William Wallace and Monument

Before Wallace:
While riding to his new bride on a stormy night in 1286, the Scots King Alexander III plunged to his death on the Pettycur cliffs at King-horn. The 20 years of peace there had been, seemed as if it was to continue. This peace was due to a treaty between Scotland and King Edward I of England, which stated that Margaret Maid of Norway (Alexander I X-wifes daughter) would marry King Edward's 5 year old son, joining the two dynasties, but agreeing that Scotland would remain independent, so keeping the peace and uniting the countries.
However Margaret died in Orkney on the way form Norway, an event which was to have Scotland at war for generations to come. Margaret was the last in the line of William the Lion, which meant the nearest heirs were John Balliol and Robert Bruce.
Very soon Bruce seized the royal castles including Balliol's castle, a situation that could soon start a civil war, but to prevent this the Scottish nobles asked Edward to adjudicate over the situation. He accepted but insisted that he should be known as Lord Paramount of Scotland. Bruce and Balliol accepted in fear of losing their Scottish and English estates for which they owed allegiance to Edward, and so the independence of Scotland was given up. Edward ordered that all Scottish castles should be given up to him until the after the succession which was delayed for some time, however Scotland was now under English rule. Edward ruled that Balliol, by far the weaker of the two should get the Scottish crown.
Edward immediately started to humiliate Balliol, making him appear in English courts defending himself against his own subjects. Balliol lost his patience and was judged guilty of contempt of court where upon Edward forfeited the main castles and lands to Edward. Balliol then took up arms against Edward but was defeated on April 1296. Edward then stole the coronation stone of Scotland "The Stone of Destiny". Scotland was now in total control from England, but keeping Scotland was going to prove hard.
William Wallace was born either1270 or 1274 the son of a minor knight Sir Malcom Wallace. Wallace himself would grow up to be over 6ft tall, a giant of a man at this time, he had a fiery temper which would prove useful to him in the future. Wallace's hatred of the English and strong national pride got him into to trouble many times before he was in any way famous, but this got him in contact with other people with the same Scottish passion.
Some time on Wallace ambushed Fenwick the knight that killed his father, with a band of only 50 men he took on about 200 soldiers. Fenwick was killed and his soldiers fled, however when the Sheriff of Lanark Hazelrig took revenge by killing Wallaces woman Marrion Braidfute or (Braidfoot) Wallace vowed to kill every Englishman that could bear arms. While under the cover of darkness Wallace crept into Hazelrigs castle, overpowered his guards and killed Hazelrig in his bed, along with his son and nearly 250 soldiers and men. The story of Wallace swept the country and soon many thousands of common people joined him. Later when he took back Scone, some nobles joined Wallace too.
The uprising against the English had to be answered, so with a very well armed army Edward sent them up to reaffirm the English supremacy over Scotland. The English army had nearly 70,000 soldiers but Wallace only had 40,000 lightly armed soldiers in comparison. The two armies met at Stirling. Stirling is the lowest crossing point of the River Fourth, with Wallace on one side and the English on the other, the battle ground was set. Wallace waited for the right time before attacking, with the heavy cavalry floundering in the boggy ground and the bridge limiting the number of foot soldiers, they became easily overcome. Unable to advance in large numbers because of the bridge and unable to retreat because of still advancing soldiers the English were slaughtered. A decisive victory was won for Scotland's freedom.
Not happy with this victory Wallace invaded England which went along way to satisfying the Scots need for revenge. When Wallace returned, he was knighted and appointed Guardian of Scotland in March 1298, this made Wallace de facto King of Scotland, but Wallace was not interested in personal power.
All this time King Edward had assembled an army to regain the position lost at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Edward's army were well armed but very hungry due to bad weather keeping supplies away, and also because of the fact Wallace had laid the land waste to keep it from being used by the English. However Wallace was betrayed, and at the last second Edward was able to go to Wallace and take him on in battle. At Falkirk Wallace stood his ground but the better armed English eventually prevailed and Wallace had to flee into the nearby woods. The defeat at Falkirk ended Wallace's reign as Guardian of Scotland, from now on Wallace's battles with England were done in Guerilla warfare. It is believed that Wallace travelled to France to get support from King Phillip IV and the Pope, but his love of his country drew him back where he continued to be a thorn in the side of the English. Eventually Wallace was betrayed by John de Menteith a friend ( To this day The Lake of Menteith is Scotland's only Lake, to mark the fact Menteith got his lands from the English King ) and taken to London. He was dragged through the streets to his execution place, where he was hanged drawn and quartered, One piece went to Newcastle, Berwick, Perth and Aberdeen. If Edward thought this would end the wars between the two countries he was sadly mistaken.