Sir William Wallace
The Help of Sir William Wallace
Sir William Wallace is one of Scotland's greatest generals and was a great help towards the freedom of Scotland because he brought patriotism to the minds of his fellow Scotsmen in order fight for the freedom for which was nearly taken away by the their English neighbors. He would ride through Scotland gathering clans both from the high and lowlands. Over the years after his death, Scots have proclaimed Sir William Wallace as their countries hero and the man who made freedom run through the blood of so many who were by his side.
Hundreds of years before the time of Sir William Wallace, Roman troops tried to conquer parts of Scotland but failed. The savagery of the Scots put the fear in the Romans and caused them to build Hadrian's Wall. The wall separated Scotland and England (which was part of the Roman Empire). When the great empire fell to destruction by many Germanic tribes, Scots began to live a more peaceful life. During the Norman conquest of 1066, a group of people called the Normans invaded England, killed many Anglo-Saxon and Celtic tribes, and took over the country. England was now under Norman rule and would stay that way. (Compton's Home Encyclopedia CD Rom)
In 1296, English troops invaded the lowlands of Scotland burning villages, killing innocent Scots, and trying to over rule the vast countrysides of the lowlands and the highlands. The new ruler of England, King Edward I the Long Shanks, started all this.
He believed that he should have control of the whole island itself. His idea about conquering Scotland was that if he can't beat them out, then he could breed them out. He brought the old English custom called Prima Noctes; if a woman is married in the country of Scotland, an English lord has every right to take her away from her husband for a few days and have his ways with her. Clans of lowlanders came together to form an army. It took awhile for the highlanders...
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