A Victorian representation of William Wallace.
A letter from the King of France regarding William Wallace
1300
The name William Wallace conjures up an image of a swaggering Scottish hero, ready for battle. But William Wallace was also a diplomat. In the letter, just three lines long, the King of France, Philip IV, tells his agents at the court of the Pope in Rome to assist ‘William le Walois of Scotland, knight’, in the business that he has to carry out. This raises the tantalising possibility that this tiny letter was in Wallace’s personal possession more than 700 years ago.
William Wallace was born into a noble Scottish family in the later 13th century. During his childhood, the Scottish kingdom was ruled, largely peacefully, by Alexander III. But at his death in 1286 the sole heir was his infant granddaughter, Margaret, daughter of the King of Norway. Known as the ‘Maid of Norway’ she died on her journey from Norway to Scotland in 1290, leaving no clear candidate for the succession. The future of Scotland was thrown into confusion as several men from elite families laid claim to the kingship.
Edward I of England took advantage of the Scottish situation to assert ever-greater claims to overlordship in the kingdom until, in 1296, he finally invaded. The early stages of the campaign were a great success, and the Scottish coronation stone, the symbol of its independent kingship, was removed from Scone and taken to Westminster Abbey.
Edward I then turned his attention to France. But all was not over in Scotland. Unrest spread in early 1297 and William Wallace emerged from the shadows of history. In May, he killed William Heselrig, the English sheriff of Lanark, and the symbol of English authority in the region. The killing galvanised the Scots – many more joined the fight against the English, and Wallace became the leader of a full-scale rebellion. He joined forces with another rebel, Andrew Murray, and together they led a Scottish force against the English army at Stirling Bridge in September 1297. The English resistance was superior in numbers and led by an experienced warrior, John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey and Edward I’s lieutenant in Scotland. The two armies faced each other from opposite sides of the Forth, separated by a narrow bridge. The Scottish army waited, holding its nerve, until the English forces began to cross the bridge. When enough of the army had crossed, the Scottish charged down, surrounded this vanguard, and took control of the end of the bridge, preventing reinforcements from arriving. The English troops who had crossed the bridge were slaughtered or drowned in the Forth; those who had not beat a hasty retreat, led by de Warenne.
Wallace’s triumph at Stirling Bridge cemented his reputation, and the Scottish rebels under his leadership went from strength to strength, driving the English out of Scotland. He led a large-scale raiding party into England in late 1297, plundering and laying waste to tracts of the northern counties. Documents of the time referred to him as the ‘guardian of Scotland’.
To counter the rebels, in the summer of 1298 Edward I led an army into Scotland. Wallace was keen to avoid pitched battle, but Edward was determined to take the fight to the Scots and in July tracked the Scottish army to Falkirk where the strength and tactics of Edward’s forces won the day and Wallace left the field defeated.
Perhaps because of this defeat, Wallace resigned the guardianship of Scotland, but continued to argue for his country’s independence from England, pursuing his aims through diplomacy. By the end of 1299, Wallace was in France, trying to persuade Philip IV to support the Scots against Edward. France and Scotland were old allies, and in November 1300 the French king wrote this letter. It is likely that it was carried by Wallace who perhaps travelled with it to Rome to present the Scottish case against the claims of Edward I. In early 1301 a Scottish delegation was in Rome doing just that, although we cannot say for certain that Wallace was among this group.
By 1303 Wallace was back in Scotland taking a leading role in the military campaign against Edward I. The English King was determined to capture this symbol of Scottish independence, and Wallace was finally taken prisoner in Glasgow in August 1305. He was taken to London and tried at Westminster for treason. Found guilty, he was hanged, disembowelled and cut into quarters. His head was displayed on London Bridge, and four parts of his body were distributed to four different towns in Scotland. Payments to the men who conveyed these quarters were coolly noted in the records of Edward I’s Exchequer.
Philip by the grace of God King of the French to our loved and faithful our agents appointed to the Roman Court, greetings and love. We command/you to request the Supreme Pontiff to consider with favour our beloved William le Walois [Wallace] of Scotland, knight/in those things which he has to transact with him. Given at Pierrefonds on Monday after the feast of All Saints. [7 November 1300]
Endorsement: Fourth letter of the King of France
