I can not be a traitor, for I owe him no allegiance. He is not my Sovereign; he never received my homage; and whilst life is in this persecuted body, he never shall receive it. To the other points whereof I am accused, I freely confess them all. As Governor of my country I have been an enemy to its enemies; I have slain the English; I have mortally opposed the English King; I have stormed and taken the towns and castles which he unjustly claimed as his own. If I or my soldiers have plundered or done injury to the houses or ministers of religion, I repent me of my sin; but it is not of Edward of England I shall ask pardon.- Statement at his trial, rejecting the assertion he was a traitor to Edward I of England (23 August 1305), as quoted in Lives of Scottish Worthies (1831) by Patrick Fraser Tytler, p. 279
710
years ago on this date, August 23, 1305, Sir William Wallace is executed for high
treason at Smithfield in London. I will post information about this Guardian of
Scotland from Wikipedia.
 |
|
Wallace in stained glass at his monument in
Stirling
|
|
Born
|
c. 1270
Elderslie, Renfrewshire, Scotland |
|
Died
|
23 August 1305
Smithfield, London, Middlesex, England |
|
Cause of
death
|
Hanged, drawn and quartered
|
|
Resting
place
|
London, England, in unmarked grave
|
|
Nationality
|
Scottish
|
|
Occupation
|
Commander in the Scottish Wars of Independence
|
|
Religion
|
Roman Catholicism
|
|
Children
|
None recorded
|
|
Parent(s)
|
Father: Alan Wallace
|
Sir William Wallace (Gaelic: Uilleam Uallas; Norman French: William
le Waleys; died 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the
main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
Along
with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of Stirling
Bridge in September 1297. He was appointed Guardian of Scotland and served
until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in July 1298. In August 1305, Wallace
was captured in Robroyston, near Glasgow, and handed over to King Edward I
of England, who had him hanged, drawn, and quartered for high treason and
crimes against English civilians.
Since
his death, Wallace has obtained an iconic status far beyond his homeland. He is
the protagonist of Blind Harry's 15th-century epic poem The Wallace and
the subject of literary works by Sir Walter Scott and Jane Porter, and of the Academy
Award-winning film Braveheart (1995).
There
are several standing monuments and statues to Wallace's life and memory which
can be viewed.
Background
Political
crisis in Scotland
Silent
years prior to the Wars of Independence
Start
of the uprising
Battle
of Stirling Bridge
Battle
of Falkirk
Capture
and execution
Wallace
evaded capture by the English until 5 August 1305 when John
de Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to Edward, turned Wallace over to
English soldiers at Robroyston near Glasgow. Letters
of safe
conduct from Haakon V of Norway, Philip IV of France, and John
Balliol, along with other documents, were found on Wallace and delivered to
Edward by John de Segrave.
Wallace
was transported to London, lodged in the house of William de Leyrer, then taken
to Westminster Hall, where he was tried for treason
and for atrocities against civilians in war, "sparing neither age nor sex,
monk nor nun." He was crowned with a garland of oak to suggest he was the
king of outlaws.
He responded to the treason charge, "I could not be a traitor to Edward,
for I was never his subject." With this, Wallace asserted that the absent John
Balliol was officially his king.
Following
the trial, on 23 August 1305, Wallace was taken from the hall to the Tower
of London, then stripped naked and dragged through the city at the heels of
a horse to the Elms at Smithfield. He was hanged, drawn and quartered —
strangled by hanging,
but released while he was still alive, emasculated,
eviscerated
and his bowels burned before him, beheaded,
then cut into four parts. His preserved head (dipped in tar) was placed on a
pike atop London Bridge. It was later joined by the heads of
the brothers, John and Simon Fraser. His limbs were displayed,
separately, in Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth.
A plaque stands in a wall of St. Bartholomew's Hospital near the site
of Wallace's execution at Smithfield.
In
1869 the Wallace Monument was erected, very close to the
site of his victory at Stirling Bridge. The Wallace
Sword, which supposedly belonged to Wallace, although some parts were made
at least 160 years later, was held for many years in Dumbarton
Castle and is now in the Wallace Monument.
Historiography
of Wallace
Although
there are problems with writing a satisfactory biography of many medieval
people, the problems with Wallace are greater than usual. Not much is known
about him beyond his military campaign of 1297–1298, and the last few weeks of
his life in 1305. Even in recent years, his birthplace and his father's name
have been argued.
To
compound this, the legacy of subsequent 'biographical' accounts, sometimes
written as propaganda, other times simply as entertainment, has clouded much
scholarship until relatively recent times. Some accounts have uncritically
copied elements from the epic poem, The Acts and Deeds of Sir William
Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, written around 1470 by Blind
Harry the minstrel. Harry wrote from oral tradition describing events 170
years earlier, and is not in any sense an authoritative descriptor of Wallace's
exploits. Much of the poem is clearly at variance with known historical facts
and records of the period and is either fabricated using traditional chivalric
motifs or 'borrowed' from the exploits of others and attributed to Wallace.
 |
Any
society which suppresses the heritage of its conquered minorities, prevents
their history or denies them their symbols, has sown the seeds of their own
destruction. – William Wallace |
Wallace
in fiction
Film
- A well-known account of Wallace's life is presented in the film Braveheart (1995), directed by and starring Mel Gibson as Wallace, written by Randall Wallace, and filmed in both Scotland and Ireland. The film, however, was criticised for inaccuracies regarding Wallace's title, love interests, and attire.
Literature
- In the early 19th century, Walter Scott wrote of Wallace in Exploits and Death of William Wallace, the "Hero of Scotland",
- Jane Porter penned a romantic version of the Wallace legend in The Scottish Chiefs (1810).
- G. A. Henty wrote a novel about this time period titled In Freedom's Cause (1885). Henty, a producer of and writer for the Boy's Own Paper story paper, portrays the life of William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, The Black Douglas, and others, while dovetailing the events of his novel with historical fiction.
- Nigel Tranter wrote a historical novel titled The Wallace (1975).
- The Temple and the Stone (1998), a novel by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris, includes an account of Wallace's victory at Stirling, his defeat at Falkirk, and his trial and execution in London, along with a fictional connection between Wallace and Templar Knights.
INTERNET
SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wallace_Statue,_Aberdeen
 |
|
William Wallace Statue, Aberdeen
|
The
William Wallace Statue was erected 1888 in Aberdeen, Scotland, and depicts Sir William Wallace.
Created by William Grant
Stevenson, the statue is positioned opposite His Majesty's
Theatre and across from Union Terrace
Gardens. "It was paid for with funds left for the purpose by
John Steill of 38 Grange Road in Edinburgh, the son of James Steill sometime of
Easter Baldowrie in Angus."
The
statue bears this inscription:
I tell you a truth, liberty is the best of all things, my son, never live under any slavish bond.
Any society which suppresses
the heritage of its conquered minorities, prevents their history or denies them
their symbols, has sown the seeds of their own destruction. – William Wallace
3b. From his king? Absolutely. Here are Scotland�s terms. Lower your flags and march straight to England, stopping at every Scottish home you pass to beg forgiveness for a hundred years of theft, rape, and murder. Do that, and your men shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today. - Braveheart https://sfy.ru/?script=braveheart
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2044894655661895&id=1299628893521812
No comments:
Post a Comment