Автобиографический исторический материал о легендарном шотландском рыцаре сэре Уильяме Уоллесе, который выступал с призывом населения Шотландии о противодействии беззаконию монархии Англии, на примере: в те далекие времена у английских дворян было "право первой ночи", что в корне задевало не только интересы местной знати, но и закрепляло англичан на завоеванных ими землях
William Wallace.doc
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Sir William Wallace (Scottish Gaelic: Uilleam
ˈ əllˠəsl ; Norman French: William le
Uallas [
Waleys; died 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who
became one of the main leaders during the First War 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,
and quartered for high
treason and crimes against English civilians.
drawn,
Since his death, Wallace has obtained an iconic status far beyond his homeland. He is
the protagonist of Blind Harry's 15thcentury epic poem The Wallace and the subject of literary
works by Sir Walter Scott and Jane Porter, and of the Academy Awardwinning film Braveheart.
William Wallace was a member of the lesser nobility, but little is definitely known of his family
history or even his parentage. Blind Harry's late15thcentury poem gives his father as Sir Malcolm
of Elderslie; however William's own seal, found on a letter sent to the Hanse city of Lübeck in
1297, gives his father's name as Alan Wallace. This Alan Wallace may be the same as the one listed
in the 1296 Ragman Rolls as a crown tenant in Ayrshire, but there is no additional
confirmation. Blind Harry's assertion that William was the son of Sir Malcolm of Elderslie has
given rise to a tradition that William's birthplace was at Elderslie in Renfrewshire, and this is still
the view of some historians, including the historical William Wallace Society itself. However,
William's seal has given rise to a counter claim of Ellerslie in Ayrshire. There is no contemporary
evidence linking him with either location, although both areas had connections with the wider
Wallace family. Records show early members of the family as holding estates
at Riccarton, Tarbolton,
They
were vassals of James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland as their lands fell within his territory.
Wallace's brothers Malcolm and John are known from other sources.
The origins of the Wallace surname and its association with southwest Scotland are also far from
certain, other than the name's being derived from the Old English wylisc (pronounced "wullish"),
meaning "foreigner" or "Welshman". It is possible that all the Wallaces in the Clyde area were
medieval immigrants from Wales, but as the term was also used for local Cumbricspeaking
Strathclyde Welsh, it seems equally likely that the surname refers to people who were seen as being
"Welsh" due to their Cumbric language.
When Wallace was growing up, King Alexander III ruled Scotland. His reign had seen a period of
peace and economic stability. On 19 March 1286, however, Alexander died after falling from his
horse.
The heir to the throne was Alexander's granddaughter, Margaret, Maid of Norway. As she was still
a child and in Norway, the Scottish lords set up a government of guardians. Margaret fell ill on the
and Auchincruive in Kyle,
and Stenton in East
Lothian. voyage to Scotland and died in Orkney on 26 September 1290. The lack of a clear heir led to a
period known as the "Great Cause", with several families laying claim to the throne.
With Scotland threatening to descend into civil war, King Edward I of England was invited in by
the Scottish nobility to arbitrate. Before the process could begin, he insisted that all of the
contenders recognise him as Lord Paramount of Scotland. In early November 1292, at a great feudal
court held in the castle at BerwickuponTweed, judgment was given in favour of John
Balliol having the strongest claim in law.
Edward proceeded to reverse the rulings of the Scottish Lords and even summoned King John
Balliol to stand before the English court as a common plaintiff. John was a weak king, known as
"Toom Tabard" or "Empty Coat". John renounced his homage in March 1296 and by the end of the
month Edward stormed BerwickuponTweed, sacking the thenScottish border town. In April, the
Scots were defeated at the Battle of Dunbar in East Lothianand by July, Edward had forced John to
abdicate. Edward then instructed his officers to receive formal homage from some 1,800 Scottish
nobles (many of the rest being prisoners of war at that time).
Some historians, such as Andrew Fisher, believe Wallace must have had some earlier military
experience in order to lead a successful military campaign in 1297. Campaigns like Edward I of
England's wars in Wales might have provided a good opportunity for a younger son of a landholder
to become a mercenary soldier. Wallace's personal seal bears the archer's insignia, so he may have
fought as an archer in Edward's army.
Walter Bower states that Wallace was "a tall man with the body of a giant ... with lengthy flanks ...
broad in the hips, with strong arms and legs ... with all his limbs very strong and firm". Blind
Harry's Wallace reaches seven feet.
The first act definitely known to have been carried out by Wallace was his assassination of William
de Heselrig, the English High Sheriff of Lanark, in May 1297. He then joined with William the
Hardy, Lord of Douglas, and they carried out the raid of Scone. This was one of several rebellions
taking place across Scotland, including those of several Scottish nobles and Andrew Moray in the
north.
The uprising suffered a blow when the nobles submitted to the English at Irvine in July. Wallace
and Moray were not involved, and continued their rebellions. Wallace used the Ettrick Forest as a
base for raiding, and attacked Wishart's palace at Ancrum. Wallace and Moray met and joined their
forces, possibly at the siege of Dundee in early September.
Battle of Stirling Bridge
On 11 September 1297, an army jointly led by Wallace and Andrew Moray won the Battle of
Stirling Bridge. Although vastly outnumbered, the Scottish army routed the English army. John de
Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey's feudal army of 3,000 cavalry and 8,000 to 10,000 infantry met
disaster as they crossed over to the north side of the river. The narrowness of the bridge prevented
many soldiers from crossing together (possibly as few as three men abreast), so, while the English
soldiers crossed, the Scots held back until half of them had passed and then killed the English as
quickly as they could cross. The infantry were sent on first, followed by heavy cavalry. The
Scots' schiltron formations forced the infantry back into the advancing cavalry. A pivotal charge,
led by one of Wallace's captains, caused some of the English soldiers to retreat as others pushed forward, and under the overwhelming weight, the bridge collapsed and many English soldiers
drowned. Thus, the Scots won a significant victory, boosting the confidence of their army. Hugh
Cressingham, Edward's treasurer in Scotland, died in the fighting and it is reputed that his body was
subsequently flayed and the skin cut into small pieces as tokens of the victory. The Lanercost
Chronicle records that Wallace had "a broad strip [of Cressingham’s skin] ... taken from the head to
the heel, to make therewith a baldrick for his sword".
After the battle, Moray and Wallace assumed the title of Guardians of the Kingdom of Scotland on
behalf of King John Balliol. Moray died of wounds suffered on the battlefield sometime in late
1297.
The type of engagement conducted by Wallace was characterised by opportunistic tactics and the
strategic use of terrain. This was in stark contrast to the contemporary views on chivalric warfare
which were characterised by strength of arms and knightly combat. Therefore, the battle embittered
relations between the two antagonistic nations, whilst also perhaps providing a new departure in the
type of warfare which England had hitherto employed. The numerical and material inferiority of the
Scottish forces was later mirrored by that of the English in the Hundred Years' War, who, in turn,
abandoned chivalric warfare to achieve decisive victory in similar engagements such
as Crécy and Poitiers.
Around November 1297, Wallace led a largescale raid into northern England, through
Northumberland and Cumberland.
In a ceremony, at the 'Kirk o' the Forest' (Selkirk), towards the end of the year, Wallace was
knighted. This would have been carried out
three Scottish
earls — Carrick, Strathearn or Lennox.
by one of
Battle of Falkirk
In April 1298, Edward ordered a second invasion of Scotland. Two days prior to the battle 25,781
foot soldiers were paid. More than half of them would have been Welsh. There are no clear cut
sources for the presence of cavalry, but it is safe to assume that Edward had roughly 1500 horse
under his command. They plundered Lothian and regained some castles, but failed to bring William
Wallace to combat; the Scots shadowed the English army, intending to avoid battle until shortages
of supplies and money forced Edward to withdraw, at which point the Scots would harass his
retreat. The English quartermasters' failure to prepare for the expedition left morale and food
supplies low, and a resulting riot within Edward's own army had to be put down by his cavalry. In
July, while planning a return to Edinburgh for supplies, Edward received intelligence that the Scots
were encamped nearby at Falkirk, and he moved quickly to engage them in the pitched battle he had
long hoped for.
Wallace arranged his spearmen in four schiltrons — circular, defensive hedgehog formations,
probably surrounded by wooden stakes connected with ropes, to keep the infantry in formation. The
English, however, employed Welsh longbowmen, who swung strategic superiority in their favour.
The English proceeded to attack with cavalry and put the Scottish archers to flight. The Scottish
cavalry withdrew as well, due to its inferiority to the English heavy horse. Edward's men began to
attack the schiltrons, which were still able to inflict heavy casualties on the English cavalry. It
remains unclear whether the infantry shooting bolts, arrows and stones at the spearmen proved the
deciding factor, although it is very likely that it was the arrows of Edward's bowmen. Gaps in the schiltrons soon appeared, and the English exploited these to crush the remaining resistance. The
Scots lost many men, including John de Graham. Wallace escaped, though his military reputation
suffered badly.
By September 1298, Wallace resigned as Guardian of Scotland in favour of Robert the Bruce, Earl
of Carrick and future king, and John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, King John Balliol's nephew.
Details of Wallace's activities after this are vague, but there is some evidence that he left on a
mission to the court of King Philip IV of France to plead the case for assistance in the Scottish
struggle for independence. There is a surviving letter from the French king dated 7 November 1300
to his envoys in Rome demanding that they should help Sir William. It also suggests that Wallace
may have intended to travel to Rome, although it is not known if he did. There is also a report from
an English spy at a meeting of Scottish leaders, where they said Wallace was in France.
By 1304 Wallace was back in Scotland, and involved in skirmishes at Happrew and Earnside.
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 disputed.
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.
Romanticism in Scotland took up Wallace after Robert Burns wrote in 1793 the ballad 'Scots Wha
Hae' and Scottish nationalists commemorated him in the Wallace Monument dedicated in 1869.
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