August 23rd, 1305
Sir William Wallace (c. 1276 - August 23, 1305) was a Scottish knight who led his countrymen in resistance to English domination in the reign of King Edward I, during significant periods of the Wars of Scottish Independence.
Sir William evaded capture by the English until August 05, 1305, when Sir John de Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to Edward, turned Wallace over to English soldiers at Robroystoun, near Glasgow. Wallace was transported to London and tried for treason at Westminster Hall where he was crowned with a garland of oak to suggest that he was the king of outlaws. He responded to the charge, I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject. The absent John Balliol was officially his king; however, Wallace was declared guilty.
On August 23, 1305, following the trial Wallace was removed from the courtroom, stripped naked and dragged at the heels of a horse to Smithfield Market. He was strangled by hanging, but released near death, emasculated, drawn and quartered, and beheaded, rendering the execution complete at the Elms in Smithfield, London. His head was placed on a pike atop London Bridge, which was later joined by the heads of his brother, John, and Sir Simon Fraser. His limbs were displayed, separately, in Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth. A fictional account of the execution is shown in the 1995 Mel Gibson-film, Braveheart.
