William Wallace was a medieval Scottish rebel who refused to accept defeat. He became a Scottish hero and an English villain.
ENGLISH SCOTLAND
Wallace was the son of a Scottish knight, but no one knows much about him until he was a young man. At the time, Scotland was under English control. Some of the Scottish nobles were imprisoned, and everyone had to pay taxes to King Edward I of England and fight in his wars if he told them to. In 1297 Wallace began a revolt by killing the English Sheriff of Lanark.
REVOLTING SCOTS
Supporters joined Wallace, who was good at giving rousing speeches, and they attacked the cities of Scone, Ancrum and Dundee. Another rebellious Scot, Andrew Moray, was busy fighting English control in the north of Scotland. The Scottish were soon back in charge of most of Scotland.
THE BATTLE OF STERLING BRIDGE
Wallace and Moray joined forces and together they faced the English Army at the Battle of Sterling Bridge. The English troops outnumbered the Scots but even so the English were battered and five thousand of their men died, including Hugh Cressingham, an especially hated English noble. Legend says that Wallace had Cressingham’s body skinned, and used it to make a gruesome belt for his sword. Moray was wounded and later died. Wallace was now Guardian of Scotland.
DEFEATED SCOTS
Wallace made raids into the north of England, but soon the Scots suffered a bad defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298. Wallace resigned as Guardian of Scotland and probably went to France for a while to try and get French support.
NO SURRENDER
The Scottish leaders finally admitted defeat and accepted Edward I as overlord of Scotland in 1304. But Wallace refused. He was declared an outlaw, which meant anyone could kill him without punishment. In 1305 he was captured near Glasgow and sent to Westminster, where Edward I had him hanged, drawn and quartered. To show what happened to rebels, different parts of his body were sent to Newcastle and various bits of Scotland, and his head was stuck on a pole on London Bridge.
