipulated, however, that Scotland would preserve its status as a separate kingdom. In 1290, however, Margaret fell ill and died at only seven years of age on her way from her native Norway to Scotland. Infighting over the Scottish throne began almost immediately.

With Scotland threatening to descend into civil war, King Edward was invited to arbitrate by the Scottish nobility. Before the process could begin, he insisted, despite his previous promise to the contrary, that all of the contenders recognise him as Lord Paramount of Scotland. After some initial resistance, all, including John Balliol and Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale accepted this precondition. Finally, in early November 1292, at a great feudal court held in the castle at Berwick-upon-Tweed, judgement was given in favour of John Balliol having the strongest claim in law. Formal announcement of the judgement was given by King Edward on 17 November.

Edward proceeded to reverse the rulings of the Scottish Lords and even summoned King John Balliol to stand before the English court as a common felon. John was a weak king and not the strong leader Scotland needed in these troubled times. Thus he came to be known as "Toom Tabard", or "Empty Coat". Balliol supporters including Fraser, Bishop of St. Andrews and John Comyn, Earl of Buchan appealed to King Edward to keep the promise he had made in the Treaty of Birgham and elsewhere to respect the customs and laws of Scotland. Edward repudiated the treaty, saying he was no longer bound by it. John renounced his homage in March 1296 and by the end of the month Edward stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, sacking the then-Scottish border town. He slaughtered almost all of his opponents who resided there, even if they fled to their homes. In April, the Scots were defeated at the Battle of Dunbar in East Lothian and by July Edward had forced John to abdicate at Stracathro near Montrose. Edward then instructed his officers to receive formal homage from some 1,800 Scottish nobles (many of the rest being prisoners of war at that time). King Edward had previously removed the Scottish coronation stone, from Scone Abbey, and taken it to Westminster Abbey.

Military career

Early exploits

Blind Harry alleges that Wallace's father was killed along with his brother John in a skirmish at Loudoun Hill in 1291 by the notorious Lambies, who came from the Clan Lamont.

According to Ayrshire legend, however, two English soldiers challenged Wallace in the Lanark marketplace regarding his poaching of fish. According to John Strawhorn, author of The History of Irvine, the legend has Wallace fishing on the River Irvine. He had been staying with his uncle in Riccarton. A group of English soldiers approached, whereupon the leader of the band came forward and demanded the entire catch as the price of not arresting him. Even after Wallace offered half of his fish, the English refused such a meager bribe and threatened to kill Wallace if he refused. Wallace allegedly floored the approaching soldier with his fishing rod and took up the assailant's sword. The argument had escalated into a brawl and two English soldiers were killed. Blind Harry places this incident along the River Irvine with five soldiers being killed. The authorities issued a warrant for his arrest shortly thereafter. According to a plaque outside St. Paul's Cathedral in Dundee, however, William Wallace began his war for independence by killing the son of the English governor of Dundee, who had made a habit of bullying Wallace and his family. This story perhaps has more weight because it is speculated that Wallace may have attended what is now the High School of Dundee, and spent some of his time growing up in the nearby village of Kilspindie. In 1291, or 1292, William Wallace killed the son of an English noble, named Selby, with a dirk. No actual evidence exists for any of this however.

Wallace first enters history when he assassinated William de Heselrig, the English High Sheriff of Lanark, in May 1297. According to later legend this was to avenge the Sheriff's murder of Marion Braidfute of Lamington — the young heiress Wallace had recently married. Soon, he achieved victory in skirmishes at Loudoun Hill (near Darvel, Ayrshire) and Ayr; he also fought alongside Sir William Douglas the Hardy at Scone, routing the English justiciar, William Ormesby from cities such as Perth, Glasgow, Scone and Dundee.

Supporters of the uprising suffered a major blow when Scottish nobles agreed to personal terms with the English at Irvine in July. In August, Wallace left Selkirk Forest with his followers to join Andrew Moray, who had begun another uprising, at Stirling, where they prepared to meet the English in battle.

As Wallace's ranks swelled, information obtained by John de Graham prompted Wallace to move his force from Selkirk Forest to the Highlands; there is no historical evidence to suggest that Wallace ever left the Lowlands area of Scotland other than his visit to France and his trip to the scaffold in London.

Battle of Stirling Bridge

Main article: Battle of Stirling Bridge

On September 11, 1297, Wallace's forces won the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Although vastly outnumbered, the Scottish forces led by Wallace and Andrew Moray routed the English army. John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey's professional army of 3,000 cavalry and 8,000 to 10,000 infantry met disaster as they crossed over to the north side of the river. The narrowness of the bridge prevented many soldiers from crossing together (possibly as few as three men abreast), so while the English soldiers crossed, the Scots held back until half of them had passed and then killed the English as quickly as they could cross. The infantry were sent on first, followed by heavy cavalry. But the Scots' sheltron formations forced the infantry back into the advancing cavalry. A pivotal charge, led by one of Wallace's captains, caused some of the English soldiers to retreat as others pushed forward, and under the overwhelming weight, the bridge collapsed and many English soldiers drowned. Some claim that the bridge was rigged to collapse by the action of a man hidden beneath the bridge. The Scots won a significant victory which boosted the confidence of their army. Hugh Cressingham, Edward's treasurer in Scotland, died in the fighting and it is reputed that his body was subsequently flayed and the skin cut into small pieces as tokens of the victory. The Lanercost Chronicle records that Wallace had "a broad strip [of Cressingham’s skin] ... taken from the head to the heel, to make therewith a baldrick for his sword". William Crawford led 400 Scottish heavy cavalry to complete the action by running the English out of Scotland. It is widely believed that Moray died of wounds suffered on the battlefield sometime in the winter of 1297, but an inquisition into the affairs of his uncle, Sir William Moray of Bothwell, held at Berwick in late November 1300, records he was "slain at Stirling against the king."

Upon his return from the battle, Wallace was knighted along with his second-in-command John de Graham, possibly by Robert the Bruce, and Wallace was named "Guardian of Scotland and Leader of its armies".

The type of engagement used by Wallace was contrary to the contemporary views on chivalric warfare whereby strength of arms and knightly combat was espoused in the stead of tactical engagements and strategic use of terrain. The battle thus embittered relations between the two antagonistic nations, whilst also perhaps providing a new departure in the type of warfare with which England had hitherto engaged. The numerical and material inferiority of the Scottish forces would be mirrored by the English in the Hundred Years' War, who, in turn, abandoned chivalric warfare to achieve decisive victory in similar engagements such as Crécy and Poitiers.

In the six months following Stirling Bridge, Wallace led a raid into northern England. His intent was to take the battle to English soil to demonstrate to Edward that Scotland also had the power to inflict the same sort of damage south of the border.

Battle of Falkirk

Main article: Battle of Falkirk (1298)

A year later, Wallace lost the Battle of Falkirk. On 1 April 1298, the English invaded Scotland at Roxburgh. They plundered Lothian and regained some castles, but had failed to bring Wallace to combat. The Scots adopted a scorched earth policy in their own country, and English quartermasters' failure to prepare for the expedition left morale and food low, but Edward's search for Wallace would not end at Falkirk.

Wallace arranged his spearmen in four "schiltrons" — circular, hedgehog formations surrounded by a defensive wall of wooden stakes. The English however employed Welsh longbowmen which swung strategic superiority in their favour. The English proceeded to attack with cavalry, and breaking up the Scottish archers. Under the command of the Scottish nobles, the Scottish knights withdrew, and Edward's men began to attack the schiltrons. It remains unclear whether the infantry shooting bolts, arrows and stones at the spearmen proved the deciding factor, although it is very likely that it was the arrows of Edward's bowmen. Gaps in the schiltrons soon appeared, and the English exploited these to crush the remaining resistance. The Scots lost many men, including John de Graham. Wallace escaped, though his military reputation suffered badly.

By September 1298, Wallace had decided to resign as Guardian of Scotland in favour of Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick and future king, and John Comyn of Badenoch, King John Balliol's brother-in-law. Bruce became reconciled with King Edward in 1302, while Wallace spurned such moves towards peace.

According to Harry, Wallace left with William Crawford in late 1298 on a mission to the court of King Philip IV of France to plead the case for assistance in the Scottish struggle for independence. Backing this claim is a surviving letter from the French king dated 7 November 1300 to his envoys in Rome demanding that they should help Sir William.

In 1303, Squire Guthrie was sent to France to ask Wallace and his men to return to Scotland, which they did that same year. They slipped in under the cover of darkness to recover on the farm of William Crawford, near Elcho Wood. Having heard rumours of Wallace's appearance in the area, the English moved in on the farm. A chase ensued and the band of men slipped away after being surrounded in Elcho Wood. Here, Wallace took the life of one of his men that he suspected of disloyalty, in order to divert the English from the trail.

In 1304 he was involved in skirmishes at Happrew and Earnside.

Plaque marking the place of Wallace's trial in Westminster Hall

Capture and execution

Wallace evaded capture by the English until 5 August 1305 when John de Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to Edward, turned Wallace over to English soldiers at Robroyston near Glasgow. Wallace was transported to London and taken to Westminster Hall, where he was tried for treason and was crowned with a garland of oak to suggest he was the king of outlaws. He responded to the treason charge, "I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject." With this, Wallace asserted that the absent John Balliol was officially his king.

William Wallace Statue, Aberdeen

Following the trial, on 23 August 1305, Wallace was taken from the hall, stripped naked and dragged through the city at the heels of a horse to the Elms at Smithfield. He was hanged, drawn and quartered — strangled by hanging but released while he was still alive, castrated, eviscerated and his bowels burnt before him, beheaded, then cut into four parts. His preserved head (dipped in tar) was placed on a pike atop London Bridge. It was later joined by the heads of the brothers, John and Simon Fraser. His limbs were displayed, separately, in Newcastle upon Tyne, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Stirling, and Aberdeen.

A plaque stands in a wall of St. Bartholomew's Hospital near the site of Wallace's execution at Smithfield. The Wallace Sword, which supposedly belonged to Wallace, although some parts are at least 160 years later in origin, was held for many years in Loudoun Castle and is now in the Wallace Monument near Stirling.

In 2005, David R. Ross undertook a 450-mile walk in commemoration of the septicentennial of Wallace's execution, followed by a memorial service in the Anglican church of St Bartholomew-the-Great as Wallace, having been found guilty of high treason.

Portrayal in fiction

The Wallace Monument, near Stirling Castle, commemorates the actions of William Wallace during the Wars of Independence

Comprehensive and historically accurate material has been written about Wallace, but many stories are based on the 15th century minstrel Blind Harry's epic poem, The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, written around 1470. Historians either reject almost all of the parts of Blind Harry's tale, or dismiss the entire composition. Although Blind Harry wrote from oral tradition describing events 170 years earlier, giving rise to alterations of fact, Harry's is not in any sense an authoritative description of Wallace's exploits. Indeed, hardly any of Harry's work is supported by contemporary evidence including names from land charters, the Ragman Roll, and religious and public office holders and their archives. The poem, for example, describes a mythical incident, the "Barns of Ayr", when 360 Scottish nobles, led by Wallace’s uncle, Ronald Crawford, were summoned by the English to a conference in Spring of 1297. As each passed through a narrow entry, a rope was dropped around his neck and he was hanged. The incident appears in the 1995 film Braveheart with even less accuracy, placing the event in Wallace's childhood and ignoring the murder of his uncle Crawford.

In the early 19th century, Walter Scott wrote of Wallace in Exploits and Death of William Wallace, the "Hero of Scotland", and Jane Porter penned a romantic version of the Wallace legend in The Scottish Chiefs in 1810. G. A. Henty wrote a novel in 1885 about this time period titled In Freedom's Cause. Henty, a producer of Boy's Own Paper fiction who wrote for that magazine, portrays the life of William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, The Black Douglas, and others, while dovetailing the novel with historical fiction. Nigel Tranter wrote a historical novel titled The Wallace, published in 1975, which is said by academics to be more accurate than its literary predecessors.

A well-known account is presented in the film Braveheart, directed by and starring Mel Gibson, written by Randall Wallace, and filmed in both Scotland and Ireland. The film was a commercial success, and won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Sources

• Barrow, G. W. S. (1989), Kingship and Unity: Scotland 1000–1306, The New History of Scotland, vol. 2 (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-0104-X
• Barrow, G. W. S. (1976), Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-85224-307-3
• Barrow, G. W. S. (2003), The Kingdom of the Scots: Government, Church and Society from the eleventh to the fourteenth century (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1803-1
• Brown, Michael (2004), The Wars of Scotland 1214–1371, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, vol. 4, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1238-6
• Cowan, Edward J. (2003), 'For Freedom Alone': The Declaration of Arbroath, 1320, West Linton: Tuckwell Press, ISBN 1-84158-632-3
• Cowan, Edward J.; Finlay, Richard J., eds. (2002), Scottish History: The Power of the Past, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1420-6
• Cowan, Edward J., ed. (2007), The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, ISBN 9780-85976-652-4
• Cowan, Edward J. (2007), "William Wallace: 'The Choice of the Estates'", in Cowan, Edward J. (ed.), The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 9–25, ISBN 9780-85976-652-4
• Duncan, A. A. M. (2007), "William, Son of Alan Wallace: The Documents", in Cowan, Edward J. (ed.), The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 42–63, ISBN 9780-85976-652-4
• Fisher, Andrew (2002), William Wallace (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn, ISBN 1-84158-593-9
• Fraser, James E. (2002), "'A Swan from a Raven': William Wallace, Brucean Propaganda and Gesta Annalia II", The Scottish Historical Review, LXXXI (1), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press: 1–22, ISSN 0036-9241
• Grant, Alexander (2007), "Bravehearts and Coronets: Images of William Wallace and the Scottish Nobility", in Cowan, Edward J. (ed.), The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 86–106, ISBN 9780-85976-652-4
• King, Elspeth (2007), "The Material Culture of William Wallace", in Cowan, Edward J. (ed.), The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 117–135, ISBN 9780-85976-652-4
• Prestwich, Michael (2007), "The Battle of Stirling Bridge: An English Perspective", in Cowan, Edward J. (ed.), The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 64–76, ISBN 9780-85976-652-4
• Riddy, Felicity (2007), "Unmapping the Territory: Blind Hary's Wallace", in Cowan, Edward J. (ed.), The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 107–116, ISBN 9780-85976-652-4
• Watson, Fiona (2002), "The Demonisation of King John", in Cowan, Edward J.; Finlay, Richard J. (eds.), Scottish History: The Power of the Past, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 29–46, ISBN 0-7486-1420-6
• Watson, Fiona (2007), "Sir William Wallace: What We Do — and Don't — Know", in Cowan, Edward J. (ed.), The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 26–41, ISBN 9780-85976-652-4
• Young, Alan (1997), Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212–1314, East Linton: Tuckwell Press, ISBN 1-86232-053-5
• Brown, Chris. William Wallace. The True Story of Braveheart. Stroud: Tempus Publishing Ltd, 2005. ISBN 0-7524-3432-2.
• "The Chronicle of Lanercost 1272–1346", ed. H. Maxwell, 1913;
• Clater-Roszak, Christine. "Sir William Wallace ignited a flame." Military History 14 (1997): 12–15.
• Harris, Nathaniel. Heritage of Scotland: A Cultural History of Scotland & Its People. London: Hamlyn, 2000. ISBN 0-600-59834-9.
• Loudoun, Darren John. Scotland's Brave. Sydney: Paragon Books, 2007.
• MacLean, Fitzroy. Scotland: A Concise History. London: Thames & Hudson, 1997. ISBN 0-500-27706-0.
• Morton, Graeme. William Wallace. London: Sutton, 2004. ISBN 0-7509-3523-5.
• Reese, Peter. William Wallace: A Biography. Edinburgh: Canongate, 1998. ISBN 0-86241-607-8.
• Scott, Sir Walter. Exploits and death of William Wallace, the 'Hero of Scotland'
• Stead, Michael J., and Alan Young. In the Footsteps of William Wallace. London: Sutton, 2002.
• Tranter, Nigel. The Wallace: The Compelling 13th century Story of William Wallace. McArthur & Co., 1997. ISBN 0-340-21237-3.
• Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. London: Reader’s Digest Association, 1973, 519–20.
• The 'Robert the Bruce' trilogy by Nigel Tranter

See also

• Clan Wallace
• Crosbie Castle and the Fullarton estate
• Jack Short
• Josep Moragues i Mas
• Lugar Water
• Wallace's Monument

External links

Quotations related to William Wallace at Wikiquote

• The Life of Sir William Wallace, by John D. Carryck (btm format)
• William Wallace and Battles of Stirling and Falkirk
• Wallace and Bruce
• The Lübeck letter