William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( Medieval Gaelic : " Uilliam Uallas " ; modern Scottish Gaelic : " Uilleam Uallas " ; Norman French : " William le Waleys " ; died 23 August 1305 ) was a Scottish landowner 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 1297 , and was Guardian of Scotland , serving until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in July 1298 . In 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 the 15th - century epic poem " The Wallace " , by Blind Harry . Wallace is also the subject of literary works by Sir Walter Scott and Jane Porter and of the 1995 Academy Award - winning epic film " Braveheart " . Background . 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 late 15th century poem gives his father as Sir Malcolm of Elderslie , however William ' s own seal , found on to 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 , but Williams own seal , suggesting his father was Alan Wallace , 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 , and Auchincruive in Kyle , and Stenton in Haddingtonshire . They were vassals of James Stewart , 5th High Steward of Scotland as their lands fell within his territory . His brothers Malcolm and John are known from other sources . The origins of the Wallace surname and its association with south west Scotland are also far from certain , other than the name 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 given that the term was also used for local Cumbric speaking Strathclyde Welsh it seems equally likely that the surname refers to people who were seen as being " Welsh " due to their Cumbric language . Political crisis in Scotland . 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 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 Berwick - upon - Tweed , judgement 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 Berwick - upon - Tweed , sacking the then - Scottish border town . In April , the Scots were defeated at the Battle of Dunbar in East Lothian and 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 ) . Silent years prior to the Wars of Independence . 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 attached to a letter sent to the Hanse city of Lübeck in 1297 may not only reveal the name of his father but also bears the archers ' insignia . If Wallace was indeed an archer he must have been a professional , worth paying a reasonable sum of money for military services . The first class long bow ( as probably used by Wallace ) had a draw weight of up to 170 lbs . 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 start of the uprising . 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 professional 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 . But 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 which boosted 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 baldric k 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 characterized by opportunistic tactics and the strategic use of terrain . This was in stark contrast to the contemporary views on chivalric warfare which were characterized by strength of arms and knightly combat . The battle therefore 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 would be 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 large - scale raid into northern England , through Northumberland and Cumberland . About this time , Wallace was knighted . This would have been carried out by one of three Scottish earls : Carrick , Strathearn or Lennox . Battle of Falkirk . In April 1298 , Edward ordered a second invasion of Scotland . He had an army of 3000 men from 23 clans . 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 schiltron s — circular , hedgehog formations surrounded by a defensive wall of wooden stakes . The English however employed Welsh longbowmen who swung strategic superiority in their favour . The English proceeded to attack with cavalry , and break up the Scottish archers . Under the command of the Scottish nobles , the Scottish knights withdrew , and Edward ' s men began to attack the schiltrons . 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 1303 Wallace was back in Scotland , and involved in skirmishes at Roslin , Happrew and Earnside . 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 , emasculate d , eviscerated and his bowels burnt 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 upon Tyne , Berwick - upon - Tweed , 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 – 98 , 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 . Wallace in fiction . In the early 19th century , Walter Scott wrote of Wallace in " Exploits and Death of William Wallace , the " Hero of Scotland " " , and Jane Porter penned a romantic version of the Wallace legend in " The Scottish Chiefs " in 1810 . G . A . Henty wrote a novel in 1885 about this time period titled " In Freedom ' s Cause " . Henty , a producer of the " Boy ' s Own Paper " fiction who wrote for that magazine , 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 " , published in 1975 , which is said to be more accurate than its literary predecessors . The novel " The Temple and the Stone " , written by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris ( 1998 ) , 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 . In 2010 , the novelist Jack Whyte gave another fictionalized account of Wallace ’ s life , particularly his early life , in " The Forest Laird " , the first book in " The Guardians of Scotland " trilogy . A well - known account is presented in the 1995 film " Braveheart " , directed by and starring Mel Gibson as Wallace , written by Randall Wallace , and filmed in both Scotland and Ireland . The film , a fictionalized account of Wallace ' s life , was a commercial success and won five Academy Awards , including Best Picture and Best Director . Wallace also appears as a playable character in the " Real - time Strategy " game " Age of Empires 2 "