Crawford (ed.), Church, Chronicle and Learning in Medieval and Early Renaissance Scotland: Essays presented to Donald Watt (Edinburgh, 1999), passim. Worth a look if this approach seems interesting.1 Some of what follows is drawn from Cowan, ‘The Wallace Factor in Scottish History’, in Robin Jackson and Sydney Wood (eds.), Images of Scotland, The Journal of Scottish Education, Occasional Paper Number One’, 5–17, and Cowan, Freedom, 20–9, 72–6.ģ On which see Dauvit Broun, ‘A new look at Gesta Annalia attributed to John of Fordun’ in Barbara E. However, by trying to carry out a more rigorous analysis, the reader gets a sense of some of the deeper issues related to William Wallace. The book is written in a more academic manner it is densely footnoted. This book goes beyond popular culture and examines Wallace from a more academic perspective.Ĭhapters consider such issues as the sparse record of known Wallace writing (a miniscule number of these exist) an assessment of what we do and do not know about Wallace an examination of the battle of Stirling Bridge, an extraordinary victory by Wallace and his followers against an English force an examination of the relevance of Blind Hary's work 'Wallace' (Blind Hary authored a version of the story of Wallace, and there is disagreement over how seriously this work should be taken) the lack of a significant material culture of artifacts associated with Wallace the so-called Wallace Sword and so on.

The movie 'Braveheart' reminded many people of the Scottish hero. Too dangerous perhaps for his own era, he became the supreme Scottish hero of all time the archetypal Scot who would teach kings and nobles where their duty lay, and who would live free or freely die for the liberty of his nation. His reputation, from the time of his horrendous execution to the present, is examined to ascertain what the figure of Wallace meant to different generations of Scots. Eventually, his legend overtook the historical reality, a process which has continued for centuries as manifested in modern media and film.Ī team of leading historians and critics from both Scotland and England investigate what is known of the medieval warrior's career from contemporary sources, most of which, unusually for a national hero, were created by his enemies. Yet, Wallace was reviled, opposed and eventually betrayed by the nobility in his own day to re-surface in the epic poetry of the fifteenth century as a champion and liberator. Through his personality, ingenuity and ability, he initiated a resistance movement which ultimately secured the nation's freedom and independence.

The Wallace Book by Edward J. Cowan