A secret hideout has been found in Scotland, where the hero of Gibson from "Braveheart" hid 700 years ago

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The legendary Scottish hero William Wallace is familiar to us mainly from Mel Gibson's film "Braveheart". Despite the historical inaccuracies and a lot of fiction, the movie came out excellent. But now is not about that. Scientists recently used a drone to find Wallace's secret fort, which until recently was considered a myth. This has helped historians fill a significant gap in the story of Scotland's most famous freedom fighter. What became known from the latest find and what is a myth in Wallace's biography, and what is reality - further in the review.

The stronghold of freedom fighter William Wallace is now overgrown and barely visible. This legendary fort served as the place from where William and his associates planned their forays against the British. Wallace's House was discovered in South Scotland. The find is certainly of great historical value.

As it should be for a place with similar purposes, it is perfectly hidden and protected. Historians say that William Wallace occupied this house at the end of the 13th century, along with a small group of his comrades in arms, about 16 people. Scientists describe this place as follows: “The house faces south, occupying the top of the corner that connects the two sides of a steep gorge. On the third, it is protected by a deep moat."

The film introduced us to this refuge in absentia, but the very land of this historic place carries true echoes of William's extraordinary life. Researchers have been searching for this fort for a long time. There was no longer even hope, maybe this is just part of the legend? And then, quite by accident, in the forest thicket, the drone discovered a strange site. A careful study of historians made it possible to determine its artificial origin.

Scientists conducted a thorough analysis of historical documents, compared it with a map of Wallace's raids and came to the conclusion that this is William's secret hideout. Once the fort became too small for the rebels, and they left it. Wallace House could now become a popular tourist attraction.

What was the famous hero, William Wallace, who accomplished many feats, became a national hero and forever wrote his name in history?

What made Wallace what he became

There is little information about William Wallace, especially about his early years. There lived a hero of Scotland in the 13th century. He was born, presumably, either in Ellerslie or Eldersley (they still cannot agree). Despite the fact that, unlike the Hollywood version, he was not a commoner, we can say that he made a dizzying career. William went from being the son of a landed nobleman to the uncrowned king of Scotland. Defender of Scotland is his official title.

Perhaps William Wallace would have led a quiet, calm provincial life, but his strong character and thirst for freedom did not allow him to do so. Of course, the personalities of the heroes are always shrouded in a train of legends and myths. Hollywood gave us a lot of them. In particular, William Wallace never wore, for example, a kilt. It was worn by the Highlanders in Scotland, and Wallace was a plainer. He dressed like an ordinary Englishman of noble origin at the time.

Scotland of those times was like a dry bundle of straw, only a small spark was missing to ignite the fire of war. Some sources claim that such a spark was the murder of William's wife, Marion Braidfewith (the film does not lie here, perhaps). The English sheriff executed her without trial for not revealing to them the whereabouts of her husband. He pestered the British with short partisan sorties. The hideout was perfectly disguised. It was possible to find it only seven centuries later, although not only the British then, but also modern historians were looking for it.

According to some researchers, Wallace could have been a royal archer, and there he received his first combat experience. Confirmation is the archer badge that William wore. Be that as it may, after the murder of his wife, Wallace gathered a detachment, attacked the sheriff's castle and killed him. After that, his ascent as a national hero of Scotland began, and the uprising swept the whole country.

The watershed battle at Stirling Bridge

This fateful battle took place on September 11, 1297 on the bridge over the Forth River, near the city of Sterling. In an unequal, at first glance, battle came together ten thousand British, a third of whom were heavy cavalry and half the size of the Scots, whose ranks consisted of infantry and light cavalry.

Here, in a Levitanian voice, it should be said that despite the superior forces of the enemy … In general, the British suffered a crushing defeat. William Wallace did not take advantage of quantity, but subtle art of warfare and cunning. The fact is that a not very wide wooden bridge led across the river. It accommodated three footmen or two horsemen in a row. William allowed part of the British to cross the bridge, and then rushed to the attack. The English infantrymen, taken aback, rushed straight to the horse ranks. The crush began, the bridge could not stand it and collapsed, and with it a huge number of English soldiers. The final defeat was inflicted by the Scottish cavalry. Hugh Cressingham, the English governor, was killed.

After this landmark battle, William Wallace received the honorary title of Defender of Scotland.

Battle of Falkirk

Unfortunately, after this victory I did not have to rejoice for long. The English king was tired of enduring these riots and decided to put an end to them personally, once and for all. Edward Longlegs led the invasion of Scotland.

The fighting forces of the Scots tried not to engage in open combat. Wallace's strategy was to avoid confrontation and gradual withdrawal. By destroying the countryside and using scorched earth tactics, William forced Edward to go deeper and deeper into Scotland. As a result, discontent grew in the British army itself, riots broke out.

But the time has come when Wallace's luck has receded. The king was informed that the main forces of the Scots were at Falkirk. The British immediately went there. The Battle of Falkirk took place on July 22, 1298.

In the beginning, everything went well. Wallace arranged his army in such a way that he balanced the forces. He placed the infantry in a circle, armed with sharpened stakes and spears. He put archers between them. Legend has it that Wallace told his fighters then: "I put you in a circle - dance as you can!" And they danced. The British were given the heat. When victory seemed to be near, the Scottish nobility leave the battlefield together with all their might. Edward took advantage of this confusion, lured the Scots out of their shiltrons and defeated them.

Death of a man and birth of a legend

After that, William fled to France and tried to find support there. He did not succeed, in the relations between England and France then there was a period of persistent warming. Wallace returned to Scotland and continued the guerrilla war against the British. This did not last long and without much success. In 1305, William was betrayed by Baron John Mentit. He gave it to the British.

A formal trial took place, where King Edward himself was the prosecutor. Naturally, William was sentenced "guilty."The execution that Wallace was betrayed is truly terrible. It simply defies any description, it was so cruel fanaticism. This was done in such a way as to intimidate the proud Scottish Highlanders. However, the effect was achieved quite the opposite. The war shook Scotland for a long time.

This is the story of the legendary hero William Wallace. A man who became a symbol of the struggle for the independence of Scotland. Wallace's descendants noted the personality of Wallace by erecting many monuments to him and even a 67-meter monument. Mel Gibson himself made a film about him, in which he himself played his role. The cult British band Iron Maiden wrote the song The Clansman about him. So the whole world learned about the hero of Scotland. The memory of him and his exploits is alive.

Read more about the huge monument at the site of the Battle of Sterling in our article what the Scottish Wallace monument is famous for.