Being the inspiration for the famous movie Braveheart, Sir William Wallace was a Scottish leader who helped his people in fighting against the English during King Edward’s invasion. Although his military campaign was remarkably short and so little is known otherwise about his life, his acts and prowess as a leader and tactician has made him into a great legend. This story was greatly emphasized when a poet by the name of Blind Harry wrote an epic poem about him in the fifteenth century.

The Early Life of a Legend of William Wallace

From what historians have gathered from the legend and many sources, William Wallace was of noble blood though minor. His parents, while almost completely unknown, were considered often to be landowners. Some sources of notable credibility claim that William Wallace had two brothers, namely Malcolm and John.

There is no definite record that shows his exact date of birth, although some historians believe it to be somewhere around 1270. As for his birthplace, the most commonly accepted place of birth for William is Elderslie in Renfrewshire. His childhood and how he was raised has always been left out of the legend and is generally a mystery to all.

How William Wallace Became a Legend

Scotland, during the time when William was still growing up, was slowly becoming a land full of turmoil. Their king, Alexander III, died in a horse riding accident, and his only heir, his granddaughter Margaret, died from an illness while returning to Scotland from Norway.

Due to this, many families attempted to claim the throne for themselves, and eventually the king of England, Edward, was called in by the nobles to help end the growing conflict. After a feudal court in 1292, John Balliol was chosen as king of Scotland.

Balliol was considered to be a weak king, however, and King Edward took control of the country quickly. He eventually forced Balliol to abdicate, and Edward named himself as king of Scotland and enforced many of his own laws over the traditional Scottish ones.

It is quite unknown when William Wallace truly decided to fight against King Edward, or why he had chosen to do so exactly. Nevertheless, it is a known fact that the first notable act William performed against England was him assassinating William de Heselrig on May 1297. Heselrig had been a High Sheriff of Lanark, and his assassination was considered to be the start of the Scottish uprising against the English invasion.

Later that year, on September 11, William led a vastly outnumbered Scottish army against the English in the Battle of Stirling Bridge. The English army, led by the sixth Earl of Surrey, John de Warenne, was defeated due to them being the ones crossing the bridge. The Scottish remained on one side and slew whoever got across. Fate also turned against the English as the bridge eventually collapsed and killed most of the army.

Andrew Moray, another leader of Scotland’s ever growing rebellion, and William Wallace were given the titles of Guardian of the Kingdom of Scotland. Although Moray later died from his received battle wounds, the legend of their first battle lived on and encouraged the Scottish people.

William led a raid later the same year into England, from Northumberland to Cumberland. It was also around this time that he was knighted by one of Scotland’s earls at the time.

In 1298, Scotland was again invaded on King Edward’s orders. Despite the efforts they made, the English were forced to retreat due to the shortage of financing and well needed supplies. They did not manage to draw William into battle until several months later, when they engaged the Scottish in Falkirk.

Hence, the Battle of Falkirk commenced. As legend goes, William once again displayed his well known military tactics. He arranged his men into schiltrons, a technique that would have worked. Unfortunately, the English had longbow men in their midst, and William’s tactic was quickly destroyed.

It is still unknown what truly decided the battle’s outcome, although more often than not, a legend would claim that it was King Edward’s longbow men. In the end, the Scottish suffered heavy damage and many men were lost. William escaped, and his reputation as a military leader and tactician was greatly dropped.

Later that year, he gave up his post of Guardian of the Kingdom of Scotland to Robert the Bruce, the future King of Scotland. Records of William and his actions after this point are limited, and no one really knows what he was doing then. Some historians have gathered evidence to believe that he had been in France to ask for help from the French King, Philip IV.

Death of a Legend

The story of William Wallace and his life as a military leader came to an end on August 5, 1305. Until then, he had managed to elude the English who were hunting him. It was the betrayal of John de Menteith that resulted in William being handed over to the English. Menteith was loyal to King Edward and, when he had the chance, gave William to the English near Glasgow.

William was taken to London where he was put on trial and sentenced to death. He proved his faithfulness to Scotland’s previous king, Balliol, by refusing to admit betrayal to King Edward. On August 23, he was hung, drawn and quartered in the Elms at Smithfield, after being dragged naked from the Tower of London.

A monument remembering the legend that William Wallace stood for was erected in 1869 at the place of his victorious battle at Stirling Bridge. A plaque in his honor was also placed near the sight of his execution.

Trivia about William Wallace

• It is said that he was an expert in using the longbow, which at the time had an immense draw weight of almost two hundred pounds.

• The story of him being an excellent archer also helps exemplify the possible fact that he was a very large man with strong limbs.

• While the movie Braveheart was certainly based on the life of William Wallace, it’s mostly fictional. Among some of the more obvious additions was the attraction of the princess Isabella, King Edward’s wife, to William. Records show that Isabella was only ten to thirteen years old at the time of William’s death.