Scotland rises again! Enter William ‘Big Bill’ Wallace!

‘But the Scots will not lie still!

With Edward away, Scot leaders go in for the kill!’

Happy with the situation in Scotland, Edward turned his attention to the dispute between himself and the King of France. In fact he was feeling extremely chuffed at what he thought was a repeat performance of his achievement in Wales. For Edward, the channel crossing must have been an almost joyous one, whatever the weather. The celtic fringes of England would come under the complete control of the crown.

He had left Scotland in the care of a triumvirate of three Englishmen: John de Warrenne, the Earl of Surrey, financial guru Hugh de Cressingham and Walter of Amersham.

The arms of Hugh de Cressingham.

Hugh de Cressingham was in charge of the treasury, and greatly angered the Scots by levying high taxes.

‘While Edward was away in France!

The Scots embarked on a bloody and murderous dance!

This would prove a most difficult boil to lance!

Edward had sailed for France convinced that Scotland had been pacified, but he did not count on two men who would cause him great trouble: Robert Bruce and William Wallace. These two men, aided by Andrew Moray of Bothwell, staged a rebellion against the triumvirate.

The first strike was delivered by the intrepid Wallace in May 1297, when he attacked and  killed the English sheriff of Lanark and his men.

William Wallace

Determined to stop this rebellion in its infancy, Surrey and de Cressingham raised a large army and marched northwards to engage the Scottish upstart. They were confident of victory because their army was much larger than Wallace’s. However, the canny Scot had conceived a plan to turn the tables on the English invaders.

The Battle of Sterling Bridge.

The English army had to cross Sterling bridge, which was extremely narrow and therefore made for very slow progress in crossing to the far bank. When around 2,000 of the English host, mainly cavalry had crossed to the far side, Wallace attacked them. The rest of the English army were effectively prevented from coming to their aid, because the bridge only allowed two horsemen to ride abreast at one time. The English horsemen who had crossed the bridge were slaughtered, including de Cunningham, while the craven Surrey cowered on the other side.

The English might well have eventually defeated Wallace, but the inept Surrey ordered the bridge to be destroyed, precluding the chance of an English attack on Wallace and stranding his own men on the far side with absolutely no hope of rescue.

‘Wallace’s action caused the Earl of Surrey

To get into a terrible flurry!

Filled with fear, the noble Earl departed the scene in an enormous hurry!’

It is said that Wallace had de Cressingham’s corpse skinned, and he had a sword belt made out of his enemy’s flesh. Flushed with excitement at the success of his action, Wallace marched south into England, laying waste to all that he saw. It looked as if Edward’s efforts to subjugate Scotland were to end in a terrible failure.

Meanwhile Edward’s war against Philip IV had not been going well and the news from Scotland must have shocked Longshanks. Edward realised that his main priority had to be to be to pacify the Scots. France would have to be left on the backburner while he dealt with what he regarded as a rebellion against his royal authority. He decided to seek a truce with the French and arranged to marry King Philip’s sister, Margaret. The marriage allowed him to leave France and deal with the Scots.

The marriage was undertaken for military and political considerations and the bride was 40 years younger than the groom. Nevertheless, despite the age difference, the union would prove to be a very happy one. When Margaret was widowed at the age of 26 she sought no suitors, and remained a widow for the rest of her days. She is reported to have said:

‘When Edward died, all men died for me.’

Seal of Margaret of France, Queen of England.