You may have seen the movie Braveheart starring Mel Gibson about William Wallace’s rebellion
against the English.
It’s action packed, entertaining, and inspiring.
It’s also pretty darn historically inaccurate.
So who was this William Wallace guy anyway?
Is anything in the movie true?
Why is Wallace so revered and celebrated over 700 years after his death?
Before we get into the story of William Wallace, a quick discussion about two aspects of the
costumes worn in the movie: the blue and white face paint donned by Wallace for battle and
the wearing of the plaid.
The Scots didn’t fight wearing white, blue or any other color face paint.
The Picts, a pre-Scottish indigenous tribe native to Scotland did decorate themselves
with blue paint.
However this was several hundred years before Wallace was born.
Sure, one could argue that Wallace borrowed the custom of blue face paint from the Picts
to intimidate the English and get hyped.
However, he was a 13th century Christian nobleman of Scottish descent.
Him invoking a custom of an ancient pagan tribe that people thought of as uncivilized
is pretty unlikely.
Chances are in real life Wallace wore a helmet in battle and you wouldn’t be able to see
if his face was painted or not.
Secondly, Scots didn’t start wearing the plaid until the 1500’s, long after Wallace’s
death.
During the 13th century, both Scottish men and women wore long loose fitting tunics called
leines that were generally belted about the waist.
Men wore them to the knee while women wore them to the ankle.
Leines were worn with undertunics and often hose or leggings for warmth.
Some Scottish nobles, especially those who lived near the border did adopt the dress
of their English counterparts, especially for more formal occasions.
When going into battle Scottish men wore "leine croich” or bright yellow tunics, the brighter
the better.
Often saffron was used to dye the tunics, but as it was very expensive, poor clansmen
turned to other ingredients such as horse urine or crushed bark to achieve a brightly
colored garment.
Many hundreds of years later when the Scots began wearing the plaid, they weren’t worn
oddly belted as depicted in Braveheart.
Some historians have compared the Scots in Braveheart wearing kilts akin to making a
movie about the American Revolution showing the colonial men wearing 20th century business
suits with their belt worn over their suit jackets rather than through the belt loops
of their pants.
That’s how egregious and nonsensical the plaid wearing was in Braveheart.
Ok, now that we’ve got that out of the way...
William Wallace was born in 1270 into a landed family of lesser Scottish nobility.
Records show that members of the Wallace family were vassals of James Stewart, 5th High Steward
of Scotland.
Not much is known about William’s childhood, but it’s likely he had the typical upbringing
for a son of nobility, probably learning French, Latin and fighting.
Central to the tale of Wallace is the political turmoil which ultimately led to him going
to war.
As Wallace was growing up, King Alexander the 3rd sat on the Scottish throne and the
country was in the midst of a period of relative peace and economic stability.
Unfortunately, King Alexander died when he fell from a horse in the spring of 1286.
His heir was his three year old granddaughter Margaret.
The Scottish Lords were prepared to accept Margaret as queen, setting up an interim government
of regents called the Guardians of Scotland and negotiating a betrothal for her to six
year old Edward of Caernarfon, son and heir apparent to King Edward I of England.
Then Margaret unexpectedly died in September 1290 while traveling to Britain.
Maraget was the last heir in the line of King William the Lion.
After her death, 13 men claimed succession to the Scottish throne.
Scotland entered into an unstable period known as the Competitors for the Crown of Scotland
or the "Great Cause”.
Fearing civil war, the Guardians of Scotland held a court case to determine the rightful
ruler.
They called upon King Edward to preside over the court.
He agreed, but asserted his claim to be known as Lord Paramount of Scotland, basically feudal
overlord.
The Scottish nobles weren't happy about that, but acquiesced.
Ultimately, in 1292 John Balliol was determined to be the heir and rightful ruler of Scotland.
John was a rather weak king who was unable to prevent Edward from meddling in Scottish
affairs.
Unhappy with John, in July of 1295 Scottish nobles appointed a Council of Twelve to rule
instead.
The Council ended up signing a treaty of mutual assistance with France.
In retaliation Edward invaded Scotland, sacking the port town of Berwick upon Tweed and starting
the First Scottish War of Independence.
Eventually, in July of 1296 John was forced to abdicate and was imprisoned in the Tower
of London.
Edward demanded some 1,800 Scottish nobles, some of who had been punitively taxed or imprisoned,
pledge an oath of fealty to him.
Unease, disorder and resentment spread throughout Scotland due to English hegemony.
Scots began protesting and committing acts of defiance against local English officials.
Meanwhile, Wallace would have been in his 20’s when most of this was happening.
While it is not known for certain, it’s likely that Wallace married Marion Braidfute,
daughter of the Earl of Lamington in 1297.
So no, Wallace doesn’t grow up wearing rags as shown in Braveheart.
The movie also gets several dates wrong and makes a mish mosh of the political setup.
Scotland isn’t oppressed through Wallace’s childhood.
Wallace’s father and brother were not killed by Edward’s treachery when he was young,
in fact at least one of his older brothers and also his father are alive and well during
the First Scottish War of Independence.
In May of 1297, Wallace leads an uprising against the English and kills William de Heselrig,
the Sheriff of the town of Lanark.
Wallace and his supporters also set fire to some buildings in the town.
Once word of the revolt gets out, Wallace gains more followers.
All around Scotland several rebellions are simultaneously taking place, some are successful,
some are violent quelled.
Notably, nobleman Andrew Moray seizes control of Northern Scotland and begins campaigning
to the Northeast.
In the 15th century, about 150 years after Wallace’s death, the poet Blind Harry wrote
a narrative poem ‘The Wallace’ detailing William Wallace’s knightly, chivalrous exploits.
In his poem, Blind Harry claims Wallace murdered the Sheriff of Lanark for revenge for the
killing of his wife.
Much of what happens in Braveheart seems to be more about the legend of Wallace as detailed
in the famed poem rather than what actually happened.
In the movie, Wallace murders the Sheriff in revenge for executing his wife Murron-for
reasons unknown, the movie changes her name - after she fights back against an English
soldier assaulting her.
Up until his wife’s death, Wallace is not depicted as being against English rule.
In real life, it’s thought that Wallace’s wife was possibly killed, maybe for helping
Wallace escape from the English on a previous occasion.
However Wallace was always against English rule.
Previously he had refused to sign the Ragman Rolls, a record of nobles swearing allegiance
to King Edward.
After Lanark, Wallace joins forces with another disgruntled noble-William the Hardy and they
raid the town of Scone.
William is captured, but Wallace and his men continue on a rampage to capture Scottish
land held by the English.
Wallace and the other rebel nobleman Moray meet up and join forces.
Although greatly outnumbered, on September 11, 1297, their combined army defeats the
English forces at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
Moray and Wallace employ clever military strategy and wait until about 2,000 men of the English
army have crossed the narrow wooden Stirling bridge before sweeping down from the highground
to attack.
They push the English back towards bridge, gaining control of the east side.
The vanguard English infantry are trapped between the advancing Scots and soldiers still
trying to cross the bridge.
Many English are slaughtered and eventually the bridge collapses, drowning even more.
The strategically crucial fortress of Stirling Castle falls to the Scots.
Sir Hugh de Cressingham was one of the English war advisors of the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
He advocated for a full-scale attack across the bridge, ultimately costing the English
the battle and leading to his death.
Legend has it that upon his capture and subsequent death, he was flayed by the Scots who then
dried and cured his hide.
Wallace took a long strip of his skin and made a sword belt out of it.
Anyway, after their victory, Moray and Wallace assume the title of Guardians of the Kingdom
of Scotland.
In the winter of 1297, a few months after the fight Moray dies of wounds sustained during
the Battle of Stirling.
Braveheart conveniently leaves out Sir Moray’s leadership.
Wallace gives a rousing speech about fighting for freedom before a very Hollywood-esque
battle that barely resembles the tactics employed at Stirling Bridge.
Really Wallace isn’t fighting for freedom, especially not in a modern sense.
He’s fighting to have a Scottish king rule the land, not an English one.
Wallace is knighted by Scottish nobles for his work.
During the next several months, into the spring of 1298 Wallace continues with raids on the
English.
In Braveheart, after Wallace lays siege to York, he beheads Edward’s nephew and sends
him the head.
Edward sends his son’s wife Isabella to try to negotiate with Wallace.
Meanwhile, Edward’s secretly preparing for another invasion.
Isabella crushes on Wallace, warns him about the coming invasion and has an affair with
him.
Later near the end of the movie Isabella taunts Edward with the knowledge that she’s pregnant
with Wallace’s child and his family line will die out.
The movie plot sort of follows Blind Harry’s poem which claims that after defeating the
English at Stirling Bridge, Wallace invades England, captures York, and beheads Edward’s
nephew, the governor of the city.
An unnamed English queen, probably Edward’s wife comes to Wallace and tries to negotiate
peace, even giving him a large sum of gold.
Wallace refuses because he doesn’t trust the English.
Things were slightly different in real life, Wallace never invaded York.
It’s not known whether Wallace ever secretly negotiated with the English.
If he did, it was not with Isabella of France.
He never even meets Isabella, let alone has a romance with her.
During the events that took place in the film she would have been about 2 years old, having
been born in 1295.
Isabella doesn’t even arrive in Britain until 1308, a few years after Wallace’s
death.
Her future husband Prince Edward also would have been quite young during the time of the
movie.
When he grew up, he was pretty manly and not sniveling or limp wrist how the movie portrayed
him--but that’s a whole nother video.
In April of 1298, King Edward again invades Scotland.
The English plunder Scottish lowlands to the East and take back land captured by the Scots.
For the next several weeks they make further inroads into Scotland, trying to force a confrontation
with Wallace’s army.
Wallace responds by adopting guerrilla tactics, harassing Edward’s forces, but he’s hoping
that he can avoid a pitched battle until the English army runs low on supplies and has
to retreat.
In July, just when Edward is contemplating a withdrawal to Edinburgh to get supplies,
he gets words that Wallace is camped nearby close to Falkirk.
Edward forces a pitched battle and uses Welsh longbow archers to to great strategic effect.
The Scots are vastly outnumbered and although they fight hard, they suffer a crushing defeat.
Wallace manages to escape, but his reputation takes a beating.
In September 1298, Wallace resigns his position as Guardian of Scotland in favour of Robert
the Bruce, who some years later becomes King of Scotland and John Comyn III, King John
Balliol's nephew.
Wallace then becomes an envoy, visiting King Philip IV of France to plead for assistance
in the Scottish struggle for independence.
He may have also visited Rome for the same purpose.
A surviving letter King Philip sent to his diplomats in Rome, asks them to help Wallace.
In Braveheart, after Falkirk, Wallace spends the next seven years waging guerilla warfare
against the English.
After traveling for several years, in 1304 Wallace is back in Scotland, once again carrying
out raids against the English.
On August 5, 1305, the English finally capture Wallace.
He’s staying in a cottage at Robroyston (Rob-Royston) near Glasgow when John de Menteith
(men-TEETH), the keeper of Dumbarton (dum-BAR-ton) Castle and loyal to Edward, turns Wallace
over to English soldiers, alleged by kidnapping him in the middle of the night.
Braveheart once again gets it wrong, Wallace is not betrayed by Robert the Bruce and other
nobles during a peace summit in Edinburgh.
There are no records of Wallace ever trying to negotiate peace with the English.
Wallace is held at Dumbarton Castle before being taken to London where he is put on trial
for treason and various other, some would argue trumped up charges.
Wallace responds to the accusation of treason saying.
"I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject.
Wallace is found guilty.
He’s stripped naked and dragged through London at the heels of a horse.
He’s then hanged, drawn and quartered.
His head is dipped in tar to preserve it and then placed on a pike atop London Bridge.
Chances are that Wallace’s death was a bit less inspiring and valorous than portrayed
in the movie.
Robert the Bruce eventually becomes king of Scotland in 1306 and over the next several
years wages a fairly successful guerilla war against the English and Scottish nobles who
have sided with King Edward.
Finally in 1314, Robert defeats a much larger English army at the Battle of Bannockburn;
it’s a decisive victory for the Scots.
As to whether they chanted Wallace’s name during battle like in the movie, that is left
to history.
Was Braveheart, the two handed longsword Wallace hauls around for most of the movie an accurate
weapon for 13th century Scotland?
Not really, a one-handed sword and shield would have been more accurate to the period.
The movie may have taken its cue from the Wallace Sword, a huge antique longsword-over
3 feet (0.9144 m) long and weighing close to 6.5 pounds (nearly 3 kilos) that’s on
display in the National Wallace Monument in Stirling.
Legend has it that Menteith took the sword when he captured Wallace, but no records survive
and the sword isn’t accurate to the period.
The first mention of the Wallace Sword is 200 years later, in 1505 when King James IV
of Scotland pays to have the Wallace Sword refurbished.
Whether used by Wallace or not, the Wallace Sword has come to symbolize resistance and
freedom to the Scottish people.
Through Blind Harry’s poem and other stories, the legend of Wallace has lived on.
He resonated with the populace for his courage and his kinship with common people--his army
was mainly made up of ordinary men, not nobles.
Furthermore, Wallace remained steadfast in his belief that Scotland was an independent
and sovereign nation of people who should only be ruled by the Scottish.
They shouldn’t have to knuckle down or be assimilated by their powerful Southern neighbor.
Unlike other Scottish nobles who switched sides when it was politically strategic to
do so, Wallace was always loyal to Scotland.
Now it’s time to take charge yourself and choose one of these two great videos to watch,
either this one over here or this one over here.
The choice is yours because we would never take… your freedom!