Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 1: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History
History
Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 1: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History
Biography
Meantime, Wallace's success had merely earned him the bitter jealousy
of the Scottish nobles, and his power was finally broken in the
disastrous defeat by Edward's army at Falkirk in July, 1298. The king
had two of his ribs broken by a kick from his horse on the morning of
the battle, but rode throughout the day as if unhurt. The struggle
lingered on some years under various leaders, as Edward found his
energy paralyzed the while by the intrigues of Philip, and the
constitutional struggle with his barons. Pope Boniface, in 1301, put
forth a claim to the over-lordship of Scotland, which was repudiated
by the whole body of the estates at Lincoln. It was not till the June
of 1303 that the king was able to resume his conquest. Accompanied by
a fleet carrying his supplies, he penetrated again into the far North,
tarried a while in Dunfermline, and settled the kingdom after the
reduction of Stirling, the last place of strength that held out. In
1305 Wallace was betrayed into his hands, sent to London, and cruelly
executed as a traitor. The fate of this noble-hearted patriot is a
fatal blot upon his conqueror's memory, but it should not be forgotten
that Edward was profoundly convinced of the legality of his own claims
over Scotland, and that Wallace to him was merely a pestilent rebel,
who had earned his doom by treason to his lord and by the cruelties he
had inflicted upon Englishmen. The same year the king prepared a new
constitution for the conquered kingdom, divided it into sheriffdoms
like the English counties, and made arrangements for the
representation of the Scots in the English parliament--a measure
which, had it been successful, might have anticipated by four
centuries the benefits of the union.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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