William Wallace's Effect On Scotland And England

William Wallace’s effect on Scotland

The British Isles during the fourteenth century was an extremely hectic and war torn place. England was controlling Scotland through brutality and force. Scotland desperately wanted their freedom from the English. Even though Scotland wanted freedom, no one had the initiative or bravery to form a resistance; Until William Wallace started to resist the English. William Wallace played an extremely important role in the development of both Scotland and England through his role as the protector of Scotland. William Wallace was a very selfless man who centered his life on the well-being of Scotland.

William Wallace’s resistance began in Lanark in the late thirteenth century (“Lanark Museum” 1). William Wallace

“William Wallace was joined by Sir William Douglas and led his men in a devastating raid across Dumfrieshire (“Events” 1).” With Douglas’s help Wallace was able to move across the countryside killing Edward’s Supporters and capturing castles for his rebellion. While Wallace was rebelling in the south, another uprising was occurring in the North. Sir Andrew Murray was leading a successful rebellion against the English in the North. After Wallace’s attacks in the south of Scotland were done; He decided to move his forces north to attack. With both Wallace’s rebellion in the south and Murray’s rebellion in the North intensifying; England was beginning to have a larger and larger problem on their

Wallace was in charge of Scotland’s government while he was protector. Wallace launched an invasion of England and began ransacking the English countryside. The majority of Wallace’s invasion was focused on Northumberland (“William Wallace’s Invasion” 4). William Wallace continued his invasion for about a year without any opposition from England, but the English eventually had enough time to regroup and form a resistance to the Scottish invasion of England. The next major battle for William Wallace was the Battle of Falkirk. Wallace had been evading this battle for weeks because he feared the outcome of the battle. In this battle William Wallace and the Scottish had the better positions and better training. The Scottish army looked to be in better shape, but the English vastly outnumbered them. The Scottish were dug in front of a patch of woods and had very good position. They had driven stakes into the ground and were in formation behind them. But because the English force was so large the Scottish were quickly overwhelmed (“Events” 3). They fought valiantly but could not overcome the sheer numbers of the English. “Thousands of Scots died, but William Wallace was able to escape with most of his commanders (“Events” 3).” The Battle of Falkirk marked the decline of William Wallace’s