The killing of the Red Comyn forced Bruce’s hand. By 1304, the country was under submission and all of the leading Scots surrendered to Edward in February of that year, except for William Wallace, who was in hiding. Edward II refused to give up his claim to the overlordship of Scotland. Thanks. It failed six times, but at the seventh attempt, succeeded. A team of researchers, headed by Professor Andrew Nelson from the University of Western Ontario have determined that Robert the Bruce did not have leprosy during his lifetime. What led to the William Wallace Death In 1305, Wallace had sent one of his men on a mission to get a letter to Robert the Bruce. Answer (1 of 1): In 1305 William Wallace was in hiding for more than a month near Glasgow where he was hoping to meet with Robert The Bruce. He fights for something that I never had. His leprous father cannot rule, so he is grooming his son Robert the Bruce to rule in his proxy. Not an axe-ident. … Those men who bled the ground red at Falkirk fought for William Wallace. An argument ensued, swords were drawn, and the Red Comyn was mortally wounded before the high altar. Wallace is further betrayed when he discovers Robert the Bruce was fighting alongside Longshanks; after the battle, seeing the damage he helped do to his countrymen, Robert reprimands his father and vows never to be on the wrong side again. It was there that his lifelong friend and commander the Black Douglas also met his fate and died in an attack, protecting his friend’s heart. In March 1307 Robert and his men ambushed a larger English force hunting for him and defeated them. You. Whatever that truth may be, Robert the Bruce was to change the course of Scottish history. The term “brave heart” has actually been attributed to Robert the Bruce and not William Wallace, as the heart of the King of Scots was brought to a Crusade in Spain. It remains unclear just what caused the death of Robert, a month before his fifty-fifth birthday. No one knows for sure but probably not. Wallace killed the English Sheriff of Lanark who had apparently murdered Wallace’s sweetheart. They would have known of each other. The Anglo-Scottish Wars were a series of battles between England and Scotland between 1296 and 1346, also called the Wars of Scottish Independence. Discover William Wallace and Robert the Bruce Statues in Edinburgh, Scotland: Overlooked by many, the two famous Scottish warriors guard the main gate of Edinburgh Castle. While it is not known who betrayed Wallace it is accepted that Bruce knew of Wallace's whereabouts and may have inadvertently disclosed the location. Men fight for me because if they do not, I throw them off my land and I starve their wives and children. Discover William Wallace and Robert the Bruce Statues in Edinburgh, Scotland: Overlooked by many, the two famous Scottish warriors guard the main gate of Edinburgh Castle. Compare Search ( Please select at least 2 keywords ) Most Searched Keywords. Robert the Bruce was defeated in his first two battles against the English, and became a fugitive, hunted by both Comyn’s friends and the English. Burghead: Fire, Water, Wind and a whole load of Bull! Although Robert the Bruce had officially surrendered, he was biding his time and waiting for the death of the elderly Edward before launching a new rebellion. Robert Bruce’s mother was a formidable character. Forced to leave the battlefield, Edward headed to Stirling Castle where Mowbray informed him that although, by the terms of his agreement with the Scots, the castle had been relieved by the arrival of an English army within three miles, in practice the siege would be imposed again immediately and was bound to fall. I’ll be honest, it isn’t a legend that I’ve heard of but then Bruce did travel the length and breadth of Scotland. Background. The Burning Times: The Scottish Witch Trials, Hi Nigel, We look forward to reading your book. So, Robert the Bruce joined the Scottish rebellions and supported William Wallace’s uprising against the English. The notion that Edward chose Balliol because he would be more malleable is simply untrue. Yet, he still felt that he should be king. The term “brave heart” has actually been attributed to Robert the Bruce and not William Wallace, as the heart of the King of Scots was brought to a Crusade in Spain. Earn Transferable Credit & Get your Degree. Very few bishops or nobles had been at his inauguration, and there is evidence to suggest that he intimidated many his fellow countrymen into supporting him. A dead Robert the Bruce, not a live William Wallace, although to be fair to the filmmakers I don’t think they ever actually say who Braveheart is within the film. While it is not known who betrayed Wallace it is accepted that Bruce knew of Wallace's whereabouts and may have inadvertently disclosed the location. Robert the Bruce did change sides between the Scots and the English in the earlier stages of the Wars of Scottish Independence, but he never betrayed William Wallace directly. However, Edward had to react. Robert the Bruce’s father did not have leprosy. While in Glasgow in 1305 he was betrayed and taken to London where he was tried for treason in Westminster Hall. And, after being captured and agreeing to fight for Edward on the continent, Comyn deserted and went home to Scotland. Buchan’s forces ran away rather than fight leaving Buchan defenceless. what team did william wallace support, and who did that traitor robert the bruce follow, when is burns night? Robert the Bruce did not have leprosy, Western University research show. Robert came from a noble family that had a claim to the throne of Scotland. His head was ‘spiked’ on London Bridge and fragments of his body distributed among several Scottish cities as a grim reminder of the price of revolt. It was returned to Scotland and buried in Melrose Abbey. Over the next few years, castle after castle fell to Bruce and his supporters: Meanwhile, the Scots were making raids into Northern England in search of plunder and cattle. However, they soon quarrelled as Comyn supported Balliol’s claim to the throne, and Bruce had his own agenda. Tales are told of the dispossessed king, hiding in the mountains and in caves, suffering hardship for the good of the nation. In this clip from Braveheart (1995) Robert the Bruce has just betrayed William Wallace, falling prey to the pressure from his father. There are accounts of Bruce hiding on Rathlin Island, off Ireland, and in the Hebridean Islands. Sir William Wallace 1272 – 1305. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. How did Menteith betray Wallace. It is difficult to believe that he did not grow up speaking the languages of the areas in which he was raised; Gaelic-speaking Ayrshire and Scots-speaking Annandale. Robert Bruce, Sr.: Longshanks required Wallace. A dead Robert the Bruce, not a live William Wallace, although to be fair to the filmmakers I don’t think they ever actually say who Braveheart is within the film. Ultimately it would be his descendants through his daughter Marjorie Bruce who would rule Scotland for the next few hundred years, ascend to the English throne and become kings and queens of Great Britain. Robert the Bruce: [after William is betrayed] Father! They were quite wrong. Then, once again, he submitted to the English king, hoping for recognition of his claim to the throne. Robert’s brother had laid siege to the castle at Lent and agreed on a pact with the commander of the garrison, Sir Philip Mowbray. And that is where the name “Braveheart” originated. As luck would have it,  Edward II was a pale shadow of Edward’s mighty and ruthless father. Scotland’s independence and Bruce’s monarchy still had not been recognised by either the English or the Pope, and this was essential if his rule was to have any credence. Although they were alive at the same time, and William Wallace was Guardian of Scotland immediately before Robert the Bruce, there is no evidence that the two ever met. 11. Four years later, Robert received papal recognition as king of an independent Scotland. From a personal perspective, the Bruce family was in a difficult position. Why? Alas, power comes at a cost. Contrary to the modern-day hype surrounding Robert Bruce, his motivation for obtaining the Scottish crown was not entirely an enterprise born of patriotism, and, although it seems likely that his attitude changed over the years, Bruce’s motives do appear to be slightly more self-serving than that. Today on August 23, 1305, legendary Scottish hero, William Wallace, was savagely executed in the heart of London. A deal was struck with the English Constable of the castle that if an English army had not arrived to relieve the castle by Mid-Summer’s Day 1314, the castle would surrender, so making an aggressive siege unnecessary. 13. At no point did Robert the Bruce betray him, although he always had an eye on the possibility of becoming king in the absence of John Balliol. By 1308 Robert controlled all of northern Scotland with the exception of the castles at Stirling, Dundee and Perth. Maybe it was ambition or a genuine desire to see Scotland independent. The Bruce family was not of native Scots origin, but had its roots in Normandy, a Robert de Brus had come over to England with the army of William the Conqueror. The Franco-Scottish alliance was renewed in the Treaty of Corbeil, by which the Scots were obliged to make war on England should hostilities break out between England and France, thus forcing the English to fight on two fronts. Later that year, the English captured Stirling Castle, the last stronghold of the Scottish rebels, thus forcing the Scots to capitulate. We love when our readers leave a comment. His family had to pay the price of his ambition. 5621230. And that is where the name “Braveheart” originated. When they saw a herd of goats asleep outside the cave they assumed that there was no one in the cave thus the sleeping goats saved his life – and the descendants of these goats still roam the hills on the east side of Loch Lomond – any basis for this legend? Edward’s initial thrusts toward Stirling were thrown back with some loss and the two leading elements rejoined the rest of the English army on the plain. At the time of Wallace's death in 1305 Scotland had no King. Anticipating this Bruce outflanked the ambush, defeating  MacDougall and capturing  Dunstaffnage Castle. John Menteith is the man accredited with betraying William Wallace. 2. It was a time when the Crusades were coming to an end and when jealousy would turn the King of France against the military order of monks: The Knights Templar. Wallace was captured by the English army near Glasgow after the Scots were defeated in 1303. The decisive English victory shattered Wallace’s coalition and destroyed his reputation as a … As well as Annandale, the Bruces owned estates in Aberdeenshire, County Antrim, County Durham, Essex, Middlesex and Yorkshire. Bruce escaped and fled to the west. Wallace was betrayed by Sir John Menteith of Dumbarton; Robert the Bruce was not present. Robert the Bruce did not ‘rescue’ Wallace after Falkirk. It was time when serfs were bound to their masters before the Great Plague swept across Europe, destabilising the feudal system. 11. We don't know much about Wallace's early life but in 1297, he is reported to have killed William de Heselrig, the English High Sheriff of Lanark. Inverlochy, Urquhart, Inverness, Nairn and Elgin Castles, all fell through treachery rather than siege. It was a time when the Popes were the great power-brokers of Europe and the influence of the Church was more far reaching than the crown. Weak and ineffectual, Edward II effectively gave Robert three years’ breathing space, during which Robert waged a ceaseless and brilliant guerilla war across Scotland, attacking English supporters, and his own enemies, in particular the Comyns. Bruce chose his ground carefully at Bannockburn, in the battle that ensued. His family had to pay the price of his ambition. Although they owned some valuable land in England, they were merely barons amongst hundreds of others with no real political clout. 14. Robert the Bruce: Die! Robert the Bruce, as every school-child knows, was inspired by a spider! And I took it from him, when I betrayed … By the end of 1309, Bruce controlled all of Scotland north of the River Tay; he had held his first Parliament and has been formally been accepted as king by the clergy of Scotland. A famed Scottish warrior king has had his legacy restored, thanks to research at Western University. Having agreed on a truce with John MacDougall of Lorn in his power base of Dunstaffnage Castle, Robert went on a spree of capturing castles and then razing them to the ground so they would not fall into the hands of the English. One of those people was a man called William Wallace. Robert the Bruce did change sides between the Scots and the English in the earlier stages of the Wars of Scottish Independence, but he never betrayed William Wallace directly. This was perhaps Bruce’s greatest hour and what has earned him a special place in the hearts of the Scottish people in the generations which followed: fighting for his nation’s independence against a hugely superior English force and winning, just as Wallace had done at Stirling Bridge seventeen years earlier. The Trial of William Wallace at Westminster Hall by Daniel Maclise. She was a woman who knew and got what she wanted and apparently held Bruce’s father captive within the walls of Turnberry Castle after he returned from the Crusades, refusing to release him until he agreed to marry her. The famous lines from this document are often quoted: “It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”. Robert the Bruce did not have leprosy, Western University research show. Solved: Did Robert the Bruce and William Wallace fight together? Robert the Bruce : I have nothing. We don't know much about Wallace's early life but in 1297, he is reported to have killed William de Heselrig, the English High Sheriff of Lanark. Contemporary accusations that Robert suffered from leprosy, the “unclean sickness” are derived from English and Hainault chroniclers. Then in 1320, the Scottish earls, barons and the ‘community of the realm’ sent a letter to Pope John XXII stating that Robert was their rightful monarch. He had never had the time, nor latterly the health, to fulfil this wish. But William Wallace was a supporter of John Balliol, the rival claimant of the Scottish throne to Robert the Bruce. Edward and his lieutenants had extensive military experience, much of it gained on campaigns in Scotland and none of them had any concern that the site might become a trap if the Scots were to attack, in fact, their chief concern was that the Scots would slip away in the night and avoid a major battle as they had in the past. He was one of the first to suffer the fearsome penalty of hanging, drawing and quartering. And so did one of the most powerful nobles in Scotland, John Comyn. He landed further north, near Turnberry, and led his small band inland to the area around Glen Trool. Wallace was dragged behind a horse to his execution. Bruce was also absent at the Battle of Falkirk, in which Wallace’s army was devastated, but he does seem to have been involved in the aftermath, whereby he burnt the town of Ayr to stop it falling into the hands of the English, as they marched south. Robert the Bruce… Some have theorised that because Robert the Bruce was need of a fighting force and had already been excommunicated, he had little to fear from the church if he chose to harbour these knights. 301 Moved Permanently. 1304 was a crucial year for young Robert Bruce. However, when the rising failed Bruce, rather than join Wallace after the Scots victory at Stirling Bridge, kept a low profile until he could determine what the English reaction would be. The Battle of Falkirk. Wallace was dragged behind a horse to his execution. Robert Bruce, Sr.: Soon enough I'll be dead. I want you to die. No one knows for sure but probably not. William Wallace was never King of Scotland. He was crowned King of Scots in 1306 but was defeated at the battles of Methven and of Dalry. Robert came from a noble family that had a claim to the throne of Scotland. William Wallace, Scotland’s greatest hero, who was gruesomely executed in 1305. The same lore places the James brothers (Frank & Jessie) in his lineage as well… Thanks! By 1304, the country was under submission and all of the leading Scots surrendered to Edward in February of that year, except for William Wallace, who was in hiding. Accordingly, Edward raised a great army and headed north only to find his way blocked by the Scots just a few miles short of his first objective; Stirling. 13. Robert the Bruce, who took up arms against both Edward I and Edward II of England and who united the Highlands and the Lowlands in a fierce battle for liberty: and a humble Lowland knight, Sir William Wallace. Although Robert the Bruce was ruthless in his seizure of power, he did not fight William Wallace. However, he had long yearned to go on a Crusade. Even his own family home at Turnberry Castle was not immune and was levelled to the ground, never to be rebuilt. Robert the Bruce did not ‘rescue’ Wallace after Falkirk. Robert the Bruce betrayed William Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk John Menteith is the man accredited with betraying William Wallace . Imagine their horror and disappointment when Edward Longshanks proceeded to install himself as king. Not much is known about the early life of William Wallace. Robert the Bruce honored the memory of Wallace and led his people to glory with a huge victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. And so did one of the most powerful nobles in Scotland, John Comyn. Thanks for reading our article. Bruce was King of Scotland from 1306 – 1329. William Wallace and Robert the Bruce were contemporaries and Scottish heroes of the 14th century. He then took Aberdeen. Most people would need to create that opportunity, because the spot is right on the fringes of north-east Glasgow in the suburb of Robroyston. Try 3 issues of BBC History Magazine or BBC History Revealed for only £5. While it can be reasonably concluded that Bruce always had his own claim to the throne at the forefront of his mind, he supported the rebellion as long as it was feasible, and he was far from the only nobleman to submit. Much of what was in Braveheart that was part of the accepted historical narrative came from a later poem by Blind Harry about a century later. Most people would need to create that opportunity, because the spot is right on the fringes of north-east Glasgow in the suburb of Robroyston. Like Wallace, Trump’s campaign for America was largely waged with the commoners, the Deplorables, the “smelly hillbillies” who clung to God and guns. A price was put on his head, so Wallace took the bold course and raised the Scottish Standard. In 1298, after the Scots defeat at Falkirk, Wallace resigned as Guardian of Scotland to be replaced by Bruce and John Comyn. On his deathbed, he requested that his heart be taken to the Holy Land, but it only got as far as Spain. By 1314 only a handful of castles were still holding out against Robert the Bruce. Robert the Bruce became King of Scotland in 1306. Then on the 7 July 1307, Edward I of England died, within sight of Scotland. The Bruces were also descendants of the Scottish royal family. The Bruce family held a lot of land in England and sometimes the family supported with the English king, Edward I. This included a total renunciation of all English claims to superiority over Scotland. Robert is said to have drawn from this encounter the resolve to try again to gain control of his kingdom. (1305) 15. Evidence for this can be derived from the fact that both Bruce and his father supported Edward I’s invasion of Scotland in 1296, hoping to gain the crown after Balliol’s fall. Robert the Bruce reigned from 25 March 1306 to 7 June 1329 – a reign of 26.25 years which, when converted into a score out of 20, gives him a total of 12.5. He led a massive invasion force of some 20,000 men into Scotland. Robert the Bruce is buried in Dunfermline Abbey and a cast taken of his skull can be seen in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Battle of Falkirk (July 22, 1298), engagement fought between the army of King Edward I of England and Scottish resistance forces under the command William Wallace at Falkirk in Scotland’s Central Lowlands. As a result, Bruce was excommunicated and outlawed, whilst Scotland was plunged into civil war. Robert the Bruce and other Scottish nobles had also previously submitted to Edward in 1302, after the English king had embarked on a military campaign through Scotland. Within six weeks his old ally, Bishop Wishart had given him absolution and he was hurriedly crowned king at Scone on March 25th, 1306. His decisive victory over Edward II’s army at Bannockburn in 1314 finally won the freedom he had struggled for. Saint Valentine and the Glasgow Connection, Feasts, Quarter-days, Celebrations and the Celtic Calendar, Isobel Gowdie: A Witch Trial Extraordinaire in Auldearn, Scotland. So this would have been as big a source if enmity between the two, as any that existed between Scotland and England. The Bruces were Flemish in origin but having been granted their lands in Annandale in 1124 they were well and truly integrated into the Scottish nobility. However, at this point, Bruce was not hailed as the people’s hero. They both fought for Scottish independence. From Imbolc to Candlemas; From the Goddess Brìde to Saint Brigid. Robert the Bruce was Earl of Carrick from 1292 to 1313. The problem with the period is a lack of primary source material. 14. That was the price of your crown. When Alexander III plunged to his death leaving no heir, it was not absolutely clear who had the better claim to his throne, but since Robert was only 12 years old and both his father and grandfather were still alive, it certainly was not him. The poet John Barbour wrote that Bruce broke a favourite axe killing Henry de Bohun in single combat at the Battle of Bannockburn. There was no way back. Books have been written about his exploits along with his companions, the Black Douglas and his nephew, Thomas Randolph. During William's childhood, Scotland… Bruce had paid homage to Edward I of England and it is not known why he changed his allegiance later. Robert’s brothers were captured and executed. Robert’s grandmother was a daughter of King David I of Scots and his mother was the Countess of Carrick – a rich Celtic potentate. This was the man who secured Scotland’s independence from England. In the early dawn, Robert’s army moved down from high ground from which they could safely observe their enemy, deployed across the space between the Pelstream and the Bannock and pressed forward quickly and fiercely. Scores of these soldier monks were arrested, tortured and executed but many escaped along with their great treasure hoard. As an educated man he would almost certainly have been able to read French and possibly Latin, but whether he could speak either of those is a very different matter. Although there is no record of where Robert the Bruce was born, the most likely candidate for this birthplace is Turnberry Castle, the Ayrshire home of his mother. Robert the Bruce… There was also a lot of anachronism within the film that was pure Hollywood make believe. Nevertheless he was crowned King of Scotland a few months later. So, Robert the Bruce joined the Scottish rebellions and supported William Wallace’s uprising against the English. Earn Transferable Credit & Get your Degree. Robert the Bruce had 3 surviving legitimate children and was the first Scottish monarch to see his son succeed him as king since Alexander II in 1249. Did Robert Burns’ Trip to Rosslyn Inspire lines from his Poem Tam o’ Shanter? Edward I had conquered Scotland, but he was aging and wasn’t expected to live much longer. Wallace did support Robert the Bruce for the throne and Bruce’s father (Robert the 16th Bruce) did suffer from leprosy, which is why he couldn’t make a claim for the throne (but he did not engineer Wallace’s capture as depicted in the film). In 1304 his father (libelled by Gibson as masterminding the betrayal and capture of Wallace a year later) died, and Robert the Bruce began the next year the great campaign he was to lead for 23 years. In fact, he was not overly popular. Now a film ‘The Outlaw King’ has been released on Netflix. Yet, he still felt that he should be king. Today, William Wallace remains one of the greatest heroes in Scotland's history. Wallace killed the English Sheriff of Lanark who had apparently murdered Wallace’s sweetheart. There are many similarities between William Wallace and Donald Trump—far more so than the ultimate unifier of Scotland, Robert the Bruce. They examined the original casting of the skull belonging to Robert the Bruce’s descendant Lord Andrew Douglas Alexander Thomas Bruce, and a foot bone that had not been re-interred. None of the Scottish accounts of his death hint at leprosy. Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale, the first of the Bruce (de Brus) line, arrived in Scotland with David I in 1124 and was given the lands of Annandale in Dumfries and Galloway. Since the English King Edward I had all but destroyed the Scottish army in 1298 the Scots, now under the…. There is evidence that he grew up there. His  sister, Lady Christian Bruce was imprisoned in a Lincolnshire nunnery while Majorie Bruce, Robert’s child to his first wife was sent to an abbey in Yorkshire. His father’s side of the family had originated in Brix in Flanders. Bastard. Tam O’ Shanter by Robert Burns: Scotland’s Most Haunted Poem. Those men who bled the ground red at Falkirk, they fought for William Wallace, and he fights for something that I never had. The Declaration of Arbroath is one of the most important documents ever written, being the first-ever declaration of independence by any nation, and containing remarkably advanced ideas in the areas of nationhood and kingship. Dr Michael Brown takes a closer look at the Scottish king and his often bloody path to the throne. We will investigate a bit more and get back in touch. Both William "Braveheart" Wallace and Robert the Bruce were important figures in Scottish history. Answer (1 of 1): In 1305 William Wallace was in hiding for more than a month near Glasgow where he was hoping to meet with Robert The Bruce. After that though, I picked up your freedom cause thing and i'm a new man so.....we cool right? Robert fared better. King James VI and The North Berwick Witch Trials. Although Robert the Bruce was ruthless in his seizure of power, he did not fight William Wallace. It would be almost impossible for Bruce to have continued as a functioning king serving in war, performing face-to-face acts of lordship, holding parliament and court, travelling widely and fathering several children, all while displaying the infectious symptoms of a leper. His real goal seems to be the ascension of his family to royalty rather than Scottish liberation from English rule. Robert was a common name in the Bruce family. Actually, the story in this form only dates back to Sir Walter Scott’s telling of it: in the original version it was one of Bruce’s supporters who witnessed the arachnid and then relayed the story to the king. Of course, other theories have been proposed about why the Scottish army was so successful at Bannockburn. Edward II barely escaped with his life. Like Wallace, Trump’s campaign for America was largely waged with the commoners, the Deplorables, the “smelly hillbillies” who clung to God and guns. Robert the Bruce sort of indirectly betrayed William Wallace. But this is also the man who was fighting with William Wallace against Edward long before Bruce. Balliol’s claim was undoubtedly the better of the two and the jury chose him as Alexander’s successor. Whilst hiding, despondent, in a room he is said to have watched a spider swing from one rafter to another, time after time, in an attempt to anchor it’s web. Moved Permanently. The jubilant Scots made him Guardian of Scotland but their joy was short-lived. By 22 May 1308 Bruce was still unwell but his army met the Comyn Earl of Buchan near Inverurie. Bruce realised he would have to start his ascent to power by force rather than by diplomacy. Mowbray was well aware that Edward II was already committed to a major campaign in Scotland that summer, so he was confident that relief would be achieved.