William Wallace met Edward I at Falkirk in a battle for Scottish independence.
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The Battle of Falkirk William Wallace met Edward I at Falkirk in a battle for Scottish independence. |
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The Battle of Falkirk
The Scots asked Edward to mediate between the various claimants to the throne. Edward was scrupulously fair in his arbitration, but he extracted oaths of fealty from all the claimants. The two men with the best claims were John Balliol and Robert Bruce. Edward chose Balliol, and immediately began to show that he intended to manipulate his choice at every opportunity. Balliol rebelled, and allied with France. Furious, Edward marched north, took Balliol prisoner, and occupied Scotland. William Wallace raised the Scots in revolt again, and routed the English under the Earl of Surrey at Stirling Bridge. Edward marched north and met Wallace's men at Falkirk. The Battle Now Edward unleashed his own new tactic, the longbow. His bowmen poured a rain of arrows upon the Scots, and opened huge gaps in the schiltron. The damage done, the English cavalry crushed the Scottish force. Wallace and his barons escaped, but the carnage among the pikemen was terrible. The Result The longbow dominated European warfare for the next two centuries, and its devastating power helped the English to later triumphs at Crecy and Agincourt. More British Battles
History
Prehistory | Roman Britain | Dark Ages | Medieval Britain | The Tudor Era | The Stuarts | Georgian Britain | The Victorian Age Article and images © 2004
David Ross |
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July 22, 1298 
Falkirk, Stirlingshire
English troops under Edward I vs. Scots under William Wallace
The roots of the conflict lie many years before. King Alexander of
Scotland died mysteriously in 1286, leaving the child Margaret of
Norway as his heir. Edward I extracted a promise of marriage between
Margaret and his own son, but when Margaret died on her way back to
Scotland there was no obvious heir. 