William Wallace

William Wallace was a Scottish landowner who later became a great warrior for the freedom of Scotland. Wallace lived his young life in a time of peace and stability because they had a good king named Alexander III, but after he died, his granddaughter ruled, and not long after, she got ill and died as well. There was no heir to the throne so King Edward of England put up a bid for it, but the people did not want him as king, being that he was already king of England, and they made John Balliol their King. King Edward of England began to pressure John to resign and John did, leaving the throne to Edward.

            William Wallace gathered a small band of Scots to fight against Edward and their first act was when they burned the village of Lanmark during the month of May, 1297, killing the High Sheriff. On September 11, 1297, the Battle of Stirling Bridge was fought, and the Scottish were outnumbered, however, they won the battle mostly because of strategy. When Edward’s army was crossing the bridge, the Scots slaughtered them. After the Battle of Stirling Bridge, William Wallace was made Guardian of the Kingdom of Scotland. William avoided being captured by the English until August, 1305, when John de Menteith, who was a Scottish knight loyal to England, turned William over to the English soldiers and he was taken to London. At Westminister Hall, he was tried for treason and on the 23 of August, 1305, he was taken to the tower of London and dragged through the city naked at the heels of a horse to the Elms at Smithfield. There he was hanged, drawn, and quartered. William Wallace’s limbs were displayed separately, in Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth, and his head was put on the pike atop London Bridge. William Wallace was a brave fighter and he paved the way for Scottish freedom, which came within 50 years of his death.

Information gathered from: Wikipedia William Wallace, and Ron Paul Curriculum 7^th grade history class.