William Wallace's Effect On Scotland And England

William Wallace’s effect on Scotland

The British Isles during the fourteenth century was an extremely hectic and war torn place. England was controlling Scotland through brutality and force. Scotland desperately wanted their freedom from the English. Even though Scotland wanted freedom, no one had the initiative or bravery to form a resistance; Until William Wallace started to resist the English. William Wallace played an extremely important role in the development of both Scotland and England through his role as the protector of Scotland. William Wallace was a very selfless man who centered his life on the well-being of Scotland.

William Wallace’s resistance began in Lanark in the late thirteenth century (“Lanark Museum” 1). William Wallace

had committed some crimes and was considered to be an outlaw; for this reason law enforcement was pursuing him. In 1297 the British soldiers surrounded both William Wallace and his wife, although William Wallace managed to escape, the soldiers captured his wife. In an effort to coax William Wallace out of hiding, the British Soldiers had his wife executed (“Events” 1). After William Wallace killed the soldiers he killed the sheriff, as shown by this quote, “Wallace broke into Heselrig’s bedchamber and hacked the English sheriff to death (William Wallace 1).” This was the event that began William Wallace’s rebellion. From that moment on William Wallace was fighting for Scotland’s freedom.
After William Wallace’s wife was killed and he had killed the sheriff of Lanark; William Wallace began an attack across Dumfriesshire.

“William Wallace was joined by Sir William Douglas and led his men in a devastating raid across Dumfrieshire (“Events” 1).” With Douglas’s help Wallace was able to move across the countryside killing Edward’s Supporters and capturing castles for his rebellion. While Wallace was rebelling in the south, another uprising was occurring in the North. Sir Andrew Murray was leading a successful rebellion against the English in the North. After Wallace’s attacks in the south of Scotland were done; He decided to move his forces north to attack. With both Wallace’s rebellion in the south and Murray’s rebellion in the North intensifying; England was beginning to have a larger and larger problem on their

hands.
William Wallace and Andrew Murray met in the late thirteenth century. In order to make their rebellion more effective, they decide to join their forces against the English oppressors (“Events” 2). Combined, William Wallace and Andrew Murray had taken back the majority of Scotland. Because they had been so successful in their rebellion, they now faced the entire English army. Soon Wallace and Murray’s men would be put to the test. The first major battle was The Battle of Sterling Bridge. The English had to cross Sterling Bridge in order to negotiate with the Scottish. The First time the English crossed the bridge they returned because their leader had slept in and he ordered them back until he was ready. The next time the English crossed they crossed in order to get a message from the Scottish leaders. They expected the message to be that Wallace and Murray were surrendering, so they were ordered back across the bridge. When they realized that Wallace and Murray had not surrendered they crossed the bridge a third time. This time when they crossed the Scottish attacked. Because the Scottish New how the English were going to cross the bridge they massacred the English (“Events” 2). “The Scots suffered one significant casualty, Andrew Murray, who was badly wounded and died two months later (BBC News 1).” Other than that loss the Scotts won an overwhelming victory.
Because of his great victory at the battle of Sterling Bridge Wallace was named protector of Scotland.

Wallace was in charge of Scotland’s government while he was protector. Wallace launched an invasion of England and began ransacking the English countryside. The majority of Wallace’s invasion was focused on Northumberland (“William Wallace’s Invasion” 4). William Wallace continued his invasion for about a year without any opposition from England, but the English eventually had enough time to regroup and form a resistance to the Scottish invasion of England. The next major battle for William Wallace was the Battle of Falkirk. Wallace had been evading this battle for weeks because he feared the outcome of the battle. In this battle William Wallace and the Scottish had the better positions and better training. The Scottish army looked to be in better shape, but the English vastly outnumbered them. The Scottish were dug in front of a patch of woods and had very good position. They had driven stakes into the ground and were in formation behind them. But because the English force was so large the Scottish were quickly overwhelmed (“Events” 3). They fought valiantly but could not overcome the sheer numbers of the English. “Thousands of Scots died, but William Wallace was able to escape with most of his commanders (“Events” 3).” The Battle of Falkirk marked the decline of William Wallace’s

resistance.
After the devastating loss at the battle of Falkirk William, Wallace resigned as protector of Scotland. John Comyn and Robert Bruce now assumed guardianship of Scotland. Even without William Wallace the resistance in Scotland continued on. The Scottish people continued to push for freedom and eventually convinced the Pope to side with them. The Pope told them that King John was coming to their aid with a French army to help the resistance. The rumor that King John was coming with a French army kept the Scottish spirit high. The rumor raised hope for them. But Robert Bruce did not want King John to come back and take the crown so in 1300 he resigned as guardian. Eventually in 1302 Robert Bruce Joined King Edward of England (“Events” 3). The Scottish Army continued to furiously resist the English. The English launched a counter invasion and the Scottish Army moved north until the English had to retreat because of winter. The next battle that occurred, the Scottish won very easily. They snuck into the English camp while they were sleeping and killed many of the English soldiers (“Events” 3). However, the Scottish luck would soon run out.
With England constantly attacking and always pushing into their country, the Scots were in a very weakened state.“The Final blow actually came from France, when the king of France was forced to sign a treaty with Edward, one that did not include Scotland (“Events” 4).” When the treaty was accepted the resistance in Scotland stopped. There were very few people who still resisted England. When the treaty was accepted most Scottish leaders accepted the terms given to them by King Edward. When the French signed a treaty the Scots realized that there would be no help from King John (“Events” 4). Because of this, hope for freedom was lost. Even through all of this William Wallace still resisted the English. In the end though, William Wallace’s dream for a free Scotland would not be realized. On August 3, 1305 William Wallace was betrayed by Sir John Menteith. Menteith turned him in to the English. William Wallace was declared a traitor and was brutally tortured, as illustrated by this quote, “He was dragged four miles through London to Smithfield. There he was hanged, as a murder and thief, but cut down still alive. Then he was mutilated, disemboweled and, being accused of treason, he was probably emasculated (BBC News 2).”
Even though William Wallace did not succeed in giving Scotland it’s freedom, he did make England recognize Scotland as a threat. William Wallace dramatically altered the course of both Scotland’s and England’s history when he launched his rebellion. Without his rebellion Scotland may not have become a country. Wallace played a key role in giving the Scottish people hope for their freedom. He also inspired people to be much more prideful of Scotland. He inspired an entire country to rise up against their captors, and for this William Wallace will always be remembered for.