William Wallace: A Captivating Guide to a Freedom Fighter and Martyr Who Impacted Scottish History and Scotland’s Independence from England by History Captivating

Author:History, Captivating
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8 – Invading England

The Battle of Stirling Bridge may have been a momentous event, but it was not enough to single-handedly force Edward to retire his designs on Scotland. Wallace’s unexpected victory also created further divisions between his guerilla forces and the Scottish nobility. It was no secret that the Scottish magnates had been motivated more by their own interests rather than an inspiring sense of patriotism, and Wallace’s newfound influence threatened to further weaken their positions in the eyes of the Scottish commoners.

There was nevertheless a brief window when Wallace commanded the support of Scots across all class lines. He wasted no time in attacking the remaining pockets of English resistance after his victory of Stirling. The English forces at Dundee had already learned of their counterparts’ crushing defeat at Stirling and surrendered soon after Wallace and his men arrived. He then set his sights on reclaiming the rest of Scotland’s rigorously fortified castles: Cupar Castle, Edinburg Castle, Dunbar Castle, Berwick Castle, and Roxburgh Castle. Wallace’s forces were unable to force the defenders of the latter four castles to surrender, but they were able to force the English army out of their respective towns.

By October, Wallace had been successful in driving a large majority of the English army out of Scotland. A few castles and strongholds remained under English control, but they now exerted negligible power over the Scottish populace. This astounding achievement – which Wallace pulled off without much help from the Scottish nobility – established his reputation as a powerful general and a rising political force. In truth, Wallace’s victory was shared with Andrew de Moray. Both young men were the sons of knights, but the latter was in possession of substantial lands, a status indicator that mattered significantly during the thirteenth century. With Andrew on his deathbed, however, Wallace was the sole claimant of the spoils.

As the de facto leader of Scotland, Wallace quickly communicated with Scotland’s trading partners to let them know that “the kingdom of Scotland is recovered by war from the power of the English” and was ready to resume business. Wallace might have won over the common people at this point, but he still faced the difficult task of establishing an alliance with the great Scottish magnates. Some were converts to his cause, others were ambivalent, and a few were determined to support Edward. Wallace mobilized his forces to attack Earl Patrick, a staunch Edward supporter who had refused to swear his loyalty to Scotland and insulted Wallace when summoned to do so.

Once Earl Patrick had been defeated, Wallace and his forces were free to turn the tables on Berwick, which had become an English settlement after its harrowing defeat the previous year. Wallace repaid the bloody favor by allowing his army to turn the town into a scene of carnage once again. After Berwick, the Scottish forces advanced into Northumberland and Cumbria. Many Northumbrians had fled to Newcastle, which offered the protection of its fortified walls, after witnessing the once-proud and indestructible English army fleeing southward in an alarmingly disorganized manner.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.