William Wallace is one of the most iconic people in Scottish History.
He’s considered today Braveheart, and the subject of the blockbuster film, however what
was the true story behind Wallace?
He was a pain for King Edward I of England, and did have a number of victories against
the English Army.
Within Scotland he was seen as a heroic figure, and he became the Guardian of Scotland but
he fell into the hands of the English and in particular Edward I who had Wallace executed
in brutal fashion.
He was seen as a huge threat to the English, and for this there was only one way to deal
with William Wallace.
So join us today as we look at ‘The MERCILESS Execution of William Wallace,’ remember
to support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Born around the year 1270, William Wallace’s early life remains much of a mystery.
There is not much known about him, and it’s believed his father was a Scottish landowner,
but it’s not known for certain who his parents were.
During his early life, King Alexander III ruled Scotland, and the country was peaceful
and stable, but things changed following his death.
As time went on, the throne passed to Alexander’s granddaughter Margaret the Maid of Norway,
but she was a child living in Norway.
But there was a lack of concrete successor to the throne, and Robert the Bruce even tried
to take the throne, to become the King of England.
But the stability within Scotland was waning, and the country was heading towards civil
war.
Edward I was invited from England to help deal with the problems over who was the rightful
King, and at Berwick Upon Tweed Castle, Edward I stated that John Balliol had the best claim.
Because of this, John was made King but he was constantly undermined and controlled by
King Edward, acting almost as a puppet, and the English King saw Scotland as a country
easily conquerable and a state within England, not a country with borders.
Edward even forced the Scots to pay him homage, and the Scots grew annoyed with the English
and their King.
After this, a council was established which formed an alliance with France which caused
outrage in England as Edward did not get on with the French.
This was viewed by Edward as a decree of war, and he eventually raided the border town Berwick
upon Tweed, and laid waste to the town massacring the population.
Edward was well regarded as a military commander, and he was bested by no-one within Britain
at the time, but during the invasion it’s considered that William Wallace was a soldier
within the Scottish Army, and may have fought against the English and gained some experience
of fighting them.
He could have even been within Edward’s army, and fought with the English as an archer,
but little about this is known.
He was described as a tall man with the body of a giant, broad in the hips with strong
arms and legs, and he was seen as a giant of a man at the time.
But within Scotland, the actions of the English King caused great anger, and an uprising began
against Edward.
William Wallace joined and the first act of defiance he took part in was murdering the
English Sheriff of Lanark in May 1297.
After this, he joined forces with another Scottish commander who in coalition raided
Scone.
Wallace was in charge of the local army and they began to attack the English settlements
along the River Tay and River Fourth, and a number of other rebellions across Scotland
were causing issues.
Eventually the nobles would give into to the English, but the rebels including William
Wallace was not involved in this and they continued the fight.
William Wallace set up a base in which he would embark on raiding English settlements
from inside of the Ettrick Forest.
He joined forces with Andrew Moray, and they on the 11th September 1297, the English Army
were confronted by William Wallace and his army, along with Andrew Moray’s army near
to the Fourth River close to Stirling.
Despite being outnumbered, William Wallace’s Scottish Army were victorious against the
English, and he used his expertise at reading a battle to command his forces excellently.
John de Warenne, the 6th Earl of Surrey’s Army was made up of around 3000 cavalry soldiers
and 9000 infantry soldiers who crossed the river, ut then a narrow bridge stopped the
soldiers crossing.
Wallace got his men to be brave and to stand in, and they they managed to cross over the
river and massacre the English.
Because of this, the rogue commander’s reputation became popular, and the confidence grew.
Wallace and Andrew Moray then became the Guardians of the Kingdom of Scotland.
Wallace a raid into northern England, pushing back the English and he went through Northumberland.
The Scottish Earls saw him as a valuable weapon and he was knighted, but the English King
furious at Wallace’s antics struck back.
He ordered a second invasion of Scotland in April 1298, and he recruited a huge number
of soldiers to fight against the Scottish, and paid 25,000 soldiers to fight.
Edward raided a number of Scottish settlements, and won a number of lost castles but he could
not find William Wallace.
The Scots were behind them, watching what was going on, but Edward’s army was crippled
with food shortages and morale problems.
But then he heard that Wallace was based near to Falkirk.
Along with his English army, Edward quickly went there to try and defeat them, but on
the 22nd July 1298, the Battle of Falkirk erupted and it was here where Wallace was
defeated.
Edward’s army used Welsh longbowmen who devastated the Scottish ranks, and the cavalry
used by Edward kept ruthlessly attacking, and Wallace’s circular defensive formation
became exposed.
Edward’s men continued to attack and gaps appeared in the tight Scottish formations
and the English waded in and caused devastation.
The Scottish suffered heavy losses, and after this Wallace managed to escape and he resigned
as the Guardian of Scotland with his reputation in tatters.
After the Battle of Falkirk, Wallace went AWOL and it’s considered he could have gone
to France to see if the French King would help the Scots, or he may also have travelled
to ask Rome for help.
But in 1304 he was back in Scotland and was back on the battlefield, but he now was a
wanted man and the English wanted him captured.
He was seen as a guerrilla leader, but the Scottish Nobles yet again gave into Edward
but Wallace would not.
He kept a low profile until the 5th August 1305 where he was captured and handed over
to the English.
A Scottish knight loyal to the English betrayed Wallace and captured him, and he was handed
over near to Glasgow.
His captor was working as the Sheriff of Dumbarton, and he began to track Wallace, and he was
seized under the cover of darkness and in his bed before being given to the English.
Wallace was transported to London, where on the 23rd August 1305 he was paraded throughout
the city to a rather triumphant setting.
It was Edward I’s capital, and it was also where Wallace was tried.
He was taken through London to Westminster Hall where the crowds abused him and jeered
at him.
There was no trial, it was just a routine hearing for Wallace to hear what he was accused
of and for the sentence to be given to him.
He was allowed no defence, and was crowned with a crown of Oak, symbolising that he was
the King of the Outlawed Scots.
He was accused of treason and when he was accused of this he said, ‘I cannot be a
traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject,’ but regardless of this he was sentenced to
death.
There was no wait for his execution.
HE was taken from the hearing to the Tower of London where he was stripped naked.
He was then dragged through the streets of London with his heels tied to the back of
a horse.
This must have been incredibly painful, as he was dragged for a distance of four miles,
with his head smashing against the cobbled streets.
The Londoner’s were hurling abuse and obscenities towards him all along the way, and he was
taken then to Smithfield.
Throughout the centuries, Smithfield was a prominent place of execution and during the
Tudor period it became famous as a site where burnings at the stake would occur.
But Wallace was to be hanged, drawn and quartered the sentence for treason which was brutal
and incredibly sadistic.
William Wallace arrived and he was unhooked from the horses, and was led up to the scaffold
in front of the crowd.
It’s likely that the Londoner’s had learnt of this rogue Scottish giant who caused great
suffering to Edward I’s English army.
He was handed over to the executioner who placed a noose around his neck and over the
gallows, and then the executioner would have pulled down, suspending Wallace by the neck
above the crowd.
Just before he passed away, he was then cut down from the gallows, and then was placed
onto a table.
It was here where he was disembowlled and castrated, and his entrails, liver, heard
and lungs were pulled out and then burned in front of him.
During this time it’s likely that Wallace was alive before his heart or major organs
were removed.
After this horrific spectacle, he was then hacked into four pieces being quartered, and
his head was chopped off by an axeman.
The remains of William Wallace were then sent to four places of Edward I’s kingdom to
serve as a warning, mostly in the north and in Scotland.
These were Berwick, Newcastle, Perth and Stirling and his head was then dipped in tar and placed
on a pole on London Bridge.
William Wallace is most known today for being the main character in Braveheart, a film with
many historical inaccuracies but the truth is that he was a remarkable military leader.
He rose to prominence against the English and King Edward I who himself was a brilliant
commander.
Wallace did get the upper hand over Edward several times, but he was betrayed and was
then handed over to the English to meet his end in a horrifically savage way.
His defiance against the English left to him being horrifically executed in Smithfield.
Once again thanks for watching.
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Once again thanks for watching