This historical documentary explores the true story behind the film Braveheart, which is based on the life of William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish warrior. This film deviates significantly from historical accuracy, drawing inspiration from a 15th-century poem by Blind Harry rather than verifiable historical accounts. Delve into the real events and characters of the Scottish Wars of Independence as we take a more factual perspective on the story of William Wallace.
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00:00No!
00:06Braveheart, the Oscar-winning hit movie.
00:10The film tells the story of real-life medieval Scottish warrior
00:14and symbol of Scottish independence, William Wallace.
00:19For Hollywood, he's the stuff of legend.
00:23He defies all of the things that all of us are afraid of.
00:28In his day, Wallace inspired both love and hate.
00:32One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.
00:35Was William Wallace a hero or a common criminal?
00:40Was he really saved by a princess who became his lover?
00:44And just how accurate are those famous battle scenes?
00:47With new archaeological evidence of the brutality of medieval warfare,
00:52ancient manuscripts recently deciphered,
00:54and unique forensic experiments with weapons of the day,
00:58these war bows will kill any man.
01:04This is the true story of William Wallace, Braveheart.
01:07Freedom!
01:28Freedom!
01:29Freedom!
01:30Starring and directed by Mel Gibson,
01:40Braveheart won five Oscars, including Best Film.
01:45It made 13th century Scottish warrior William Wallace
01:49a household name around the world.
01:53Gibson later admitted he'd romanticized Wallace,
01:56portraying him as a universal hero.
01:58You'll find the same man
02:01with the same kind of commitment and courage and stuff
02:04in every country, in every culture, in every era.
02:09The story was written by Randall Wallace,
02:12for whom it was intensely personal.
02:16I came across the story of William Wallace at a time in my life
02:19when I was looking for my roots and I was in Scotland.
02:23Came across the statue of William Wallace at Edinburgh Castle
02:26and I asked one of the guards there who this man was
02:30and he said, he's our greatest hero.
02:33And here I was, an American, just keenly interested in history,
02:38with the same name.
02:40I began to ask this man, you know, questions about who William Wallace was.
02:44Randall Wallace invented the name Braveheart.
02:48But the story was based on an epic poem,
02:52written in 1470 by a minstrel known as Blind Harry.
02:58Its tale of courage and leadership became one of the most popular books
03:02ever published in Scotland.
03:03But we now know that Blind Harry wasn't blind at all.
03:08He wrote his poem 165 years after Wallace's death.
03:19Blind Harry's intention is deliberately to create a superhero
03:23of the Wars of Independence,
03:25who was single-handedly almost responsible
03:27for the Scottish resistance to the English.
03:30So Blind Harry wasn't recording history.
03:34He was shaping a legend,
03:36one that would grip the Scottish imagination for centuries.
03:41Blind Harry was a whale of a storyteller.
03:45But what I did was to sit down
03:48and write the story of William Wallace
03:50as I imagined it ought to be.
03:54He was a Scottish commoner
03:55who became the guardian of all of Scotland,
03:59who had lost the woman he loved.
04:02And I don't need to understand
04:04the historical minutia of this.
04:07I need to find a way to capture
04:10the human power of that tale.
04:13Braveheart paints a compelling picture
04:29of an everyday hero,
04:31a farm boy who rose to be the saviour of Scotland.
04:36Blind Harry's poem even names
04:37William Wallace's father
04:38as a certain Malcolm Wallace.
04:41The clues to the real Wallace background
04:44are almost non-existent.
04:47All modern historians have to go on
04:49are a few references in medieval records.
04:52An iconic sword.
04:54And this letter sent to the German city of Lübeck
04:56in 1297.
05:00But in 1999,
05:03a closer analysis of the seal attached to that letter
05:05revealed vital clues.
05:07We can definitely make out
05:10the words
05:11Filius,
05:13Alani,
05:14and then the beginning of Wallace.
05:16Like all official documents of the time,
05:19the language used on the seal is Latin.
05:22In English,
05:24the inscription translates as
05:25William,
05:26son of Alan,
05:27and then Wallace.
05:28It shows quite clearly
05:32that his father
05:33is not Sir Malcolm Wallace of Eldersley,
05:35as Blind Harry would have it.
05:36His father was Alan Wallace.
05:39But who was Alan Wallace?
05:41Was he rich or poor?
05:43Paupor or prince?
05:44A clue might be found
05:46in the National Archives.
05:48This unique document
05:50is known as the Ragman Rolls
05:52because of the ribbons
05:54attached to the seals.
05:55It's a list of Scottish landowners
06:00who pledged loyalty
06:01to King Edward I
06:03in 1296.
06:09Right at the very end
06:10of the line
06:11we have an Alan
06:12and then at the very beginning
06:13of the next line
06:14we have
06:15Wallace.
06:17What this tells us
06:18is that
06:19Wallace's father,
06:21if this is who it is,
06:22was significant enough
06:24for Edward I. Clarke
06:26to have his seal
06:27attached to the original document.
06:30Rather than being a farmhand
06:32as he was portrayed in the film,
06:34the real William Wallace
06:36is the privileged son
06:37of a minor nobleman.
06:41The connection between
06:43William Wallace the man
06:44and William Wallace the depiction
06:46in Braveheart
06:46is non-existent.
06:48He's not a boy from the farm.
06:50He didn't spend his life
06:51behind a plough.
06:53His social background
06:55would mean that
06:56from an early age
06:57he would train to be
06:58what we call
06:58a man at arms.
07:02A man at arms
07:03would train and fight
07:04just like a medieval knight.
07:06So while Braveheart
07:07suggests Wallace
07:08was a farm boy
07:09with a natural talent
07:10for war,
07:11the real Wallace
07:12would have had extensive
07:13military training
07:14from boyhood.
07:15When you're an English knight
07:20or a Scottish knight,
07:22you ride into battle
07:23on your war horse.
07:24That's how war is done.
07:28To put one man
07:29in the field
07:30on a horse like this
07:31is very, very expensive.
07:33You had to have armour.
07:35You had to have
07:35a retinue of men
07:37to shoe the horses,
07:39feed the horses,
07:40put your armour on for you.
07:41So William Wallace
07:43wasn't a poor orphan
07:45as depicted in the film.
07:46His family had money
07:47and land
07:48and he trained
07:49as a warrior.
07:51But he did suffer
07:52one huge disadvantage.
07:54Records show
07:55he was a younger son.
07:57In medieval Scotland,
07:59that meant
07:59his father's estate
08:00would go to
08:01his eldest brother
08:02so William would have
08:03had to fend
08:04for himself.
08:07Exactly what
08:07the young William did
08:08when he left home
08:09remains a mystery.
08:11In 1296,
08:13he appears
08:14in a document
08:14known as
08:15a plea roll,
08:17a record of accusations
08:18against English soldiers
08:19in Scotland.
08:23We have Matthew York
08:25who is being accused
08:26by Christiana of Perth
08:28of stealing
08:29a certain amount
08:29of beer in her house.
08:32And Matthew
08:32is in the company
08:33of a thief,
08:34William Wallace.
08:35So this is pretty
08:37categorical evidence
08:38that Wallace
08:39was outside the law
08:40before he raised
08:42his head
08:43in rebellion
08:43in 1297.
08:45He's already
08:46had an interesting
08:47career path.
08:49So how did
08:49this common criminal
08:50in league
08:51with his country's
08:52sworn foe,
08:53the English army,
08:54become the saviour
08:56of the Scottish nation?
09:02Legendary Scottish hero
09:04William Wallace,
09:05portrayed in the movie
09:06Braveheart,
09:07was leading his country
09:08into battle
09:09in 1297.
09:11But just one year
09:12earlier,
09:13he was recorded
09:14stealing beer
09:15alongside English soldiers.
09:17So how had he gone
09:19from criminal
09:19to the nation's saviour?
09:23Wallace rose to power
09:24in a violent age
09:26when King Edward
09:26occupied Scotland
09:27with an iron fist.
09:30Rightly or wrongly,
09:31the English occupation
09:32is seen as being
09:33pretty heavy-handed.
09:35And certainly,
09:35there's much heavier
09:36taxation being imposed
09:37than Scottish people
09:38were accustomed to.
09:40In the spring of 1297,
09:43revolt was in the air.
09:45But according to
09:46Blind Harry's poem,
09:47when Wallace raised
09:48his head in rebellion,
09:50it was not for politics.
09:52It was to avenge
09:53the murder of his wife,
09:54Marion Braidfoot,
09:55by an English sheriff.
09:59What really captured me
10:01about William Wallace
10:02was the idea
10:03that he started fighting
10:04when he lost
10:06the woman he loved.
10:08And that inspired me.
10:09It got right to my heart
10:11and it was so personal.
10:16Just like Mel Gibson
10:17in the movie,
10:18the real Wallace
10:19did attack
10:20an English garrison
10:21with a group of rebels.
10:22They forced the soldiers
10:24out of town
10:24and slaughtered the sheriff.
10:26I'll give you money!
10:27But recent research
10:34has cast doubt
10:35over Wallace's
10:36romantic motivation.
10:38In the oldest version
10:39of Blind Harry's poem,
10:40dating back
10:41to the 1470s,
10:43there is no mention
10:44of a wife.
10:45In fact,
10:46Marion Braidfoot
10:47only appears
10:47in a later edition
10:48of the text,
10:49printed a century
10:50after the original
10:51was written.
10:52There is no evidence
10:56whatsoever
10:56that Wallace was married.
10:58We know he doesn't
10:58have any children.
11:00So where did the love story
11:02originate from?
11:04What seems to have happened
11:05is that a local family
11:07in Ayrshire,
11:08the Baileys of Lamington,
11:09commissioned another version
11:11to put themselves in,
11:12claiming that their
11:13ancestry was this Marion.
11:16So they've paid
11:17to be written
11:18into this history.
11:19The inclusion
11:21of the rich
11:22in books and paintings
11:23was typical of the day.
11:25If you can pay for it,
11:27you want to be in there.
11:29By rewriting
11:30Blind Harry's poem
11:31to include
11:32Marion Braidfoot
11:33as Wallace's wife
11:34and mother of his child,
11:36the Baileys created
11:37a false family tree.
11:39This endured for centuries
11:40until modern historians
11:42investigated further.
11:46There is nobody
11:46who can claim
11:47direct dissent
11:48from William Wallace,
11:49I'm afraid.
11:50So,
11:51just a few hundred years
11:52after his death,
11:54the legend of Wallace
11:55already had such power
11:56that a noble family
11:57would pay
11:58to be considered
11:59his descendants.
12:02According to Braveheart
12:04and Blind Harry,
12:05his rise to greatness
12:06began with his leadership
12:08of the rebels
12:09who killed
12:09the English sheriff
12:10in 1297.
12:12But this, too,
12:13might be a distorted version
12:15of the real story.
12:16According to the latest evidence,
12:18uncovered by Professor David Broon.
12:21What we've discovered
12:22is a manuscript
12:23in Norway
12:24which contains
12:25a chronicle
12:27that hasn't been
12:28seen before.
12:32Chronicles,
12:33typically written by monks,
12:35were medieval manuscripts
12:36that retold
12:37significant events
12:38of the day.
12:38It says,
12:42in the year
12:42of our Lord
12:431297,
12:44the Scots
12:45rose up,
12:46namely
12:46William Wallace
12:47and Richard of Lundy
12:48who had gathered together
12:49a band of men
12:50and they killed
12:52the sheriff of Lannock.
12:54What is very striking
12:56is that
12:57this incident,
12:58which is the first
13:00moment
13:01of William Wallace's
13:03recorded career
13:04as a rebel leader,
13:06he is not
13:07on his own.
13:10Yet Blind Harry
13:10makes no mention
13:11of the other commander,
13:13Richard of Lundy,
13:14despite his importance.
13:16You would expect
13:17Richard of Lundy
13:18to be the senior
13:20member of the party.
13:22William Wallace
13:22was not a knight.
13:23Richard of Lundy,
13:25on the other hand,
13:25was a knight
13:26and he was somebody
13:27who's socially
13:28more important,
13:29more regarded
13:30as the natural leader.
13:31The outlaw Wallace
13:35was almost certainly
13:36taking orders
13:37from the knight,
13:38Richard of Lundy,
13:39not the reverse.
13:42But Blind Harry
13:43wasn't too interested
13:44in historical fact.
13:46He was busy
13:47creating the legend
13:48of Wallace,
13:50a tale about
13:50a giant of a man,
13:52fearless in battle,
13:54to whom Scots
13:55flocked in their
13:55hour of need.
13:57It's an idea
13:59enshrined here,
14:00in the Wallace
14:01Monument at Stirling,
14:03built in the 1860s
14:05by Charles Rogers.
14:07It houses an exhibition
14:08commemorating Wallace
14:09and other Scottish heroes.
14:12At its heart
14:12is the Wallace sword,
14:14almost double the size
14:16of a typical medieval sword,
14:18perpetuating the myth
14:19of Wallace as a giant.
14:21But what can an examination
14:23by ancient weapons expert
14:25David Caldwell
14:26reveal about the sword's
14:27true history?
14:28It's very clear here
14:32that a bit has been
14:33added on to the top
14:34of the blade.
14:35You can see the line
14:36where the two parts
14:37have been welded together.
14:39And what is quite
14:40noticeable, I think,
14:43is how the bottom
14:44segment of the blade
14:45has a diamond-shaped
14:47cross-section,
14:49whereas when you get
14:50farther up,
14:51the blade is quite flat,
14:53as if these are
14:54two different blades
14:55originally.
14:56So the sword
14:58appears to be made
14:59from segments
14:59of three other weapons
15:01that have been
15:02welded together.
15:03The handle,
15:05the main section
15:06of the blade,
15:07and the tip.
15:08The challenge
15:09with the sword
15:10is that it is not
15:11something that dates
15:13to Wallace's time.
15:15Two-handed swords
15:16like this
15:17were essentially
15:18in use in Scotland
15:19only in the 16th century.
15:21The size and style
15:24of the handle
15:24show that the
15:25supposed Wallace sword
15:26can be dated
15:27to several hundred
15:28years after
15:29Wallace's death.
15:32In the years
15:33of his rebellion,
15:34a standard sword
15:35would be around
15:36a meter in length,
15:37although developments
15:39in armor
15:39were beginning
15:40to change that.
15:41By the second half
15:43of the 13th century,
15:44by about 1250 onwards,
15:46we start to read
15:47about great swords
15:48and war swords.
15:50And the reason for this
15:51is that armor
15:52was getting better.
15:54People had better
15:55armor defenses,
15:56and you needed
15:56something more powerful
15:57to swing against it.
15:59But you do not need
16:00to be a giant
16:01to swing it.
16:02I'm five foot six,
16:03and I can swing
16:04this great sword
16:05with tremendous ease
16:07with one hand.
16:08It's designed,
16:10of course,
16:10to be used
16:10with two hands,
16:11and as such,
16:13it has a terrifying
16:14scything power.
16:22So if Wallace
16:23had a giant sword,
16:24it reveals nothing
16:25about his size.
16:27All we know
16:27is that it certainly
16:28wasn't this sword.
16:31Its inclusion
16:32at the heart
16:33of the monument
16:33is another example
16:35of the power of myths.
16:38In 1869,
16:40Charles Rogers,
16:41the main man
16:42behind the project,
16:43was aware
16:44that he had
16:44a fantastic monument,
16:46but there was
16:47something lacking.
16:48There was a need
16:49to have some treasure,
16:50some great relic
16:52inside it,
16:53and Rogers
16:55turned to this sword.
16:57Although experts
16:58had previously
16:58dismissed it,
17:00Rogers persuaded himself
17:01that actually
17:02this was mistaken,
17:04that it really
17:05was Wallace's sword.
17:08The sword shows
17:10fantasy outshining reality.
17:13But one event
17:14that is told
17:14in both legend
17:15and contemporary documents
17:17is the Battle
17:18of Stirling Bridge,
17:19which made Wallace's name.
17:22Located where
17:23Scotland's highlands
17:24and lowlands meet,
17:26Stirling is a vital
17:27strategic point,
17:29the gateway
17:30to the north.
17:30As the English
17:33look to tighten
17:34their grip
17:34on the highlands,
17:36Braveheart
17:36paints Wallace's
17:38victory at Stirling
17:38in 1297
17:39as an example
17:41of his tactical brilliance.
17:42But just how
17:53historically accurate
17:54is it?
17:55Mel Gibson's
17:56blue-painted face
17:57is based on an idea
17:59that there was
18:00once a tribe
18:01called the Pits
18:01that lived in the
18:02north of Scotland
18:03and they did perhaps
18:04have a few blue tattoos,
18:06but they were more
18:07than a thousand years
18:08earlier
18:08and nothing to do
18:10with 13th century Scotland.
18:13Kilts are a much
18:14later invention.
18:15Scotsmen didn't wear
18:16kilts in the 13th century.
18:18In fact,
18:18there's no substantial
18:19difference between
18:21English and Scottish
18:23warriors.
18:24They're wearing
18:25padded coats,
18:27gambesons,
18:27a very effective defence,
18:29both against
18:29sword cuts
18:30and arrows.
18:32You've got men at arms
18:33who are wearing
18:34mail over their
18:36gambesons.
18:37You've got men
18:38who can't afford
18:39either of these
18:40expensive defences,
18:41who are wearing
18:42simple woolen tunics,
18:43but not kilts.
18:45So the real
18:46William Wallace
18:47wasn't dressed
18:48like Mel Gibson.
18:50But what about
18:51his leadership skills
18:52and strategy?
18:55There's no doubt
18:56he was leading
18:57a sizeable rebel army.
18:59No mean feat
18:59for a man
19:00who a year earlier
19:01was on the run
19:02for stealing beer.
19:04He certainly
19:04seems to have
19:06had a lot
19:07of experience before,
19:08seems to know
19:09what he's doing
19:09what he's doing
19:09is charismatic.
19:10He's clearly
19:11someone that people
19:11look to
19:12to provide leadership.
19:16But once more
19:17at Stirling,
19:18Wallace was not
19:19the highest-ranking man
19:20on the field.
19:23That honour fell
19:24to Andrew Murray,
19:25the son of one
19:26of Scotland's
19:27great aristocrats.
19:28He had already
19:32led a successful
19:32rebellion in the
19:33north of the country.
19:35Now he brought
19:36his army to join
19:37Wallace at Stirling.
19:43Through the summer
19:43of 1297,
19:45William Wallace
19:45and Andrew Murray
19:46raised two quite
19:47separate armies,
19:48and then they bring
19:49them together here
19:50at Stirling.
19:51And their intention
19:51is to prevent
19:52an English force
19:53from penetrating
19:54into the northern
19:55half of Scotland.
19:56and 1297,
19:59all that stood here
20:00was Stirling Castle
20:02and two armies.
20:05To the south,
20:06the English occupiers
20:07had around 10,000 men
20:09and expected
20:10little resistance.
20:12The 2,000 or 3,000
20:13Scottish rebels
20:14were hidden
20:15in trees to the north.
20:19To reach their enemy,
20:21the English army
20:22had to cross
20:22the river Forth
20:23on a narrow
20:24wooden bridge.
20:25the Scots
20:26laid in wait
20:27until a third
20:27of the army
20:28had crossed
20:28to the north
20:29side of the river.
20:33It's a far cry
20:34from Braveheart
20:35where the two armies
20:36line up face to face
20:38as they would
20:38in a classic
20:39medieval battle.
20:41And on the day,
20:42this is probably
20:43what the English
20:44would have anticipated.
20:45I think that the English
20:49expected the Scots
20:50to wait until
20:51they had all
20:51come over
20:52Stirling Bridge,
20:53line up
20:53and then beat
20:54the Scots.
20:55Clearly,
20:56as far as
20:56Wallace and Murray
20:57was concerned,
20:57that wasn't
20:57a very good plan
20:58and they played
20:59a very canny game
21:00which was to allow
21:02enough English
21:02over the bridge
21:04to make it worthwhile
21:05actually fighting them
21:06but not so many
21:06that the Scots
21:07were in danger
21:07of being defeated.
21:08They attacked,
21:11trapping the English
21:12troops by the river
21:13and taking control
21:14of the bridge.
21:16The Scots came down,
21:18surprised them.
21:18It's an ambush.
21:20The English clearly
21:20hadn't expected to fight.
21:22They weren't ready
21:23or prepared for it.
21:25The Scottish rebels
21:27used guerrilla tactics.
21:30It would be the Daggerman
21:32who really won the day
21:34and they came streaming
21:35down the hill,
21:36light and mobile.
21:38They're the ones
21:39who can get in
21:40amongst that English cavalry
21:41struggling and flailing
21:43in the mud
21:44with their horses.
21:45The Daggerman
21:45can get underneath,
21:46kill the horses,
21:47pull the knights
21:48from their saddles
21:49and dispatch them.
21:53Startling evidence
21:54for the brutality
21:55of a battle like this
21:56can be seen
21:57in a remarkable
21:57new archaeological find.
22:02Nine skeletons
22:03unearthed
22:04in Stirling Castle,
22:06five of whom
22:06suffered violent deaths
22:08during the Scottish
22:08Wars of Independence.
22:10Joe Buckbury
22:12is a forensic archaeologist
22:14investigating how
22:15these individuals died.
22:17This is a male adult.
22:19He's suffered
22:20a series of fractures.
22:22We know that these fractures
22:24were almost certainly
22:24from a violent encounter
22:26because of this injury
22:28on this rib.
22:29There's a very, very small cut mark
22:32to the top of the rib
22:33consistent with a small
22:35stab injury
22:36with a very small blade
22:37and this could even be
22:38a flow that's aimed
22:39towards the heart.
22:41Another skeleton
22:42shows equally horrific injuries.
22:45A set of fractures
22:46that today
22:47would be equivalent
22:48to a high-speed car crash.
22:50He's actually sustained
22:53getting over 100 fractures
22:56across his body.
22:57A significant proportion,
22:59about 30 of these
23:00were to the skull.
23:01You can see one in here.
23:03The force of that blow
23:04has caused
23:05these areas of bone
23:06to flake.
23:07This would have been
23:08exceptionally painful.
23:09One possibility
23:10is that he died
23:12during a battle situation.
23:14For example,
23:15if he ended up
23:16on the floor
23:17and was trampled
23:17by horses.
23:20But for the English
23:21fighting at Stirling Bridge,
23:23there was another,
23:24even more deadly threat
23:26that no one
23:27had anticipated.
23:31At the Battle
23:32of Stirling Bridge,
23:33a third of the English army
23:34had been ambushed
23:35and were trapped
23:36on the banks
23:37of the River Forth.
23:41The English foot soldiers
23:42were typically equipped
23:43with protective jackets,
23:45gambesons.
23:47But at Stirling,
23:49what was typically
23:50a lifesaver
23:51became a millstone
23:52for the English rank and file
23:53as they were forced
23:54into the river
23:55by the Scottish attack.
24:00Many of the English
24:01ended up in the river.
24:03So I want to see
24:04what something like this
24:05would weigh wet.
24:06It's got a six-pound dry weight.
24:09And if I plunge it
24:10into the river here,
24:12then we will see
24:13how much weight
24:15it absorbs.
24:16And to have a heavy coat
24:17like this,
24:18soaked,
24:19it's going to be
24:20very difficult,
24:21I think.
24:21But I can already feel that.
24:25Extraordinary heavy.
24:26It's gone off the scale.
24:28It's gone all the way round
24:30and off the scale.
24:32They would sink
24:33like stones.
24:36The day ended
24:37in disaster for the English
24:38and victory for the Scots.
24:42Braveheart portrays it
24:43as a great tactical display
24:45by William Wallace.
24:47But Chris Brown
24:48believes success
24:49was largely due
24:49to English indecision.
24:52It's the shilly-shallying
24:53of the English army.
24:54Wallace and Murray
24:55make a virtue of necessity
24:57and charge on in.
24:59But I really don't think
25:00it's a matter
25:01of tactical brilliance.
25:03I think it's a matter
25:03of an opportunity seized.
25:05The Scots had secured
25:08a lucky victory.
25:10For Wallace,
25:11who a year earlier
25:12was recorded
25:13stealing a keg of beer,
25:15it was a remarkable
25:15turn of fortune.
25:18But what about
25:19his co-commander,
25:21Andrew Murray?
25:22While the lowly Wallace
25:24was catapulted
25:25to Guardian of Scotland
25:26and came to be regarded
25:27as the country's
25:28greatest hero,
25:30celebrated in Braveheart
25:31and fettered with statues
25:33all over the country,
25:34the aristocratic
25:35Murray disappeared
25:37from history.
25:39What had happened?
25:42Andrew Murray
25:43is a great,
25:44largely unsung hero
25:45of this period.
25:46He was the eldest son
25:47of a quite important
25:48nobleman
25:49in the north of Scotland
25:50and he'd escaped
25:51from English prison
25:52to go back
25:52and raise rebellion
25:53in his home territory.
25:55With his family background,
25:57Murray is considered
25:58by many to be
25:59the more experienced
26:00commander of the two.
26:02He'd seen military action
26:03in a traditional sense
26:05but then realised
26:06that that's not going
26:07to work in a Scottish context,
26:08that Scots don't have
26:09their resources
26:10against a great English army.
26:12Adapts, to an extent,
26:13guerrilla tactics
26:14in the north
26:15and that seems
26:17to stand him
26:17in good stead
26:17for Stirling Bridge
26:18where they do not
26:19go by the rule book.
26:22With his background
26:23and military prowess,
26:25it would seem
26:26that Murray,
26:26not Wallace,
26:28might have become
26:29Scotland's iconic
26:30warrior hero.
26:32But Murray
26:33was mortally wounded
26:34at Stirling
26:35and died
26:36a few weeks later.
26:38William Wallace,
26:39now in charge
26:40of the whole army,
26:42quickly asserted
26:43his authority
26:44as a remarkable find
26:46in the German town
26:47of Lubeck illustrates.
26:48This letter
26:51was written
26:52on behalf of
26:52William Wallace
26:53as the leader
26:55of the army of Scotland
26:56to the great trading
26:57cities of Lubeck
26:58and Hamburg
26:59saying basically
27:00that as a result
27:01of the battle
27:01of Stirling Bridge,
27:02Scotland is open again
27:03for trading.
27:05It is a staggeringly
27:07important document.
27:10This is Wallace
27:11as Scotland.
27:14His clerks are writing
27:15on behalf of
27:16the entire community
27:17of the realm
27:17and that just shows
27:18that at that point
27:19a month after
27:20Stirling Bridge,
27:21there is nobody else
27:22who can represent
27:24Scotland.
27:25Wallace is absolutely
27:26de facto leader
27:27of Scotland.
27:31Wallace,
27:32who had had
27:33a shady past
27:34but was the son
27:35of a minor noble,
27:36was knighted
27:37by the nobility
27:38and proclaimed
27:39guardian of Scotland.
27:41Second in power
27:42to the Scots king,
27:44he was now
27:44commander
27:45of the nation's army.
27:48I don't think we can
27:50actually underplay
27:52the enormous leap
27:53that Wallace made
27:54in becoming guardian.
27:56We can presume
27:57that Murray would have
27:57been the obvious
27:58candidate to be guardian
28:00but he dies
28:01and you can imagine
28:02the Scottish churchmen
28:04and the nobility
28:05in a real quandary.
28:06I mean,
28:07he's a guy
28:07we should never,
28:08ever have heard of.
28:10He's the younger son
28:11of a lesser landowner
28:12acting as the king's lieutenant,
28:15doing all the things
28:17a king would do.
28:18A king in all but name.
28:22Having been made guardian,
28:24Wallace's next move
28:25for independence
28:25in the film Braveheart
28:27is to attack York,
28:29the most important city
28:30in the north
28:31of medieval England.
28:36In fact,
28:38York was many kilometers south
28:39and too well defended
28:41for his Scottish raiders.
28:42Wallace would never
28:43have attempted
28:44such an attack.
28:45But what he did do
28:46in the winter of 1297
28:48was pillage the north
28:50of England
28:50just over the Scottish border.
28:54This was war
28:55on a scale
28:56that the English
28:56had never seen
28:57on their own territory.
28:59This is what I think
29:01made Wallace
29:01quite so hated
29:03as far as the English
29:04were concerned.
29:06You know,
29:06this was the devil.
29:09While in the north
29:10of England,
29:11Braveheart also shows
29:13Isabella of France,
29:14King Edward's daughter
29:15father-in-law
29:15and the princess of Wales
29:17helping Wallace
29:18evade capture
29:19before the two of them
29:21embark on a secret affair.
29:23But this too
29:24never happened.
29:27It was impossible
29:28for Wallace
29:29to have had an affair
29:29with the princess of Wales,
29:31Isabella of France,
29:32because she was a girl
29:33at the time
29:34and she was still in France.
29:36But fact and fiction
29:38do agree
29:38in one crucial area.
29:40Wallace would soon
29:42face the fight
29:42of his life.
29:44At Stirling Bridge,
29:45Wallace had beaten
29:46Edward's lieutenants
29:47and driven his northern army
29:48from Scotland.
29:50Now,
29:51Edward was determined
29:52to solve the Scottish problem
29:54once and for all.
29:56I think one of the reasons
29:58why Edward I
29:59was determined
29:59to deal with the problem
30:01of Scotland
30:01was that
30:03the Wallace rising
30:04was seen by them
30:06as a popular rising.
30:07and there's really
30:09a kind of class thing
30:10involved here.
30:11This isn't a normal war
30:12between noble factions
30:14in different countries.
30:15It was putting down
30:17popular rebellion.
30:19In the summer of 1298,
30:21Edward personally led
30:22a vast army northwards,
30:2530,000 infantry
30:26and around 2,000
30:28mounted knights
30:29and men-at-arms.
30:31Wallace, though,
30:31had less than 15,000 men
30:33and just a few hundred
30:35mounted men-at-arms,
30:36led by the Scottish nobles.
30:40On the 22nd of July, 1298,
30:43the English army
30:44forced the Scots
30:45into battle
30:46on these hillsides
30:47of Falkirk.
30:50The Scottish army
30:51is arrayed
30:52on this slope here
30:53in four gigantic
30:54circular formations
30:55called Sheltrums.
30:57A Sheltrum
30:58is a defensive wall
30:59of men
31:00armed with pikes.
31:02Each one at Falkirk
31:03contains several thousand men.
31:05Facing them
31:06across the valley
31:07with the English horseman
31:08and Edward's
31:09deadliest weapon,
31:10his archers.
31:1212,000 men,
31:14each armed
31:14with a lethal longbow.
31:23Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:32Move!
31:33Move!
31:33Move!
31:33Move!
31:34Move!
31:35Move!
31:36Move!
31:37Move!
31:38Move!
31:39Move!
31:40Move!
31:41Move!
31:42Move!
31:43Move!
31:44Move!
31:45Move!
31:46Move!
31:47Move!
31:48Move!
31:49Move!
31:50Move!
31:51Move!
31:52Move!
31:53Move!
31:54Move!
31:55Move!
31:56Move!
31:57Move!
31:58Move!
31:59Move!
32:00Move!
32:01Move!
32:02Move!
32:03And we can see on this, it's over 100 pounds now.
32:06It's coming up, it's 140 pounds!
32:09The killing potential of such weapons is absolutely terrifying.
32:16To see just how deadly these bows are,
32:19Mike Lodes has recruited the English War Bow Society.
32:33That is the horror of war.
32:37This is actually bone, not just flesh, it's cut through bone.
32:42These war bows will kill any man.
32:46You do not stand a chance unless you are properly defended with good quality armour.
32:53In a unique experiment, these bows will be pitted against the most common defence of the day.
32:59We're going to put on this gambeson material.
33:01You can see how it's multi-layers of linen.
33:05So it's relatively light, but it gives tremendous protective potential against sword cuts.
33:12And we'll find out in a minute how good it is against arrow strikes.
33:16This is the first time on television that an authentically made piece of gambeson has been tested in this way.
33:31That arrow has not pricked the flesh, just a few thicknesses of linen.
33:42And the stopping power is extraordinary.
33:45It doesn't mean to say he won't have received the most almighty thump.
33:48Really bruising, bone-crushing thump.
33:53But it hasn't gone through.
33:56Any Scottish infantry who had padded jackets stood a fighting chance if they could keep the English archers at a distance.
34:02To do that, the Scottish nobles had to present an effective cavalry force.
34:09But seeing themselves outnumbered ten to one by the English men-at-arms, the Scottish horsemen fled the battle.
34:16That's often presented, particularly by romantic Scottish historians, as a betrayal of William Wallace.
34:25But I think it's probably more to do with common sense.
34:28That at most, perhaps two or three hundred Scottish men-at-arms are pretty confident that they're not going to do anything useful against two thousand English men-at-arms.
34:37So off they go. They head for the hills.
34:40With the Scottish cavalry gone, the English archers could move forward and fire from close range with devastating effect.
34:53As the Scottish infantry crumpled under the onslaught, the English men-at-arms burst through the shell trines.
35:00We've got some evidence that only two English cavalrymen died in the course of the battle.
35:12Up to two thousand English infantry may have died, but the Scots were simply wiped out.
35:19Wallace fled the field before the slaughter.
35:23Just a year after his meteoric rise to power, the defeat was a crushing blow.
35:29Wallace must have been destroyed internally.
35:33He knows that he has no great political standing except as a military leader, and if he can't carry off a victory here, his political career is finished.
35:43As far as the Scottish nobility concerned, I think they must have viewed Wallace with some suspicion.
35:49This is an outsider as far as they were concerned.
35:51The minute he's disgraced and sensed by losing the Battle of Falkirk, they get rid of him very quickly as a guardian.
35:59With Wallace out in the cold, the Scottish aristocracy signed the peace deal with Edward.
36:05In Braveheart, he is betrayed to the English, publicly tortured and executed.
36:12But the real William Wallace actually reinvented himself once more, in a desperate bid to take his cause to a higher power.
36:20William Wallace, the son of a minor noble, had defeated the English at Stirling Bridge, being knighted and made guardian of Scotland.
36:34But after the defeat at Falkirk, he lost his position as head of the nation and the army.
36:39In Braveheart, he's captured by the English soon afterwards.
36:44But the real Wallace took an entirely different path.
36:49What he does next is very interesting because he leads a major embassy, a major Scottish embassy, to France.
36:56Evidence for the high profile nature of that mission is buried deep in the National Archives.
37:01What we've got here is a letter from King Philip IV of France to his agents in Rome, recommending our dear William Wallace of Scotland, knight, might go to Rome himself and discuss the Scottish situation with the Pope.
37:21Wallace's mission was to gain French support for an independent Scotland, but it was doomed.
37:28In 1302, King Edward struck a deal with France.
37:33His military campaign against the Scots continued until 1304, when he finally hammered them into submission.
37:41All except Wallace, who kept on fighting.
37:46It was a move that inspired his transition into Hollywood legend, the man who would never bow down.
37:51I think that really is the answer to why William Wallace speaks to people today.
37:58The sense of what integrity truly is.
38:02We all are afraid to be apart from the crowd.
38:06And William Wallace was willing to go with his heart, to be true to that.
38:11But the real Wallace was a more complex man than the character portrayed in Braveheart.
38:18It would be easy to assume, because Wallace continues the fight, that Wallace is single-minded about Scottish independence and he will not waver from that.
38:26But actually, that's not exactly borne out by the evidence.
38:30Wallace wanted to come into Edward's peace.
38:34But Edward insists that Wallace alone must submit completely to his will.
38:40In other words, there's no guarantees that he will not be executed.
38:43And Wallace cannot accept that, understandably.
38:45So he continues the fight because he feels he had no choice.
38:50In 1305, Wallace, who seven years earlier had been guardian of the nation, was betrayed and captured by the Scottish nobility.
39:00He was accused of treason by King Edward.
39:03If found guilty, he would face a gruesome death.
39:06On August 23rd, 1305, as the movie depicts, he was tried before a panel of English judges in London, here at Westminster Hall.
39:25It must have been incredibly intimidating for Wallace.
39:29Because he was on trial for treason, he knew that this was him on the road to his execution.
39:36But coming here and the trial was at least an opportunity for him to object to the basic underlying premise of why he was there,
39:45which was to deny that Edward I had any right over the Kingdom of Scotland.
39:50But Edward saw things very differently.
39:55Edward fundamentally believed that he was the superior authority over Scotland.
40:02He sort of thinks about Wallace and, who is this man?
40:06How dare he defeat my armies in the field and pretend to assume the rights of King of Scots that I've abolished?
40:13It is a class thing.
40:15He's used to dealing with men he knows.
40:17Men from the right class who have a personal loyalty to a king, not an abstract concept of loyalty to a nation, to a country.
40:25Wallace was found guilty.
40:28The same day he was drawn through the streets of London to the gallows of Smithfields.
40:32Here he was hanged, then cut into quarters.
40:36A method of execution as sadistic as anything the darkest imaginations in Hollywood could conjure up.
40:42This is the spot on which William Wallace was executed.
40:49If you had committed the crime of treason by the later 13th century, you would expect to get something similar to Braveheart, if not worse.
40:57His grisly death is one aspect of Wallace's life, the move he did get right.
41:04He was hanged for his early crime of robbery, then cut down and disemboweled.
41:10His internal organs were burned as punishment for ransacking the abbeys of Northern England.
41:15For treason, Wallace's head was severed from his body and planted on a pole on London Bridge.
41:25And as a ghastly warning to other would-be rebels, his body was cut into four sections.
41:32These were displayed in Perth, Newcastle, Berwick and Stirling.
41:38It is a tragedy for Wallace, you know, to have ended up on this spot, the first martyr to the Scottish cause.
41:48And it's because of that, of course, that we still know his name today, because having come here and died that dreadful death,
41:57so many other people have taken him and created this great mythological figure which ultimately found expression in Braveheart.
42:03But this legend wasn't created by accident.
42:10The first recorded celebration of Wallace's life was written for a very specific purpose.
42:16To continue the conflict between England and Scotland, more than a century after Wallace's death.
42:22Blind Harry's Wallace is a piece of propaganda written on behalf of Scottish nobles who were desperately trying to stop the Scottish King James III from making peace with England,
42:35because they had a lot of vested interest in cross-border warfare.
42:38Wallace is the man they pick because he symbolizes total resistance to the English.
42:43I think the question we're really getting at is why do we choose to tell a story at one point and say, here is a hero who stood up and fought.
42:55And at another time we say, here is a hero who refused to fight.
43:01And we do that because of our time.
43:03Every culture and every generation create their own heroes, universal figures tailored to meet a particular need.
43:14We are creating our own identity with the stories that we tell each other.
43:20We look for a hero and when we find that hero, there's something in us that says, yes, and I want to be like him.
43:28That's the power of myth.
43:33Even since Braveheart, we've actually found out quite a lot more about Wallace.
43:36And at the end of the day, even though we haven't got this mythological figure, we do have an extraordinary man.
43:43Because otherwise we would never have heard of him.
43:46I have a real sense of him as a man, a human man, a very human man.
43:51And I believe because of the letters he had on him, wanted to flee and start his life again.
43:57He didn't want to die at Smithfield.
44:00That humanity touches me more than a man who, you know, could beat 20 Englishmen with one kind of dash of his sword.
44:09Wallace, the hero, has been recreated through the ages.
44:14But Wallace, the man, was a product of his time.
44:18Brutal, opportunistic, and ultimately a victim of political forces more powerful than he could ever be.
44:25Moreе than he could ever be.
44:28Municipal in donated by material.
44:30Richard
44:40egaard
44:42raining
44:46pakai
44:48grants