You know about William Wallace from the movie Braveheart with Mel Gibson, so you have known this character since childhood. However, the real Wallace did not wear a kilt, did not use a two-handed sword, and, in general, was even more interesting and controversial than the Hollywood one.
We are talking about the real William Wallace, a man who raised a rebellion that gave him royal power, but was executed in one of the most savage ways that mankind knows.
General atmosphere in Wallace's Scotland
To understand how the Scottish folk hero William Wallace appeared, you need to roughly imagine in what atmosphere and in what political situation he lived. The fact is that at the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th centuries, Scotland was an independent kingdom, on the territory and wealth of which the king and the nobility of neighboring England looked attentively and greedily. When the king of Scotland, Alexander III, died in 1286 without leaving heirs, a court called the "Great Cause" was convened in the country to choose a new king from among many applicants.
Edward Long-Legs.
King Edward I of England, nicknamed Long-Legged, also did not sit idle and claimed the throne. When this venture was unsuccessful, he forced the chosen king of Scotland, John I, to swear allegiance to him. John treated his English overlord without due reverence and broke his oath more than once. This gave Edward Leggy a reason to capture the Scottish king. After that, he began to rule Scotland as his own possession, with all the ensuing in the form of brutal oppression of the local population. Naturally, the warlike Scots did not like this, and only a spark was needed for an uprising to rise.
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The early years of William Wallace
Little is known about the young years of the future national hero. It is said that he was born between 1270 and 1280 in the family of a small landed knight Malcolm Wallace. Although, according to other sources, his father could be the Scottish aristocrat Allan Wallace. The surname Wallace, by the way, means simply "a man from Wales", Welsh. However, in the places where William was born, people who spoke the Welsh dialect were sometimes called that.
William Wallace.
and the right to be the place of birth is still fighting two villages - Ellersli and Eldersley. Be that as it may, it is known for certain that young Wallace first studied Latin in Paisley, and then grammar in Dundee. And even then he more than once got into trouble with the British. According to one version, he killed a whole detachment of British soldiers who wanted to take away his catch.
Wallace's seal.
According to another, he killed the son of the ruler of the city of Dundee, who insulted his family.
According to some historians, young Wallace could have received combat experience in the service of the same King Edward during his wars in Wales, where William could serve as a hired archer. This is evidenced by the archer's badge, which he wore.
The murder of the sheriff and the beginning of the uprising
The beginning of the uprising was the assassination by William Wallace of the English sheriff William Gesellrig in 1297. According to legend, Wallace took revenge on the sheriff for the execution of his wife, Marion Braidfewith, who refused to reveal the whereabouts of her husband, who was wanted by the British. Wallace gathered a group of thirty people, captured the sheriff's castle, killed him and chopped the body to pieces.
From that moment on, a revolt broke out throughout Scotland. Volunteers began to flock to Wallace's army, and he began to seize castles with British garrisons. Wallace often used various tricks.
For example, when he took the castle of Ardrossan, he set fire to the buildings that were outside the walls, and when the English soldiers ran out to see what happened, they were killed. In accordance with a peculiar Scottish sense of humor, the corpses were thrown into the basement, having thrown a pile of supplies on top - this event was called "Wallace's pantry."
Another story tells of how William Wallace deftly took Lohliven Castle, which stood on an island in the middle of a lake. Wallace swam to him, stole the British boat and, ferrying his soldiers on it, took the castle.
The revolt grew wider, and the British sent a punitive expedition, which was met at the city of Sterling by the combined army of Wallace and Andrew de Morey, another leader of the rebels.
Battle of Stirling Bridge
On September 11, 1297, a battle took place on the Fort River, near the city of Sterling, where about ten thousand British met, including three thousand heavy cavalry, and almost half the number of Scots, who had mainly infantry and light cavalry.
The British began to cross a rather narrow wooden bridge. Its width allowed three footmen or two horsemen to walk at the same time. When part of the British crossed, the Scots, who were standing on the hill, attacked them. They overturned the infantry and drove it to the English cavalry. A stampede began on the bridge, as two waves collided - reinforcements pushing from the other side and British soldiers fleeing in panic.
As a result, the wooden bridge broke down and collapsed, killing many British soldiers. The defeat was completed by an attack by the light Scottish cavalry led by Andrew de Morey, who ford across the river. The defeat of the British was complete; the English governor, Hugh Cressingham, was killed. According to legend, the Scots stripped off his skin and cut them into belts for sling.
But the Scottish camp was not without losses - during a dashing cavalry attack, Andrew de Moray was seriously wounded, who died a few days later.
Defender of Scotland and defeat at Falkirk
After the victory at Sterling, William Wallace's authority grew so much that he received the honorary title of "Defender of Scotland", effectively becoming regent until the return of the king. But the joy was short-lived: in 1298, Edward Long-Legs himself invaded Scotland. The Scots tried not to engage in open battle with him, using the scorched earth tactics, and acted so effectively that Edward had to suppress the revolt of the Welsh allies with the help of the knights in his own troops. However, the luck of the Scots could not be eternal, and the English king learned that Wallace's main army was at Falkirk.
William Wallace.
On July 22, 1298, the Battle of Falkirk took place. To counterbalance the lack of heavy cavalry, William Wallace built his infantry with shiltrons. This formation, a harbinger of the famous Swiss battles, was a circle of infantrymen armed with long spears, which were fortified with sharpened stakes. Archers lined up between the spearmen. According to legend, before the battle, Wallace said to his soldiers: "I put you in a circle - dance as you can!"
Battle of Falkirk.
At the start of the battle, the undisciplined English knights attacked the shiltrons, taking heavy casualties, stabbing themselves on stakes and receiving spears. But at the most crucial moment, Edward was still able to put the knights in order and take them to safety, and the noble Scottish lords fled from the battlefield along with all the cavalry. The English infantry then lured the Scots out of the fortified shiltrons with a feigned retreat, and the Welsh archers completed the rout.
Death of William Wallace and the appearance of a hero
After the defeat, Wallace had to flee to France, where he tried to find allies to fight against the British. However, England and France were just in that rare phase when mutual hatred faded away, and were not eager to conflict. Wallace had to go home, where he organized a minor guerrilla war. He never achieved much success, and in August 1305 he was betrayed to the British by the Scottish Baron John Mentit.
Wallace's trial.
King Edward himself was present at William's trial as chief prosecutor. Wallace agreed with all accusations, except betrayal, arguing that he could not betray the English king, because he never swore allegiance to him. As a result, he was found guilty and on August 23, 1305, he was put to a terrible execution.
First, William Wallace was dragged along the ground, tied to a horse, then given to a raging crowd that beat, whipped and spat at him. After that, he was hanged, not allowing him to die, removed from the gallows, castrated, gutted, and his entrails burned. At the end of the execution, Wallace's heart was cut out and his head cut off, and the body was quartered.
Wallace’s head and his brother’s head were nailed to a London bridge, and the limbs were sent to four Scottish cities to terrify and pacify the proud Highlanders. I must say, this had the opposite effect and the wars for independence of Scotland lasted for a very long time.
As for the two-handed sword, as in the film, and the kilt - Wallace could not wear them, since in those days such swords were not used in Scotland, and the kilt was worn only in the mountains. William himself lived on the plain, so he wore pants and clothes that were most similar to the clothes of ordinary Englishmen of the time.
Wallace Monument in Aberdeen.
William Wallace lost and was betrayed by a savage execution, but became a symbol of the struggle of the Scottish people for their independence, for which he was awarded a huge 67-meter monument, and several statues, as well as the honor of being played by Mel Gibson.
Author: Pavel Zentsov
