0:00:12 > 0:00:14It's mid-winter, 1230.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19A horrific scene is played out in the middle of a busy market square.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31An infant child is held up to the crowds.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34BABY CRIES
0:00:35 > 0:00:37Seconds later, she's dead.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43Not far from the scene sits the man who ordered her murder.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48Meet Alexander II, King of the Scots.
0:00:48 > 0:00:5470 years later, the skin is flayed from the back of a hated English cleric.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Meet the man who had that skin fashioned into a sword belt -
0:01:00 > 0:01:04William Wallace, rebel, fugitive.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09This is the story of two ruthless men -
0:01:09 > 0:01:14Alexander II, who forged Scotland in blood and violence.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19And William Wallace, whose resistance to the nation-breaking
0:01:19 > 0:01:24King of England, hammered national consciousness into the Scots.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05This is the River Tay, just north of Perth.
0:02:08 > 0:02:14It runs past Scone, the ancient inauguration site of the Kings of Scotland.
0:02:16 > 0:02:23On a cold December morning in 1214, a 16-year-old boy journeyed across this river heading for Scone.
0:02:23 > 0:02:29His elderly father William had died the night before, but there was no time for mourning.
0:02:29 > 0:02:35This quick-tempered teenager was about to become the next King of Scots, Alexander II.
0:02:42 > 0:02:48Alexander is descended from a powerful dynasty of kings, traditionally known as the Canmores.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53A family who, for generations, fought to preserve their bloodline and kingdom.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58Alexander was an only son. From a young age he had been
0:02:58 > 0:03:03destined for greatness, but he wasn't Alexander the Great just yet.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10The kingdom he inherited was smaller than the Scotland we recognise today.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15It rubbed shoulders with a patchwork of other peoples and different languages.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19To the north, the Earldoms of Caithness & Sutherland.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24To the west, the Gaels of the Hebrides and the Isles.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28And in the south, the fiercely independent Lordship of Galloway.
0:03:28 > 0:03:34But England, England was bigger, stronger, richer than them all.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40And for nearly 200 years, the English kings said the Kingdom of Scots belonged to them.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42The English were the overlords.
0:03:42 > 0:03:49It was all a game, in which what you said you owned, mattered every bit as much as what you actually held.
0:03:51 > 0:03:56The early Canmores had played the game, had recognised English superiority,
0:03:56 > 0:04:01but subservience was not Alexander's style.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06As far as Alexander was concerned, he was every bit the equal of an English king.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Call it brash, call it arrogant,
0:04:09 > 0:04:14he was a on a mission to free his kingship from English overlordship once and for all.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23But Alexander had a problem.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26If he hoped to free Scotland from overlordship,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30he would first have to resolve a bitter dispute with the King of England,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33King John.
0:04:33 > 0:04:39Northumbria, Cumberland and Westmorland were territories
0:04:39 > 0:04:42to which both the Kings of England and the Kings of Scots laid claim.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48To settle the argument, Alexander's father had given both money
0:04:48 > 0:04:51and two of his daughters to King John of England.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57But John had reneged on the deal.
0:04:57 > 0:05:03Now Alexander was determined to take back what was rightfully his.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Alexander wasn't the only one with a grudge against King John.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19There was a long queue of English barons with similar grievances.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Their biggest gripe against King John was that he had bled them dry
0:05:30 > 0:05:34with his constant requests for money to fund his war in France.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39In protest, they drew up a list of over 60 demands.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41'All hostages and charters shall...'
0:05:41 > 0:05:44'All cities, boroughs, towns and ports shall enjoy...'
0:05:44 > 0:05:46'Officials will not seize any land...'
0:05:47 > 0:05:50'You shall do this without destruction or damage...'
0:05:50 > 0:05:53The document became known as Magna Carta.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57The barons added Alexander's claim to the disputed northern territories
0:05:57 > 0:06:00to the bottom of the list, in Clause 59.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05A promise to "do right" by Alexander, King of the Scots.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08"Alexander, the King of the Scots,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12"concerning the return of his sisters and hostages, and his liberties and his right,
0:06:12 > 0:06:14"according to the way in which we..."
0:06:14 > 0:06:18King John had no option but to agree to the barons' demands.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20He affixed his seal to the charter.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27But no sooner had he done so, he rejected it, calling it "mere foolishness".
0:06:30 > 0:06:32Enough was enough.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38The barons decided to rid themselves of King John.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40England plunged into civil war.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44This was too good an opportunity to miss.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48A chance to reclaim the border lands he believed were rightfully his.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50So, he invaded northern England.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52He laid siege to Norham Castle.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56He burned Newcastle to the ground, and he took Carlisle.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59This impassioned teenager meant business.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14Alexander was no stranger to the battlefield.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19Despite his tender years, he'd served his military apprenticeship aged only 14,
0:07:19 > 0:07:20when he led his father's army.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27After crushing Gaelic rebels in the north of Scotland, Alexander earned the respect of his men.
0:07:30 > 0:07:36Two years later, Alexander won the respect of the rebellious English barons as he took on their King.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Now, with King John on the defensive,
0:07:41 > 0:07:47the barons in the north of England decided to switch allegiance and form a pact with Alexander.
0:07:49 > 0:07:55On 11 January 1216, in Melrose Abbey, the northern barons lined up
0:07:55 > 0:07:57to swear fealty to the King for their lands.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00And that king was the King of Scots.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04As far as Alexander was concerned, now that the northern barons
0:08:04 > 0:08:07had paid homage to him, the disputed border lands were his.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10He had avenged his father.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29While Alexander tightened his grip in the north,
0:08:29 > 0:08:34the English barons in the south turned to John's enemy, the French, for help.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41The barons invited Prince Louis to England to take the English crown.
0:08:44 > 0:08:51He accepted. In the spring of 1216, the French prince and his army sailed for England.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Opportunity knocked again.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Alexander planned to cut a deal with the French prince.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03In return for his support, Alexander intended to press Louis
0:09:03 > 0:09:06to recognise the disputed northern territories as Scottish.
0:09:06 > 0:09:13In a stroke, the English Crown's claims of overlordship would be swept aside.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18So, he did something no Scottish monarch had done before, or since.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22He marched an army all the way to Dover.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34Meeting little resistance on his way south, he joined forces
0:09:34 > 0:09:38with the French army and together they laid siege to Dover Castle -
0:09:38 > 0:09:41the key to England.
0:09:42 > 0:09:47In all the wars with England, no other Scottish king ever came so far.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49It was an incredible achievement.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Alexander's head must have swelled with every passing day.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57He was 17 and he was on the brink of achieving his family's longest-held ambition.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Half of Britain was nearly his.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03But then fate dealt a devastating blow.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12King John died.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16On the face of it, his death should have been good news for Alexander,
0:10:16 > 0:10:21but with John out of the way, the need for the barons' war vanished.
0:10:22 > 0:10:28The barons who had once opposed King John now flocked to his son's side - the new King, Henry III.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Both Alexander, King of Scots,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35and Louis, the French prince, had out-grown their usefulness.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38The English barons sent them packing.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46There was no deal for Alexander; all of his grand ambitions fizzled out.
0:10:46 > 0:10:53Henry III re-issued Magna Carta and all references to Alexander's claims were omitted - not even a footnote.
0:10:53 > 0:10:59Despite loud protests, the ground was cut from beneath his feet and he was left out in the cold.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10And, it got worse. The Pope gave his backing to Henry III.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14Alexander found himself excommunicated...
0:11:16 > 0:11:19..the powers of the Scottish church suspended.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Back to square one.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30It stung. The Pope chastised him like a wayward son,
0:11:30 > 0:11:34ordering the truculent teenager to return his English conquests
0:11:34 > 0:11:37and pay homage for them to the King Of England -
0:11:37 > 0:11:40the nine-year-old King of England.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48In Northampton, on 19 December 1217,
0:11:48 > 0:11:54Alexander, bereft of allies, paid homage to the child king, Henry III.
0:11:54 > 0:12:00His ambition of ruling the northern territories of England was over.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Deflated, Alexander returned to Scotland.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16His ambitions shattered, his morale was at an all-time low.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20He came here, to Arbroath Abbey to pay respects to his father William,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24who had also failed to regain the northern territories.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27If Alexander had learnt anything from the war in England,
0:12:27 > 0:12:32it was that the northern barons had felt English, not Scottish.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36They had chosen Henry as their king, not Alexander.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41The English barons knew instinctively who their king was.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44But could the same be said for the Scottish nobles?
0:12:52 > 0:12:55The Scottish nobles were split between two powerful factions.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59In the south were the descendents of Norman families,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03invited to settle in southern Scotland by the early Canmore kings.
0:13:03 > 0:13:10Helping to build many of the great border abbeys and cathedrals, they changed the face of Scotland,
0:13:10 > 0:13:14transforming it into a more European-looking kingdom.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18In the north were the territories of powerful Gaelic earls,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21whose ancestors had forged the Kingdom of Scots.
0:13:21 > 0:13:28But these were the very Gaelic lords that Alexander's family had rejected in favour of a Norman future.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37The old Gaelic elite became side-lined.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Once upon a time, they'd helped run the kingdom.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Now, they were called things like "Divider of the King's Meat",
0:13:43 > 0:13:46while the French-speaking bratpack of Norman lords
0:13:46 > 0:13:50received titles like "Chancellor" and "Constable of Scotland".
0:13:50 > 0:13:54One chronicler of the time wrote, "The modern Kings of Scotland
0:13:54 > 0:13:59"count themselves as Frenchmen in race, manners, language and culture;
0:13:59 > 0:14:02"they keep only Frenchmen in their household and following,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05"and have reduced the Scots to utter servitude".
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Some Gaelic nobles adopted the Norman ways,
0:14:11 > 0:14:17but others returned to their own lands, beyond the reach of the King of Scots.
0:14:17 > 0:14:25The semi-independent Gaelic lands of Galloway, Argyll, Ross, Sutherland
0:14:25 > 0:14:29and Caithness, sometimes subject to the King Of Scots, sometimes not.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34And beyond them, Alexander's rule petered out completely.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37The Hebrides and the Northern Isles -
0:14:37 > 0:14:42all lands claimed by another aspiring and aggressive kingdom...
0:14:42 > 0:14:44Norway.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49It was messy, too messy for Alexander's liking.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53He would never throw off English claims of overlordship
0:14:53 > 0:14:58until all the Scottish nobles acknowledged him as their king.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01It was time for a new approach and a new deal.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Alexander decided to strike a balance
0:15:04 > 0:15:07between Norman innovation and Gaelic tradition.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10In his new Scotland, both would be allowed to flourish.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13He invited the Gaelic warlords back in from the cold.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17In return for some of the top jobs, they would fight his battles.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21They would help him conquer Scotland, territory by territory.
0:15:25 > 0:15:31His first test came from the north, when the men of Caithness roasted one of Alexander's bishops alive.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Alexander returned the compliment in spades.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55In Ross, challengers to Alexander's succession rebelled against him.
0:15:55 > 0:16:03In response, Alexander's Gaelic warlords severed the leaders' heads and presented them to him as a gift.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16In the west, Alexander pressed on again,
0:16:16 > 0:16:22down the Great Glen to Lochaber and beyond to the Isles, to attack the lands of the Norwegian king.
0:16:22 > 0:16:28Mercy and compassion were never Alexander's strong points.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37The man who would be King of all Scotland
0:16:37 > 0:16:42proved to be utterly ruthless from the moment he set out to subdue it.
0:16:43 > 0:16:49A symbol of just how far he would go to secure his kingship was in his treatment of a baby girl.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53Alive, she represented a rival claim to his throne.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55In Alexander's eyes,
0:16:55 > 0:16:59she was just as much of a threat as any sword-wielding assassin.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01He took no chances.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06The infant was a distant relative of the Canmore line.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Her fate was recorded by the Lanercost Chronicle.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14"The daughter, who had not long left her mother's womb,
0:17:14 > 0:17:16"innocent though she was,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19"was put to death in the view of the market place.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24"Her head was struck against the column, and her brains dashed out."
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Alexander now had what he wanted.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33Her elimination killed off the last threat to the Scottish Crown.
0:17:34 > 0:17:39This terrible and shocking act was remembered for generations to come.
0:17:39 > 0:17:40And that was the point.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Loud and clear, the King of Scots let it be known:
0:17:43 > 0:17:47this is what will happen to anyone who crosses my path,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50however young, however innocent.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57But his actions had delivered results.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Something new had emerged.
0:18:00 > 0:18:06Alexander's victories had not only brought peace, but something far more enduring.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11One people, one kingdom.
0:18:11 > 0:18:17Now everyone was subject to one king and that made them one people - Scots.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Alexander had restored the esteem of his Kingdom to such an extent
0:18:21 > 0:18:28that King Henry III of England agreed to a border, established for the first time in 1237.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30Psychologically, that was a big step.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Now Scots could say,
0:18:33 > 0:18:39"This is Scotland, that is England, and WE are different."
0:18:56 > 0:19:01Alexander's 35-year reign ended when he died on 8 July 1249.
0:19:07 > 0:19:13His kingdom stretched all the way from Caithness in the north, to the Solway Firth in the south.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17That was the legacy of Alexander II.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25MUSIC PLAYS
0:19:32 > 0:19:39# Ex te lux oritur o dulcis Scocia
0:19:39 > 0:19:45# Qua vere noscitur fulgens Norwagia
0:19:45 > 0:19:48# Que cum transvehitur Trahis suspiria... #
0:19:48 > 0:19:54In the years following his death, a stronger, more confident Scotland entered a Golden Age.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59His son, Alexander III, inherited the family firm.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03Times were good. Scotland prospered and culture flowered.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06England now saw Scotland differently.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Suddenly, the Scots were worth getting into bed with.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Claims of overlordship were replaced by offers of marriage.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18And so it was that at Christmas 1251,
0:20:18 > 0:20:20Alexander III, King of the Scots,
0:20:20 > 0:20:24married Princess Margaret of England.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29It was an ostentatious display of wealth and power and the message was clear.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34Scotland was determined to be seen as an equal partner, an equal kingdom.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45Eyeing the proceedings was the bride's brother, the young Prince Edward.
0:20:47 > 0:20:53Heir to the throne of England, this long-legged, blue-eyed boy was the epitome of an English prince.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00But more penetrating eyes could see beyond the image.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05This boy's life would be less than saintly.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Edward had a taste for violence.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11The chronicler Matthew Paris famously recalled
0:21:11 > 0:21:14how the young prince got one of his followers to attack a man,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17cut off an ear and gouge out an eye.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20Paris wondered what kind of king he would make:
0:21:20 > 0:21:25"If he does these things when the wood is green, what can be hoped for when it is seasoned?"
0:21:31 > 0:21:36As time passed, Edward grew into a formidable and skilful warrior.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41He indulged his lust for war by heading off on crusade to the Holy Land.
0:21:41 > 0:21:47On his return, he is every inch the hero, and at last crowned King of England.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58But while Edward's life took on the glow of a medieval Boy's Own Story,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02Alexander III's life turned into Greek Tragedy.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08In the space of nine years, Alexander III lost his wife,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11Edward's sister, and all three of his children.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15The Canmore dynasty was withering on the vine.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19Edward was shocked, and sent a letter of condolence to his brother-in-law.
0:22:19 > 0:22:26Alexander's reply to that letter seems to suggest a genuine warmth between the two kings.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31"You have offered much solace for our grief by saying
0:22:31 > 0:22:34"that although death has borne away your kindred in these parts,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37"we are united together perpetually, God willing,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40"by the tie of indissoluble affection."
0:22:52 > 0:22:58Then, in March 1286, Edward heard about another death, Alexander.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02The King of Scots had finished his business in Edinburgh
0:23:02 > 0:23:05but he was desperate to travel the 20-odd miles to here at Kinghorn
0:23:05 > 0:23:10and the royal palace where his new young wife, Yolande, was waiting for him.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15His advisors begged him not to go, it was a foul night, dark and stormy,
0:23:15 > 0:23:19but the warnings went unheeded and somewhere near here
0:23:19 > 0:23:23Alexander became separated from his guides and was thrown from his horse.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27They found his body on the beach the next morning, the neck broken.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Edward mourned the death of his brother-in-law.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49Though some would say that he shed crocodile tears.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53He may have been related to Scotland's royal family -
0:23:53 > 0:23:56his father may have recognised Scotland's sovereignty -
0:23:56 > 0:24:00but Edward was descended from a long line of English kings
0:24:00 > 0:24:02who claimed to be her overlord.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05A claim that Edward had not forgotten.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08And now the kingdom's future
0:24:08 > 0:24:10hung by a thread.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Next in line to the Scottish throne
0:24:15 > 0:24:18was Alexander's three-year-old grand-daughter
0:24:18 > 0:24:22and Edward's grand-niece, Margaret, known as the Maid of Norway.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28The child Margaret was the last direct link with the Canmore dynasty.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32Her marriage to Edward's son was speedily arranged.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35As far as Edward was concerned,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38as soon as the ink on the marriage agreement was dry,
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Scotland would belong to him.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42The logic was simple.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44Medieval women were property.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46What they owned belonged to their husbands.
0:24:46 > 0:24:51What the Maid owned, once she was married, would belong to Edward's son.
0:24:57 > 0:25:02Then in October 1290, the Maid died.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06The house of Canmore was finished.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Scotland was without a royal family.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13For Edward, this was an act of divine providence.
0:25:18 > 0:25:24The succession was in doubt because there were two leading contenders vying for the Scots throne.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26John Balliol and Robert Bruce the Elder
0:25:26 > 0:25:29were from two of Scotland's most powerful families.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34Both had enough military muscle to back their claim on the field.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36Scotland was divided.
0:25:36 > 0:25:43It fell to the Guardians, men chosen to govern the realm in the absence of a king, to prevent civil war.
0:25:43 > 0:25:50But they needed help. An impartial, friendly arbitrator.
0:25:50 > 0:25:57Someone with experience. Someone who could command respect.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00Who else but King Edward I?
0:26:00 > 0:26:04Internationally respected monarch, and master of the law.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09After all, relations between the two kingdoms were amicable and Edward was family.
0:26:09 > 0:26:10There was no reason to doubt him.
0:26:19 > 0:26:26Edward called for a parliament to be held on 6th May 1291 to decide the future of the Scottish crown,
0:26:26 > 0:26:32and the location he choose was Norham - over there, on the English side of the River Tweed.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34The Scots smelled a rat.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38The future of Scotland to be decided in England? It wasn't right.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43So the Scots stalled on the Scottish side of the river.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45It was a stand-off.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51It didn't take Edward long to reveal his true colours,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53his real intention.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00He sent word to the Scots that the parliament would not start
0:27:00 > 0:27:03until the Guardians and the claimants for the throne of Scotland
0:27:03 > 0:27:07acknowledged his position as superior overlord of Scotland.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11The Scots were stunned.
0:27:11 > 0:27:1560 years of peace and now this.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22They would not give up their hard-won autonomy.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25One of the six Guardians of Scotland was Bishop Wishart of Glasgow.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29A shrewd and powerful figure, Wishart, a bulldog of a man.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33True to style, he delivered Scotland's response in person.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35He told Edward to his face.
0:27:36 > 0:27:43'The Scottish Kingdom is not held in tribute or homage to anyone save God alone.'
0:27:50 > 0:27:53Edward shrugged off Wishart's words of defiance.
0:27:53 > 0:27:59Although Bruce and Balliol had the only serious claims, Edward decided to change the rules...again.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09He produced 11 more claimants from leading noble families and declared
0:28:09 > 0:28:14that if they didn't acknowledge his overlordship, they would be eliminated from the contest.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17The Scots were outmanoeuvred.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24If Bruce and Balliol wanted the job of King of Scots,
0:28:24 > 0:28:28they had no choice but to agree to Edward's terms.
0:28:30 > 0:28:35One by one, the now 13 claimants, along with the Guardians of Scotland,
0:28:35 > 0:28:37swore fealty to Edward, the King of England,
0:28:37 > 0:28:42as "superior and direct overlord of the kingdom of Scotland".
0:28:46 > 0:28:48Edward had what he wanted.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52It made no difference to him who was actually chosen.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56He already had all the claimants' oaths of subservience in the bag.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00In the end, it was John Balliol who emerged as the heir to the throne.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06Edward had it all stitched up.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11He was Scotland's superior overlord and not a drop of blood had been spilt.
0:29:13 > 0:29:18Wishart's deepest fears were being realised before his very eyes.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20He didn't hang around long.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22He'd seen enough.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26No longer a Guardian, Wishart returned to Glasgow.
0:29:26 > 0:29:32The new King of Scots, John Balliol, had to pay homage and swear fealty to Edward for his kingdom...
0:29:32 > 0:29:34a second time.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37Edward's authority was absolute.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41He could do exactly as he wanted...
0:29:41 > 0:29:43and he did.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49In 1294, Edward demanded Scottish troops for his war against France.
0:29:49 > 0:29:54Then he summoned Balliol himself to fight.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58The King of Scots to do military service for the King of England?
0:29:58 > 0:30:00It seemed unthinkable.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05At a stroke, the achievements of the Canmores -
0:30:05 > 0:30:12the forging of Scotland, its status as a separate and distinct entity, was in peril.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16It was time for action.
0:30:16 > 0:30:21Bishop Wishart and the other Scots leaders realised Balliol was no match for Edward.
0:30:21 > 0:30:26At a parliament in Stirling, they debated what to do about Balliol.
0:30:37 > 0:30:39Wishart had no qualms.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43By the end of the meeting, the Bishop's radical view prevailed.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49'A new Guardianship was established. A council of 12 men was selected
0:30:49 > 0:30:53'to run the affairs of the kingdom in Balliol's name.'
0:30:53 > 0:30:56Balliol was to be reduced to a figurehead,
0:30:56 > 0:30:59to be wheeled out to play the role of ruler.
0:30:59 > 0:31:05Now, the real governors of Scotland laid plans to fight Edward.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12As Wishart saw it, the council had two tasks -
0:31:12 > 0:31:16negotiate a treaty with France and prepare the country for war.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24France was Edward's enemy. Military support from them
0:31:24 > 0:31:28would mean the Scots stood a chance against Edward's forces.
0:31:28 > 0:31:33In the late summer 1295, a delegation left Stirling for Paris
0:31:33 > 0:31:38to negotiate a treaty with the French king. The terms were simple.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Should Edward attack France,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43then the Scots would wage war against the English.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47In return, the French promised support should Scotland be attacked.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50The French agreed.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53When Edward went to war against France in 1296,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55the Scots duly marched into England.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57The fuse was lit.
0:31:57 > 0:32:02Wishart waited for Edward's inevitable onslaught. It came.
0:32:02 > 0:32:08On 30 March 1296, Edward's army crossed into Scotland.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19Edward wasn't a man to do things by halves.
0:32:19 > 0:32:20At around 30,000 strong,
0:32:20 > 0:32:24this was the largest army that had ever been sent north.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27First stop, Berwick-upon-Tweed.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35As the Easter celebrations were drawing to a close,
0:32:35 > 0:32:36Edward crossed the Tweed.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40The feeble, timber fortifications offered no resistance.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42What followed was one of the worst massacres
0:32:42 > 0:32:44in British medieval history.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53For two days, streams of blood flowed from the bodies of the slain.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55For his tyrannous rage,
0:32:55 > 0:32:59he ordered 7,500 souls of both sexes to be massacred.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08Mills could be turned round by the flow of their blood.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15Despite the surrender of the local garrison,
0:33:15 > 0:33:19Edward set about the wholesale slaughter of the town's population.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21The orgy of violence only came to an end
0:33:21 > 0:33:24when the frantic pleading of local clergy
0:33:24 > 0:33:27moved Edward to show at least some pity.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30But Berwick was just a warm-up.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42Edward's reputation would now precede him,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45as he advanced north into the heartlands of Scotland.
0:33:45 > 0:33:50After defeating the large, but inexperienced Scots army at Dunbar,
0:33:50 > 0:33:52resistance to Edward buckled.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Castle after castle fell.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59Most of the Scots nobility were captured and imprisoned.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02'It was over.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05'Now, Edward wanted the man he believed responsible.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09'Balliol, the lamb caught amongst the wolves.'
0:34:14 > 0:34:17It took Balliol eight days to negotiate his surrender,
0:34:17 > 0:34:21which was hardly surprising, as he had a lot of explaining to do.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23Edward was angry.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Balliol had acted contemptibly and illegally.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30He was Edward's man, and yet, he had conspired with the French
0:34:30 > 0:34:32and attacked English soil.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35He was a defaulting vassal, who would have to be punished,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38along with the Scots, if they refused to submit.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40But Edward wanted more than a simple surrender.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42He wanted a show.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51Paraded as a penitent before Edward,
0:34:51 > 0:34:53Balliol was stripped of his kingship.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56The royal insignia ripped from his clothing,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00earning him the cruel nickname, Toom Tabard. Empty suit.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02King Nobody.
0:35:04 > 0:35:09Broken and humiliated, Balliol was sent to the Tower of London
0:35:09 > 0:35:12and then to exile in France.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15Not content to humiliate a man, Edward plundered the country.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18'He set about systematically stripping Scotland
0:35:18 > 0:35:22'of all her symbols of sovereignty and independence -
0:35:22 > 0:35:25'the crown jewels, the black rood of St Margaret,
0:35:25 > 0:35:29'the holiest and most venerated relic of Scotland.'
0:35:29 > 0:35:32And the Stone of Destiny,
0:35:32 > 0:35:35the centrepiece of Scottish king-making.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43In the months that followed,
0:35:43 > 0:35:46Edward decided to take a tour of his newly won kingdom.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49But this was no tourist trip.
0:35:50 > 0:35:55City by city, burgh by burgh, castle by castle,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Edward forced the Scottish nobles to sign up to his new regime -
0:36:00 > 0:36:02to put their names to what became
0:36:02 > 0:36:05the most infamous document in Scottish history.
0:36:11 > 0:36:12The Ragman Roll.
0:36:14 > 0:36:19Well, the Ragman Roll is a list of the Scottish nobles
0:36:19 > 0:36:24who had to give homage to Edward I of England in 1296.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27So, it's got about 1,900 names on it.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31What is contained in all these endless lines of text?
0:36:31 > 0:36:33What exactly are they signing up to?
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Well, basically they had to pay homage to Edward I,
0:36:36 > 0:36:40who had defeated the Scots at the battle of Dunbar,
0:36:40 > 0:36:43and he was essentially the King of Scots now,
0:36:43 > 0:36:47and they had to acknowledge him as their lord and master.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50What are the famous names that would stand out?
0:36:50 > 0:36:53Well, you've got a whole panoply of the Scottish nobility.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56You've got the competitors for the throne,
0:36:56 > 0:37:00the head of the house of Balliol, Bruce, the Stuarts are there,
0:37:00 > 0:37:03there's a complete set of bishops, people like Bishop Wishart,
0:37:03 > 0:37:05and then there's of course lot of knights
0:37:05 > 0:37:11and lesser people who held land in Scotland at that time.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17But it isn't just the names of the nobility and bishops
0:37:17 > 0:37:19that appear on the Ragman Roll.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23Representatives across the Scottish kingdom, religious and political,
0:37:23 > 0:37:26were forced to fix their seals of submission.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30Scotland was without a king.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34Beaten, broken and humiliated.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38The winter of 1296 was one of the country's darkest.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42Edward left Scotland's governance to two trusted lieutenants
0:37:42 > 0:37:45and returned to where he'd left off, fighting the French.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56But in the rush to be rid of Scotland, Edward missed something.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01Scotland had never been directly ruled by an English king,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04so when Edward ordered the Scots to join his war in France,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06the Scots grew resentful.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11And when Edward imposed English taxes to pay for it,
0:38:11 > 0:38:13the Scots grew rebellious.
0:38:16 > 0:38:21Alexander II had given the Scots a united kingdom with a border,
0:38:21 > 0:38:23a sense of who they were.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26But within the space of a decade, all of this was swept away.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Edward had already absorbed Wales into his kingdom
0:38:29 > 0:38:32and conscripted the Welsh into his armies.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35Now, he proposed to do exactly the same thing to Scotland.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38And it was the prospect of being absorbed by England
0:38:38 > 0:38:41and being forced to fight Edward's battles
0:38:41 > 0:38:43that tipped the Scots over the edge.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59The first spark of resistance was struck in the Gaelic north.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01It was a small act of defiance,
0:39:01 > 0:39:04a single standard raised against Edward,
0:39:04 > 0:39:07but soon, a myriad of flames engulfed the kingdom.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10And among them was one man, William Wallace.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21William Wallace. The Wallace.
0:39:21 > 0:39:26For many, he is the ultimate freedom fighter, for others, a terrorist.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29He is the enigmatic hero who appears from nowhere
0:39:29 > 0:39:32to liberate his people and to shape history.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34The Wallace story is one of the defining legends
0:39:34 > 0:39:38of Scottish identity and the epitome of Scotland's story.
0:39:38 > 0:39:43And yet, with all the mythologizing, we've lost sight of Wallace the man.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47A remarkable man, but a man nonetheless.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55The younger son of an obscure knight,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58Wallace's destiny would be shaped less by himself,
0:39:58 > 0:40:03more by the needs of others. And what Bishop Wishart,
0:40:03 > 0:40:07the self-appointed chief of the Scottish resistance movement
0:40:07 > 0:40:09needed right now, was time.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16Scotland had run out of leaders.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18Most of her nobles were either imprisoned
0:40:18 > 0:40:21or had been forced to fix their seals to the Ragman Rolls.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24Wishart could have been under no illusions
0:40:24 > 0:40:26when the pair met here, at Glasgow Cathedral.
0:40:26 > 0:40:28Wallace was no leader of armies,
0:40:28 > 0:40:32but he was smart and he could fight, and he had the popular touch.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35Most importantly, he could buy time for Wishart,
0:40:35 > 0:40:38while the Bishop tried to raise the Scots nobles in Ayrshire.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40An English chronicler put it simply,
0:40:40 > 0:40:43"Wishart caused a certain bloody man, William Wallace,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46"who had formerly been a chief of brigands in Scotland,
0:40:46 > 0:40:50"to revolt against the King and assemble people in his support."
0:40:50 > 0:40:53And that's exactly what Wallace did.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04After killing the hated English sheriff of Lanark,
0:41:04 > 0:41:08the very symbol of Edward's oppressive regime,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11Wallace's rising swiftly gained momentum.
0:41:11 > 0:41:16But the men who flocked to Wallace's side weren't of noble blood.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23His army were peasants - humble folk, the middling sort.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26The kind of people who had first hand experience
0:41:26 > 0:41:28of Edward's policies of wringing as many men
0:41:28 > 0:41:30and taxes from Scotland as he could.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37If Wallace's army was to stand any chance
0:41:37 > 0:41:42against Edward's mighty war machine, they needed space, open space,
0:41:42 > 0:41:43and time to train.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48Wallace knew this would be no easy task.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52His army was used to the hit and run tactics of guerrilla warfare.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55They had little experience of the battlefield.
0:41:55 > 0:42:00The best he could offer his men was discipline.
0:42:00 > 0:42:06By the late summer of 1297, Wallace's army was ready.
0:42:06 > 0:42:11He joined forces with Andrew Murray, a nobleman's son
0:42:11 > 0:42:14who had led a successful revolt in the north.
0:42:14 > 0:42:19Together, they marched their men to intercept the English at Stirling.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26It was only then, when the English woke up, they realised the handful
0:42:26 > 0:42:29of rebels had swollen into a respectable sized army.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32But the English captain, Warenne, wasn't alarmed.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34His army, with its impressive heavy cavalry,
0:42:34 > 0:42:36could take on any peasant rabble.
0:42:36 > 0:42:42To confront the Scots, the English army had to cross the river Forth.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44Easier said than done.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47Deep and impassable, the Forth rises in the west
0:42:47 > 0:42:49and flows east to meet the North Sea,
0:42:49 > 0:42:51almost cutting the country in half.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59The crossing point - a narrow, wooden bridge at Stirling.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06When the English arrived, Wallace and Murray were waiting.
0:43:06 > 0:43:11They knew the land and they understood the strategic importance
0:43:11 > 0:43:14of the bridge across the Forth as the gateway to the north.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17They positioned their army on the slopes of Abbey Craig,
0:43:17 > 0:43:19about a mile from the bridge.
0:43:28 > 0:43:33On September 11th 1297, both armies faced each other.
0:43:38 > 0:43:42In bald terms, Warenne told the Scots to surrender.
0:43:44 > 0:43:45Wallace told them,
0:43:45 > 0:43:47"Go back and tell your people
0:43:47 > 0:43:50"that we have not come for the benefit of peace,
0:43:50 > 0:43:54"but to do battle to defend ourselves and liberate our kingdom.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58"Let them come to us, and we will prove this in their very beards."
0:44:01 > 0:44:05The English horsemen began to ride across the bridge.
0:44:05 > 0:44:10Warenne suddenly exploded, he hadn't actually given the order to cross.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13So he made his men come back to his side and regroup.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16Then, on his command, they began to cross for a second time.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18Wallace must have been amazed
0:44:18 > 0:44:21by this comic display of arrogance and complacency.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24But Warenne didn't care how it looked.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28He didn't rate Wallace's army. As far as he was concerned,
0:44:28 > 0:44:32this would be little more than a good training exercise for the men.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38What they learned was how to die.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44The English were trapped,
0:44:44 > 0:44:46caught in the loop of the river with nowhere to go.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57As the chronicler Guisborough said,
0:44:57 > 0:44:59"There was indeed no better place in all the land
0:44:59 > 0:45:03"to deliver the English into the hands of the Scots,
0:45:03 > 0:45:05"and so many into the power of the few."
0:45:19 > 0:45:24By nightfall, 5,000 English infantry and 100 knights had perished.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29Among the English dead lay the body of the hated treasurer.
0:45:29 > 0:45:31He'd been flayed alive.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34The treasurer had taken the skin off Scots' backs,
0:45:34 > 0:45:37and now they had done the same to him in return.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41Wallace kept the skin. He had it fashioned into a sword belt,
0:45:41 > 0:45:43a memento of the day's victory.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55The defeat was a huge loss of face for Edward.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59The great English army, the vast, Edwardian war machine
0:45:59 > 0:46:02that had conquered Wales, that was famed throughout Europe,
0:46:02 > 0:46:03had been defeated.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06But hardest of all to swallow was the fact it had been defeated
0:46:06 > 0:46:11by a bunch of peasant amateurs. Scots peasant amateurs, to boot.
0:46:11 > 0:46:12It was at this time
0:46:12 > 0:46:15that Edward first heard the name William Wallace.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19We can be sure of one thing, he'd never forget it.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31'The Scottish nobles were dumbfounded.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34'Now they were forced to rub shoulders with the middling folk
0:46:34 > 0:46:37'to make this man Guardian of Scotland.'
0:46:40 > 0:46:43Murray, the noble who commanded the army with Wallace,
0:46:43 > 0:46:45would have been their preferred choice,
0:46:45 > 0:46:49but his death after Stirling Bridge ruled that out.
0:46:53 > 0:46:54Here at Kirk of the Forest,
0:46:54 > 0:46:57Wallace the outlaw became Sir William Wallace,
0:46:57 > 0:46:59the Guardian of Scotland.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01He was the hero of the hour, for now.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06But despite his victory, there were those who didn't approve
0:47:06 > 0:47:09of a mere commoner being given such a big job.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12After all, what did he know about politics and kings?
0:47:12 > 0:47:14But none of that mattered at the moment.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17What did matter was that he had proved himself in battle
0:47:17 > 0:47:19and his job was only half done.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23Only when John Balliol was restored to the throne
0:47:23 > 0:47:24could Scotland be free.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36Wallace had proved to be Edward's equal in every regard except status.
0:47:36 > 0:47:41He was brutal, he was ruthless, he fought on Edward's terms.
0:47:41 > 0:47:43He played dirty.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46The defeat at Stirling Bridge had angered Edward.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48Now he wanted revenge.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55By July, his vast military machine,
0:47:55 > 0:48:00composed mainly of newly conquered Welsh, crossed into Scotland.
0:48:00 > 0:48:05As Edward advanced north, he encountered a wasted landscape.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07There was no sign of Wallace,
0:48:07 > 0:48:09but he could see his handiwork in every burnt-out farm.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13Weeks passed, there was still no sign of him.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16But then, the logic of Wallace's strategy became obvious.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19Denied food supplies, the English army started to starve,
0:48:19 > 0:48:23and fighting broke out between the English and Welsh infantry.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27Edward's army was close to disintegration
0:48:27 > 0:48:32when it finally arrived at Linlithgow's town walls.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36He realised he might have to abandon the war altogether,
0:48:36 > 0:48:39unless he could find Wallace, and fast.
0:48:41 > 0:48:43'The scouts reported that the Scots army
0:48:43 > 0:48:46'was less than 20 miles away, at Falkirk.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49'Edward force-marched his men until they came upon Wallace.
0:48:49 > 0:48:54'The Scots were dug in - four schiltroms, bristling with spears.'
0:48:54 > 0:48:57Edward's propaganda machine had gone into overdrive.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01The English troops weren't expecting to see Wallace the man,
0:49:01 > 0:49:03rather, Wallace the monster,
0:49:03 > 0:49:06an ogre who would quite literally skin them alive.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10And of course, it was Edward who had unleashed the monster.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14He had unmade Scotland, taking it apart bit by bit,
0:49:14 > 0:49:17and Wallace was the result.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31Edward was unconcerned - it would all be over soon. And it was.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33In a hail of arrows,
0:49:33 > 0:49:36Edward's archers began the slaughter of the infantry.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38It was said the Scots fell
0:49:38 > 0:49:42like blossom in an orchard when the fruit had ripened.
0:49:42 > 0:49:44The cavalry completed the rout.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01'Wallace resigned as Guardian. Scotland descended into five years
0:50:01 > 0:50:05'of exhausting, costly, protracted fighting.'
0:50:05 > 0:50:08Then the Scots lost their ally, the French.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12Alone, they could not defeat Edward.
0:50:12 > 0:50:17It was pointless going on - the Scots sought terms.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21Equally, Edward was tired and old. He was in his 60s,
0:50:21 > 0:50:25and the war was burning a very large hole in his pocket.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28He wanted to draw a line under the whole sorry business.
0:50:28 > 0:50:32But naturally, he wanted that on his own terms.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34He wanted Wallace.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44"As for William Wallace," said Edward,
0:50:44 > 0:50:48"it is agreed that he shall render himself up at the mercy and will
0:50:48 > 0:50:52"of our sovereign lord the King, as it shall seem good to him."
0:50:56 > 0:50:59Wallace's fate was sealed the following month.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01At the St Andrew's Parliament of 1304,
0:51:01 > 0:51:04he was declared an outlaw by the Scots nobles.
0:51:05 > 0:51:10129 landowners took Edward as their liege lord.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16Among their ranks was the man who had helped create Wallace -
0:51:18 > 0:51:23Robert Wishart, the Bishop of Glasgow.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30In truth, the document they signed up to, the Ordinances of 1305,
0:51:30 > 0:51:34marks the completion of the second conquest of Scotland.
0:51:34 > 0:51:36This time, there was no mention
0:51:36 > 0:51:39of a king or a kingdom, merely a land.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00As for Wallace, Edward had singled him out for special treatment.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02No words of peace were offered.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06Wallace must submit to Edward's pleasure.
0:52:06 > 0:52:10Edward played every dirty trick in the book.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13He threatened and blackmailed Wallace's friends,
0:52:13 > 0:52:15forcing them to hunt down the fugitive.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24Finally, Wallace was betrayed.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30On 3rd August 1305, he was seized in a house near Glasgow.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34According to an English source, Wallace was surprised in his bed.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39In the Scots version of what happened,
0:52:39 > 0:52:43Wallace put up a huge fight before he was eventually taken.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51Three weeks later, Wallace stood here, Westminster Hall,
0:52:51 > 0:52:53before Edward's judges.
0:52:53 > 0:52:55The King, ever the master of the law,
0:52:55 > 0:52:59was determined to destroy Wallace's reputation.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02A crown of laurel leaves had been placed on his head,
0:53:02 > 0:53:04to mock, it was said, Wallace's boast
0:53:04 > 0:53:07that one day he would wear a crown.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11As an outlaw, he was already legally condemned -
0:53:11 > 0:53:15no plea, no jury, no witnesses, no defence.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17He was merely presented with the indictment.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22That he had notoriously committed killings, arson,
0:53:22 > 0:53:24destruction of property,
0:53:24 > 0:53:27and sacrilege during the war with England.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30That he had assumed the title of Guardian,
0:53:30 > 0:53:33and seduced the Scots into an alliance with France.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35The charge of treason was an innovation,
0:53:35 > 0:53:38but if it was on the King's Record, then it was law.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41If Edward said he was a traitor, then he was.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43It was only then that Wallace spoke.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47He had never been a traitor. He had never sworn allegiance to Edward.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51Like Scotland, Wallace was trapped by Edward's laws.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54The outcome was a forgone conclusion.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00He suffered a traitor's death.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02There was no Christian burial.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06Wallace's boiled head was spiked on London Bridge
0:54:06 > 0:54:08and his quartered body sent north
0:54:08 > 0:54:10to Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling and Perth
0:54:10 > 0:54:15as an example of the fate that would befall anyone who challenged Edward.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27What are we to make of Wallace?
0:54:27 > 0:54:32What is important is what he became after his death.
0:54:32 > 0:54:36He became a brand, repackaged and rolled out in the centuries to come
0:54:36 > 0:54:40to suit both nationalist and unionist agendas.
0:54:40 > 0:54:46700 years later, the basic vision of a free, independent Scotland,
0:54:46 > 0:54:48for which William Wallace fought,
0:54:48 > 0:54:51still haunts the collective Scots imagination.
0:54:55 > 0:55:00For many, Wallace remains Scotland's greatest patriot.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03But what had he actually achieved?
0:55:04 > 0:55:07In the end, Wallace had failed.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11Scotland's king remained in exile, her nobles under oath.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15Edward I, the Hammer of the Scots, had conquered Scotland.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18You might even say he had turned it into an English region.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21But in his fixation with the crown and the kingdom,
0:55:21 > 0:55:24he'd underestimated the people.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26Edward's determination to crush them
0:55:26 > 0:55:30had served only to define for the Scots who they really were.
0:56:04 > 0:56:09Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd