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Sir William Wallace   (c. 1276 – August 23,
1305) was a Scotland|Scottish knight who led his
countrymen in resistance to England|English
domination in the reign of King Edward I of
England|Edward I, during significant periods of
the Wars of Scottish Independence.


Tradition often describes Wallace as 'one of the
common people', contrasted to his countrymen, such
as Robert I of Scotland|Robert the Bruce, who came
from noble stock. Wallace's family descends from
Richard Wallace the Wales|Welshman, a landowner
under an early member of the House of Stuart,
which later became royal lineage.

An insignificant amount of comprehensive and
historically accurate information was written
about Wallace. Many stories, however, are based on
the wandering 15th century minstrel Blind Harry's
epic poem, "The Acts and Deeds of Sir William
Wallace, Knight of Elderslie", written around
1470. Historians disagree with parts of Blind
Harry's tale, or dismiss the entire composition.
In the early 19th century, Sir 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. 20th century Nigel
Tranter authored an intended fiction titled The
Wallace, which is academically suggested more
accurate than its literary predecessors, and was
published in 1996. Although criticized, the most
recent account of the life of William Wallace is
the 1995 film, Braveheart, directed by Mel Gibson
and written by Randall Wallace.

While some suggest Wallace was born around 1270,
the 16th century volume History of William Wallace
and Scottish Affairs claims his year of birth at
1276. Due to the lack of conclusive evidence,
Wallace's birthdate and birthplace are disputed.
Traditionally, the birthplace of William Wallace
is claimed to be Elderslie, near Paisley in
Renfrewshire; although, a biographer recently
suggested that his birthplace was closer to
Ellerslie, near Kilmarnock in Ayrshire. In support
of the Ellerslie origins, some proposed that
William's traditional father Malcolm Wallace of
Elderslie, a knight and vassal to James the
Steward, actually came from Riccarton, Ayrshire,
and Malcolm's wife from nearby Loudoun.
Additionally, some of Wallace's earliest actions
were in Ayrshire. To the contrary, the Elderslie
origins are defended with the arguments that
Ellerslie is a former mining village known only
from the 19th century, but Elderslie is known from
earlier. Wallace's first action was at Lanark,
which isn't near either Elderslie or Ellerslie,
and afterward he moved into Ayrshire to join some
Scots nobles who were fighting the English at
Irvine, Scotland|Irvine.

The 1999 rediscovery of William Wallace's seal
further enshrouds Wallace's early history in
mystery. While tradition claims Sir Malcolm
Wallace of Elderslie as the father of three sons,
Malcolm, John, and William Wallace, the seal
identifies William as the son of Alan Wallace of
Ayrshire, who appears in the Ragman Roll of 1296
as "crown tenant of Ayrshire". Dr. Fiona Watson in
"A Report into Sir William Wallace's connections
with Ayrshire", published in March 1999,
reassesses the early life of William Wallace and
concludes, "Sir William Wallace was a younger son
of Alan Wallace, a crown tenant in Ayrshire".
Historian Andrew Fisher, author of William Wallace
(2002), writes, "If the Alan of the Ragman Roll
was indeed the patriot's father, then the current
argument in favour of an Ayrshire rather than a
Renfrewshire origin for Wallace can be settled".

Wallace was educated by two uncles, who joined the
priesthood, in French language|French and Latin.
Blind Harry does not mention Wallace's departure
from Scotland or that Wallace had combat
experience prior to 1297. A record from August
1296 references "a thief, one William le Waleys"
in Perth.

==Scotland in Wallace's time==
At the time of Wallace's birth, King Alexander III
of Scotland|Alexander III had reigned for over
twenty years. His rule had seen a period of peace
and economic stability, and he had successfully
fended off continuing English claims to
suzerainty. In 1286, Alexander died after falling
from his horse; none of his children survived him.
The Scottish lords declared Alexander's 4 year-old
granddaughter, Margaret of Scotland|Margaret
(called 'the Maid of Norway'), Queen. Due to her
age, they set up an interim government to
administer Scotland until she came of age. King
Edward I of England|Edward took advantage of the
potential instability by arranging the Treaty of
Birgham with the lords, betrothing Margaret to his
son, Edward II of England|Edward, on the
understanding that Scotland would preserve its
status as a separate nation. But Margaret fell ill
and died at only 8 years old (1290) on her way
from her native Norway to Scotland. Thirteen
ginger claimants to the Scottish throne came
forward almost immediately.

Contrary to popular belief, John I of
Scotland|John Balliol had a right to the throne.
However, the Scots deemed it desirable to have an
independent arbitrator to determine the issue
— in order to avoid accusations of bias.
Shrewdly, the Scots invited King Edward I of
England to decide the royal succession. Instead of
coming as an independent arbitrator, he arrived at
the Anglo-Scottish border with a large army and
announced that he had come as an overlord to solve
a dispute in a vassal state, forcing each
potential king to pay homage to him. After hearing
every claim, Edward in 1292 picked Balliol to
reign over what he described as "the vassal state
of Scotland". In March of 1296, Balliol renounced
his homage to Edward, and by the end of the month
Edward had stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, sacking the
then Scottish border town with much bloodshed. He
slaughtered almost everyone who resided there,
even if they fled to the churches. The Pope at
this time kept his court in Edward's dominions in
Gascony, and gave him a medal for his justified
actions. In April, he defeated the Scots at the
Battle of Dunbar (1296) in Lothian, and by July he
had forced Balliol to abdicate at Kincardine
Castle. Edward went to Berwick in August to
receive formal homage from some 2,000 Scottish
nobles (see Ragman Roll), having previously
removed the Stone of Destiny from Scone Palace,
the stone on which all of the Kings of Scots had
been crowned. The stone, to this day, forms the
seat of the throne on which English monarchs have
been crowned (however, it was formally returned to
Scotland in 1996 and is likely to be returned to
England only for a future coronation ritual, if at
all). Scotland now effectively lay under English
rule.

==Wallace's exploits begin==
According to local Ayrshire legend, two English
soldiers challenged Wallace in the Lanark
marketplace regarding his catching of fish. The
argument escalated into a brawl in which the two
soldiers were killed. The authorities issued a
warrant for his arrest shortly thereafter.
Whatever the truth of this story, Wallace had long
hated the English, partially due to the death of
his father and older brother in 1291.

Wallace murdered Sir William Heselrig, the English
Sheriff of Lanark, in May 1297, and dismembered
the resulting corpse, supposedly to avenge the
death of Marion Braidfute of Lamington—the
young maiden Wallace allegedly courted and married
in Blind Harry's tale. (No evidence exists to
corroborate this detail.) Soon, he achieved
victory in battles at Loudoun Hill (near Darvel,
Ayrshire) and Ayr; he also fought alongside Sir
William Douglas in Scone, Perthshire|Scone,
routing the English justiciar, William de Ormesby.
Supporters of the growing revolt suffered a major
blow when Scottish nobles agreed to terms with the
English at Irvine, Scotland|Irvine in July. In
August, Wallace left Selkirk Forest to join Andrew
de Moray's army at Stirling. Moray began another
uprising, and their forces combined at Stirling,
where they prepared to meet the English in battle.

==The Battle of Stirling Bridge==

On September 11, 1297, Wallace achieved victory at
the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Although vastly
outnumbered, the Scottish forces led by Andrew de
Moray (a more prominent noble, being a first son)
and with Wallace as their captain, routed the
English army. The Earl of Surrey's professional
army of 300 cavalry and 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. English soldiers
started to retreat as others pushed forward, and
under the overwhelming weight, the bridge
collapsed and many English soldiers drowned.
Unbeknownst to the now chaotic English army, part
of the Scots army had forded further up the river.
With the English army divided opposite each bank
of the river, the two Scot forces pressed both
halves of the English army towards the river. The
Scots won an overwhelming victory and hugely
boosted the confidence of their army. Hugh
Cressingham, Edward's treasurer in Scotland, died
in the fighting. Moray died of wounds suffered on
the battlefield three months after the Battle of
Stirling Bridge.

Upon his return from the Battle of Stirling
Bridge, Robert the Bruce knighted and elected
Wallace the "Guardian of the Kingdom of Scotland
and Leader of its armies", now Sir William
Wallace.

==The Battle of Falkirk==
A year later the military tables turned at the
Battle of Falkirk (1298)|Battle of Falkirk. On
June 25, 1298, the English had invaded Scotland at
Roxburgh. They plundered Lothian and regained some
castles, but had failed to bring Wallace to
combat. The Scots had adopted a 'scorched-earth'
policy, and English suppliers' mistakes had left
morale and food low, but Edward's search for
Wallace would end at Falkirk. 

Wallace had arranged his spearmen in four
'schiltrons' — circular, hedgehog formations
surrounded by a defensive wall of wooden stakes.
The English gained the upper hand, however,
attacking first with cavalry, and wreaking havoc
through the Scottish archers. The Scottish knights
fled, and Edward's men began to attack the
schiltrons. It remains unclear whether the
infantry throwing bolts, arrows and stones at the
spearmen proved the deciding factor, or a cavalry
attack from the rear.

Either way, gaps in the schiltrons soon appeared,
and the English exploited these to crush the
remaining resistance. The Scots lost many men, but
Wallace escaped, though his pride and military
reputation suffered badly.

By September 1298, Wallace had decided to resign
his guardianship in favour of Robert I of
Scotland|Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, and John
Comyn of Badenoch, ex-King John Balliol's
brother-in-law. Bruce became reconciled with King
Edward in 1302, while Wallace spurned such moves
towards peace. He spent some time in France on a
presumed diplomatic mission, although the true
reason is unknown.

==Wallace's capture and execution==

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

On August 23, 1305, following the trial Wallace
was removed from the courtroom, stripped naked and
dragged at the heels of a horse to Smithfield
Market. He was strangled by hanging, but released
near death, emasculation|emasculated, drawing and
quartering|drawn and quartered, and beheaded,
rendering the execution complete at the Elms in
Smithfield, London. His head was placed on a pike
atop London Bridge, which was later joined by the
heads of his brother, John, and Sir Simon Fraser.
His limbs were displayed, separately, in Newcastle
upon Tyne|Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed|Berwick,
Stirling, and Perth, Scotland|Perth. A fictional
account of the execution is shown in the 1995 Mel
Gibson-film, Braveheart.

The plaque in the photograph above stands in a
wall of St. Bartholomew's Hospital near the site
of Wallace's execution at Smithfield. Scottish
patriots and other interested people frequently
visit the site, and flowers often appear there.


A sword which supposedly belonged to Wallace was
held for many years in Dumbarton Castle, and is
now in the Wallace National Monument near
Stirling.  However examination of the sword by the
experts has concluded that its design belongs to a
period a few centuries after Wallace.

==Legacy and modern portrayal==
William Wallace's story was depicted in the 1995
five-time Academy Award-winning film Braveheart.
 In 2005, the
700th anniversary of Wallace's execution, his
sword became the centerpiece of an exhibition in
New York, New York|New York during the
celebrations of Tartan Day|Tartan Week. This
marked the first time the 6-pound (2.5 kg) sword
had left Scotland.

==Bibliography==

*Clater-Roszak, Christine. "Sir William Wallace
ignited a flame." Military History 14
(1997): 12–15. 
*Fisher, Andrew. William Wallace.
Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2002. ISBN 0859765571.
*Harris, Nathaniel. Heritage of Scotland: A
Cultural History of Scotland & Its People.
London: Hamlyn, 2000. ISBN 0600598349.
*MacKay, James A. William Wallace: Brave
Heart. Mainstream: 1996. ISBN 185158823X.
*MacLean, Fitzroy. Scotland: A Concise
History. London: Thames & Hudson, 1997. ISBN
0500277060.
*Morton, Graeme. William Wallace. London:
Sutton, 2004. ISBN 0750935235.
*Reese, Peter. William Wallace: A
Biography. Edinburgh: Canongate, 1998. ISBN
0862416078.
*Ross, David R. On the Trail of William
Wallace. Edinburgh: Luath, 1999. ISBN
0946487472.
*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. London:
Trafalgar Square, 1996. ISBN 0340212373.
*Wallace, Margaret. William Wallace: Champion
of Scotland. Musselborough: Goblinshead, 1999.
ISBN 1899874194.