The death of Scotland's greatest patriot
On 23 August 1305, William Wallace was executed at Smithfield in London with a savagery designed to send a message to every Scot who dared resist English rule. He was hanged, cut down while still alive, disembowelled, his entrails burned before his eyes, then beheaded and his body cut into quarters. His head was placed on a spike on London Bridge. His limbs were sent to Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth — displayed as a warning in the four corners of the English-controlled kingdom.
Wallace had been captured near Glasgow on 5 August 1305, betrayed by Sir John de Menteith — a Scottish knight who served the English. He was taken to London in chains and subjected to a show trial in Westminster Hall. Wallace was charged with treason, murder, and robbery. He denied the treason charge, arguing that he had never sworn allegiance to Edward I and therefore could not be a traitor. The court was unmoved. The sentence was a foregone conclusion.
Wallace's crime, in Edward's eyes, was that he had dared to resist. A minor Lowland knight with no great lands or titles, Wallace had risen to lead Scotland's resistance after the humiliations of 1296. His victory at Stirling Bridge in 1297 had electrified Scotland and humiliated England. His raids into northern England had terrified the border counties. Even after his defeat at Falkirk in 1298, Wallace refused to submit. For seven years he evaded capture, possibly travelling to France and Rome to seek support for Scotland's cause.
Wallace's execution was meant to break Scottish resistance. It had the opposite effect. His martyrdom created a legend that inspired Robert the Bruce and every generation of Scots who followed. The Wallace Monument at Stirling, the statue at the gates of Edinburgh Castle, and the enduring resonance of his story in Scottish culture all testify to the power of a man who refused to kneel. Wallace never held a crown or a title of nobility. He was simply a man who fought for his country's freedom — and paid the ultimate price.