V

ROBERT THE BRUCE

VS
WILLIAM WALLACE
The two greatest Scots battling
to be the best Scottish Hero Yet

The Wars of Independence

Both Robert and William were both involved
in the wars of independence. The wars of
independence were when Scotland and
England went to war with each other
because England wanted control of
Scotland. England had always been
interested in Scotland but could never do
anything about it until Scotland’s royal
family’s blood line ended and Scotland was
left without a king. Edward the king of
England began to corrupt Scotland first by
“helping” them to choose a king before
trying to make Scotland attack France
Scotland’s own ally. After this Scotland tried
to stop Edward’s nonsense finally saying no
to him. This got Edward angry who
immediately sent his army into Scotland.
After many years Scotland was left slowly
being defeated and in hiding left without
hope.

This was where William Wallace came into

the picture.
 William Wallace

Wallace came into Scottish history very

suddenly and mysteriously. All we know is he
came from a rich background and was a very
talented young man. When Wallace came he
changed everything for Scotland. He grew a
small army of outlaws who refused to abide to
English rule like him and trained them into an
army. This army started to use hit and run
tactics killing some of the English army then
running. Soon news of Wallace had spread
around the whole of Scotland and he with his
army had suddenly brought hope to Scotland.
Wallace knew he soon had to meet the English
army in a full scale battle and they soon did at
the battle of Stirling Bridge. Even though
England had the numbers, Scotland had the
tactics and beat England making great use of
the bridge letting some army through then
slaughtering the now funnelled forces. William
though did not see his dream of a free
Scotland. He was captured at the battle of
Falkirk when a new larger and more wary army
slaughtered the Scottish. Wallace was then
taken to London where he was hung, drawn
then quartered.

This was when Robert the Bruce came into the

picture.

Robert the Bruce

Robert the Bruce first came into Scotland’s

eye as a contender to the Scottish throne. He
was up against John Comyn for the title of
king. Violence came between the supporters of
the two contenders as the two contender’s
attitude towards each other dived. They
decided to meet in a church where they
would discuss their new found hatred for each
other. Inside we don’t know exactly what
happened but all we know is that after a
disagreement Comyn was dead. In those times
spilling blood in a church was very serious and
it caused Robert to be hated by most
Christians. It did mean Robert was king though
and his first job was a battle against the
English. The battle was a total defeat and
Robert the Bruce fled to a cave where he
supposedly found a spider who kept on trying
to make his web till eventually he succeeded.
Robert the Bruce was inspired by this and
returned full of confidence. This confidence
was finally tested in the battle of
Bannockburn. Unbelievably Bruce’s army
slaughtered the English side at their full ability
open ground. In this battle Scotland made
history as the first ever army to beat a side
with a much stronger cavalry. This battle
proved the final nail in the coffin for the
English attempt to conquer Scotland. Scotland
was saved.

Who Is The Winner?

It always had to be Wallace even though he

wasn’t the one who ended the wars, he was
the one who inspired Scotland to fight, gave
them hope and gave them a chance. It was
also Wallace who let Bruce even come into
to the war and let there be a chance after
his passing. Robert the Bruce was still
important but his run in with the church and
shaky beginnings ruined his chances of
becoming the Scot legend.

Conclusion
Wallace was important as the man who
inspired Scotland, the man who tore down
the giants of England, while Robert the
Bruce was important as the man who
finished the wars the king who finally
defeated the English chances of beating
Scotland. Wallace was the better one
though as he was the one who started it and
“gave his life but not his freeeedom”!!!