William Wallace (1270-1305)
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During the reign of Edward I [1239-1307] the king of Scotland died and thirteen men claimed the throne. 
Instead of fighting to decide which of them should be king they asked Edward I to settle the question. 

John Baliol, one of the rivals who claimed the Scottish throne, was made the vassal king. Some time 
after this King Edward ordered Baliol to raise an army and help him fight the French. Baliol refused 
to do this, so Edward marched with an army into Scotland and took him prisoner.

William Wallace is the figure now made very famous by the movie Braveheart. He was a Scottish knight 
and landowner who was a leading figure in the Scottish Wars for Independence. There are three notable 
occurrences in his life which are remembered. The first of which is that he was eventually captured 
and executed in a very brutal manner. He is also remembered for his famous victory in the battle of 
Stirling Bridge at which his forces were vastly outnumbered. He is also remembered for his loss a year 
later at the Battle of Falkirk. 

The men whom King Edward appointed to govern the Scots ruled unwisely and nearly all the people were 
discontented. Suddenly an army of Scots was raised. It was led by Sir William Wallace, a knight who 
was almost a giant in size. William Wallace's men drove the English out of the country and Wallace 
was made the "Guardian of the Realm." Edward then led a great army against him. The Scottish soldiers 
were nearly all on foot. Wallace arranged them in hollow squares, spearmen on the outside, bowmen 
within. The English horsemen dashed vainly against the walls of spear-points. But King Edward now 
brought his archers to the front. Thousands of arrows flew from their bows and thousands of William 
Wallace's men fell dead. The spears were broken and the Scots were defeated. Wallace barely escaped 
with his life. He was afterwards betrayed to Edward, who cruelly put him to death in 1305. He was 
hung, drawn and quartered in Smithfield, London.