Intro.
William Wallace, just the mere mention of his name conjures up scenes from Mel Gibson’s Braveheart Movie. He has reached legendary status, in part because of the movie. I’ll explore who William Wallace was and try to shed some more light on his sword, now known as ‘The Wallace Sword’, and the possibility of it playing it’s part at the famous Battle of Stirling Bridge.
A Brief Summary of Social Structure at the Time of William Wallace.
Where was William Wallace born?
William Wallace was born in Elderslie, a village in Renfrewshire, about 15km West of Glasgow. Exactly when he was born wasn’t documented but according to history it must have been somewhere around the mid to late 1270’s. This would have put him in his 20’s at the battle of Stirling Bridge.
The Battle of Stirling Bridge in relation to Williams Birthplace.
You can see by this map that the battle wasn’t far from where he was born. Actually it’s about 33km North West of Glasgow. If you were in Perth, WA, that would be like traveling from Perth to Quinns Rocks, or for our cousins in North America twice the distance from LAX to downtown Los Angeles, for punch up! :0)
Medieval Scottish Background & The Famous Battle.
All this took place in the late medieval era when Scotland was mostly still living with a feudal existence. There were kings, Knights & Lords romping around the place exerting their authority over people. They had control over big lumps of land and pretty much ran the show.
The clergy of the day had a bit of a say but nothing in comparison to the nobility and then there were the peasants who, just like today, were working the land and doing various trades, they had no say in the matter of social and economic rules and regulations.
At the time of The Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297) and beyond into the late 13th and early 14th centuries was time of Political Punch Ups. The war for Scottish Independence seemed to be the cause of most of this disharmony among it’s citizens. Disputes over land often created skirmishes between Scottish and English forces.
Cultural Stability.
King John Balliol was in charge of things at the time of the historic battle at Stirling, but during the 40 to 50 years prior to Balliol waving his fists around, King Alexander III was making the decisions of the day. He seemed to have a lucky time of it when Scotland was going through a bit of an academic streak. There were chroniclers, poets and literary people recording history as they saw it. It was regarded as a time of stability, a time for people to take a breath and regain some composure within society.
Religious Influence.
We can’t talk about Scotland without mentioning the role of religion. This is not something I’m particularly interested in but it’s still important in the story of William Wallace. Christianity was in full swing playing an important role in peoples lives. At this time the church had a lot of power and influence to society. People were very aware of the connection certain Christian leaders had with the political figure heads of the day. As well as people needing spiritual guidance, the churches, monasteries and abbeys were there to provide various areas of teaching and encourage peoples devotion to certain religious practices, to encourage piety within the population.
In a Nutshell.
As already stated this era is within the late middle ages period. Things were slowly changing at this time. Generally speaking the middle ages is regarded to have started at around the fall of the Western end of The Roman Empire and went through until the start of the Renaissance of the 14th century.
At the turn of the 1300’s it was all happening in Scotland, feudalism was alive and well, there were kings trying to gain more power, landowners grabbing more land, politicians like Robert the Bruce were also on the scene having their say for their independence from the English. Your average folk like farm laborers and Jo Blow the market trader were trying to scratch a living in amongst it all.
As time went on into the 14th century the Catholic Church began to gain traction and power, artists flourished as time saw an evolution from a medieval to a renaissance culture.
Meanwhile back in Scotland
Somewhere around the mid 1280’s to mid 1290’s a blacksmith/bladesmith/swordmaker lit his forge with a special task in mind. He was to make a sword that may well find itself steeped in history and become part of a legend. The sword was to be made for a special warrior, William Wallace.
He toiled night and day. He carefully forged the steel into a sword with a 4 feet 4 inches (132 cm) cutting edge. He wanted to make a perfect sword for a warrior who was going into battle at Stirling Bridge. William wanted a blade which was 2.25 (5.7 cm) inches at it’s widest, at the guard area and he wanted it to be .75 inches (1.9 cm) wide at the tip. William also wanted it to be around 5.95 pounds in weight (2.7 kg) so he could get a good swing at the heads of those English soldiers. The total length of the sword including a two handed hilt is 5’4″ inches (163 cm). It turned out perfectly for William.
Historical Accuracy.
… ha, as you will know I have taken a little artistic license here. Actually nothing is known of who made the sword. Moreover, there is great doubt about whether or not this sword was actually used by William Wallace at the famous battle. Historians and experts have stated various scenarios regarding the history of the sword but there is very little written about it.
What do we know? …and where was the sword kept between Wallaces death and 1505?
The seem to be two written references that survive which mention The Wallace Sword. One in 1505 and another in 1875.
The one in 1505 states that at the request of King James IV of Scotland an armourer was engaged to replace the wrap or binding of the hilt and make a new pommel, scabbard and belt. For this apparently he was paid 26 shillings. Whats that worth in todays money? Apparently, according to National Archive Currency Coverter, in 1510 26 shillings could buy two cows. Assuming they are fully grown cows this would be worth over AU$1000 in todays money, that’s quite a bit of cash eh!
One reason put forward for the hilt binding to be replaced with silk is because after Wallaces Victory at The Battle of Stirling Bridge, he used the skin of Sir Hugh de Cressingham and bound his hilt and scabbard with it and also made the swords belt from it.
Really? Well this is what the legend seems to be saying. However I doubt that, if any of you have done leather-work you would know that it’s possible to use human skin to ‘wrap’ something with it, I may be wrong but I very much doubt that a belt could be made from it.
A website run by The Wallace Monument seems to think the sword was kept in Dunbarton Castle until King James showed up and ordered the repairs to be done.
Side Note of Personal Interest: Sir Hugh de Cressingham was working for the English administration based in Scotland at the time. He was an advisor to John de Warenne, the 6th Earl of Surrey. This is the very same Shire in the UK that i’m from :o)
1825.
There are written records which state that the sword was sent to the tower of London to be repaired. All I can find regarding the repairs seem to be that the fittings added in 1505 were removed and handle typical of the 15th century added.
What Steel is the Sword Constructed of?
The guard, quillon & pommel are described as being made of steel. In that case it’s probably made of the same steel as the blade. There are many quillons on swords that are made from wrought iron it could be the case with Williams sword, to me it looks like different steel as it has a different color. The handle has a base material of wood but there is speculation as to whether there was originally some kind of wrap around it or left as a wood finish. The blade itself is undoubtedly made of carbon steel.
Will this Spoil The Party?
Here is where a shadow is cast over the Wallace Sword and was it used at the legendary Battle of Stirling Bridge? Here’s the thing, the quillon, guard & pommel may well have been entirely replaced in 1505. Some experts say that the blade seems to be made up of 3 separate pieces of steel forge welded together at some point in it’s history.
So if the guard, quillon & pommel have been added or are replica parts from the original and 2/3 of the blade isn’t the original blade what do we have left? What we have left is not really William Walaces Sword! Perhaps the wood on the hilt is original!
My Take on It.
For me even if only 1/3 of the blade is original and it was present at The Battle of Stirling Bridge, perhaps William Wallace himself has wielded that part of it over the heads of English soldiers, that’s enough for me. Being more pragmatic about it, it’s what the sword represents rather than incessantly trying to prove it’s provenance at the many battles William Wallace is meant to have taken part in.
One day I shall travel to the Wallace Monument and see for myself what spirit lies within the glass case of that famous sword.
As allays, happy camping :o)