Post by dreamy on Jun 6, 2005 5:58:22 GMT 10
Without any doubt William Wallace is one of Scotland's greatest national heroes.
It's not easy to get accurate records about his life...most of the stories about him have been based on Blind Harry's romance "The Wallace" from the late 15th century. So most stories can't be proved by documentary evidence.
Though it's assured that William Wallace has been a passionate patriot who had never thought of own profit, fame or whatever; quite differently than the Scottish nobles of that time who had collaborated with the English in order to get personal and financial benefits.
William Wallace was born in Ellerslie (today's Elderslie) in Ayrshire around 1270 as the second son of Sir Malcolm Wallace, a small landowner and Scottish knight. As the second son he was not going to inherit his father's land.
At this time Alexander III had been King of Scotland and his time of reign had seen peaceful times and times of stability.
1272 Edward I ( probably better known as "Edward Longshanks" ) became King of England.
Not much is known about William Wallace's early years and youth, not much reliable information at least. Most likely he had spent most of the time with his uncle who was a priest. As sons of a nobleman William and his brother Malcolm had spend their time with training martial arts, such as becoming excellent sword fighters.
William was said to have been a tall and powerful man; all in all more than 6'' tall...while the average height of man was a bit more than 5 ''. There are not many descriptions of him, one is by Carrick who described him in his "Life of Sir William Wallace of Elderslie" as following:
"His visage was long, well-proportioned, and exquisitely beautiful; his eyes were bright and piercing, the hair of his head and beard auburn, and inclined to curl; that on his brows and eyelashes was of a lighter shade. His lips were round and full. His statue was lofty and majestic, rising head and shoulders above the tallest men in the country. Yet his form, though gigantic, possessed the most perfect symmetry, and with a degree of strength almost incredible, there was combined such an agility of body and fleetness in running that no-one, except when mounted on horseback, could outstrip escape from him when he happened to persue."
When William Wallace was 16 years old Alexander III died without leaving any surviving child. So his granddaughter Margaret, called "Maid of Norway", was declared Queen of Scotland although she was still a child of only 4 years, living in Norway. Until she would have been able to reign the country, a "government" was set up to rule Scotland.
This was an appropriate possibility for Edward I to follow his own interests in this time of instability. He agreed with the government (also called Margaret's "guardians") on a marriage between his own son and Margaret and promised that Scotland would remain a seperate nation though.
Four years later Margaret died at the age of 8 years on the Orkney Islands where she had landed to continue her way to England.
After her death 13 different claiments to the Scottish throne were made. The majority came from members of the Scottish nobility. A time of instability and internal conflicts started. The guardians began to fight against one another; some collaborated with the English King, others didn't just as it suited them. Scotland was occupied by the English at this time and the common man had to suffer under the abuses and atrocities of the English troops while the nobility was unable or better said unwilling to maintain law and protection for their own people.
In 1291 William Wallace's father Malcolm was killed while a struggle with English troops. This probably was the main reason for William's hate against the English and his burning desire for Scotland to become an independent nation. He was leading an outlaw's life, hiding from the English most of the time and fighting them with ferocity occasionally.
Wallace murdered Sir William Heselrig, the English Sheriff of Lanark, in May 1297, and dismembered the resulting corpse, supposedly to avenge the death of Marion Braidfute of Lamington—the young maiden Wallace allegedly courted and married in Blind Harry's tale. (No evidence exists to corroborate this detail.) Soon, he achieved victory in battles at Loudoun Hill (near Darvel, Ayrshire) and Ayr; he also fought alongside Sir William Douglas in Scone, routing the English justiciar, William de Ormesby. Supporters of the growing revolt suffered a major blow when Scottish nobles agreed to terms with the English at Irvine in July. In August, Wallace left Selkirk Forest to join Andrew de Moray's army at Stirling. Moray began another uprising, and their forces combined at Stirling, where they prepared to meet the English in battle.
--to be continued--
It's not easy to get accurate records about his life...most of the stories about him have been based on Blind Harry's romance "The Wallace" from the late 15th century. So most stories can't be proved by documentary evidence.
Though it's assured that William Wallace has been a passionate patriot who had never thought of own profit, fame or whatever; quite differently than the Scottish nobles of that time who had collaborated with the English in order to get personal and financial benefits.
William Wallace was born in Ellerslie (today's Elderslie) in Ayrshire around 1270 as the second son of Sir Malcolm Wallace, a small landowner and Scottish knight. As the second son he was not going to inherit his father's land.
At this time Alexander III had been King of Scotland and his time of reign had seen peaceful times and times of stability.
1272 Edward I ( probably better known as "Edward Longshanks" ) became King of England.
Not much is known about William Wallace's early years and youth, not much reliable information at least. Most likely he had spent most of the time with his uncle who was a priest. As sons of a nobleman William and his brother Malcolm had spend their time with training martial arts, such as becoming excellent sword fighters.
William was said to have been a tall and powerful man; all in all more than 6'' tall...while the average height of man was a bit more than 5 ''. There are not many descriptions of him, one is by Carrick who described him in his "Life of Sir William Wallace of Elderslie" as following:
"His visage was long, well-proportioned, and exquisitely beautiful; his eyes were bright and piercing, the hair of his head and beard auburn, and inclined to curl; that on his brows and eyelashes was of a lighter shade. His lips were round and full. His statue was lofty and majestic, rising head and shoulders above the tallest men in the country. Yet his form, though gigantic, possessed the most perfect symmetry, and with a degree of strength almost incredible, there was combined such an agility of body and fleetness in running that no-one, except when mounted on horseback, could outstrip escape from him when he happened to persue."
When William Wallace was 16 years old Alexander III died without leaving any surviving child. So his granddaughter Margaret, called "Maid of Norway", was declared Queen of Scotland although she was still a child of only 4 years, living in Norway. Until she would have been able to reign the country, a "government" was set up to rule Scotland.
This was an appropriate possibility for Edward I to follow his own interests in this time of instability. He agreed with the government (also called Margaret's "guardians") on a marriage between his own son and Margaret and promised that Scotland would remain a seperate nation though.
Four years later Margaret died at the age of 8 years on the Orkney Islands where she had landed to continue her way to England.
After her death 13 different claiments to the Scottish throne were made. The majority came from members of the Scottish nobility. A time of instability and internal conflicts started. The guardians began to fight against one another; some collaborated with the English King, others didn't just as it suited them. Scotland was occupied by the English at this time and the common man had to suffer under the abuses and atrocities of the English troops while the nobility was unable or better said unwilling to maintain law and protection for their own people.
In 1291 William Wallace's father Malcolm was killed while a struggle with English troops. This probably was the main reason for William's hate against the English and his burning desire for Scotland to become an independent nation. He was leading an outlaw's life, hiding from the English most of the time and fighting them with ferocity occasionally.
Wallace murdered Sir William Heselrig, the English Sheriff of Lanark, in May 1297, and dismembered the resulting corpse, supposedly to avenge the death of Marion Braidfute of Lamington—the young maiden Wallace allegedly courted and married in Blind Harry's tale. (No evidence exists to corroborate this detail.) Soon, he achieved victory in battles at Loudoun Hill (near Darvel, Ayrshire) and Ayr; he also fought alongside Sir William Douglas in Scone, routing the English justiciar, William de Ormesby. Supporters of the growing revolt suffered a major blow when Scottish nobles agreed to terms with the English at Irvine in July. In August, Wallace left Selkirk Forest to join Andrew de Moray's army at Stirling. Moray began another uprising, and their forces combined at Stirling, where they prepared to meet the English in battle.
--to be continued--