William Wallace

Overview :- William Wallace was made “Guardian of Scotland after his success at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. He was later stripped of this honour after his humiliating defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298.

Wallace was the third son of a Noble, Sir Malcolm Wallace of Elderslie. Wallace became involved in the Wars of Independence after murdering William Heselrig, the Sheriff of Lanark in a revenge attack Heselrig had previously murdered Wallace’s wife Marion Braidfute This was because she helped him escape after he refused to sign the Ragman’s Roll

Wallace along with Sir William Douglas then raided various areas of Dumfries before heading North to Stirling Wallace went into hiding aware that King Edward was hunting him down. Andrew Murray had been fighting the English in the North and chased them south He soon met up with Wallace and formed a strong partnership.

Wallace and Murray now headed the newly formed “Army of Scotland” They eventually met the English at Stirling Bridge on September 11th 1297 The English led by Hugh De Cressinham, a much hated tax collector and the Earl Surrey made many mistakes Surrey firstly slept in, and the attack was halted

When the “Battle” started the English were too eager, instead of heading 2/3 miles to a wider ford, they decided to cross the narrow bridge With a vastly superior army in both size and fighting experience, Wallace had to get his tactics correct Wide enough for only 2 horses, Wallace waited until they were on the bridge and attacked With nowhere to turn and weighed down by their heavy armour horses reared abd the bridge fell As Wallace and his men killed at ease, the English retreated A famous victory was won !! De Cressingham was killed and skinned and the English headed back across the border

King Edward hastily returned from France and set out to gain revenge on Wallace They would meet again at Falkirk in 1298 Again Wallace was heavily outnumbered His tactics had changed He now relied on his archers and a formation known as the Schiltron Unfortunately this time the superior English army defeated Wallace’s men

Wallace now went on the run He had been stripped of his Guardianship He was later betrayed by Sir John Monteith Once captured he was taken to the Tower of London where he was hung, drawn and quartered His arms and legs were cut off and sent to the four corners of Scotland as a warning to anyone else.

After reading Section C you should be able to answer the following questions:- Why would William Wallace not have been asked to obey King Edward? Would the Scottish Nobles have made themselves popular or unpopular at Irvine? Why would Wallace’s attack on Haselrig and Ormsby made him popular? Make a list of the things Wallace and Murray did to win the Battle of Stirling Bridge? List the things De Cressingham did to lose the Battle?

Why was it important that Wallace was made Guardian? Why was it important to have a Scotsman made Bishop of St Andrew’s? Why did Wallace have to organise a Scots army? Describe the Battle of Falkirk and the reasons why Wallace was defeated? Did King Edward have control over Scotland after this Battle? Give reasons why King Edward was able to punish the Scots so severely in 1304? Why did King Edward punish William Wallace so cruelly?