Braveheart
LIFE WITHOUT FREEDOM IS NO LIFE AT ALL!

William Wallace
William Wallace is a Scottish rebel who leads an uprising against the cruel English ruler Edward the Longshanks, who wishes to take the crown of Scotland for himself.
When he was a young boy, William Wallace's father and brother, along with many others, lost their lives trying to free Scotland. Orphaned, his uncle comes to collect him and grants him a good eduction.

Years later, all grown up, he returns to Scotland to find his old friends. Among them is Murron, who becomes the love of his life. They get married secretly to avoid the right of the nobles to bed with a newly wed woman ("Prima Nocte"). Of course, the English find out and theyr murder Murron.
Wallace swears to run all English out of Scotland and make his homeland for once and for all, along with the assistance of Robert the Bruce, the later king of Scotland.

The Legend: the quest for a free Scotland
The only source of information concerning his early life is a 15th-century biographical poem by the Scottish poet Henry the Minstrel, who was known as Blind Harry. According to this work Wallace was outlawed by the English because of a quarrel that resulted in the death of an Englishman. He subsequently burned an English garrison and led an attack upon the English justiciar, an officer for the king, at Scone in Scotland.
In 1297 his name appeared in a treaty of submission to England that was signed by the Scottish nobles who took part in his rebellion. Wallace captured many English fortresses north of the Forth River.
He was elected to the office of guardian of the kingdom. In 1298 Scotland was invaded by a large English force led by the English king Edward I also known as 'the Longshanks'. On July 22, 1298, Edward defeated Wallace's army in the Battle of Falkirk, and Wallace was forced into hiding. He lived in France for a while but returned and was captured near Glasgow by the Scottish knight Sir John de Menteith. He was brought to London, tried for treason, and executed.

The battle of Bannockburn
The Battle of Bannockburn was a historic battle between Scottish and English armies, fought near Bannockburn on June 24, 1314, during the Scottish war of independence against England. The battle began when the Scottish forces, about 40,000 troops under the command of Robert de Bruce intercepted an army of about 60,000 commanded by Edward the Longshacks.
The English forces were en route to the relief of a besieged English stronghold, Stirling Castle. After inconclusive skirmishing between patrols of the two armies, the English launched a mass attack, led by cavalry, on the Scottish positions. De Bruce, however, had prepared the ground before his lines with a series of deep, camouflaged pits. The mounted English troops blundered into the pits and were slain by Scottish pikemen. In the fighting that followed, the English army was decisively defeated, losing an estimated 10,000 men. The Battle of Bannockburn is considered the victory by which Scottish independence was won.

Robert de Bruce
Robert de Bruce (1274-1329) was the liberator and, as Robert I, king of Scotland (1306-1329). He was originally named Robert de Bruce but he is also called Robert the Bruce.
As earl of Carrick he paid homage to King Edward I of England, who, in 1296, defeated King John de Baliol and thereafter refused to acknowledge another king of Scotland. Bruce later abandoned Edward's cause and joined other Scottish leaders in taking up arms for the independence of his country.
In 1299, the year after the Scottish patriot Sir William Wallace was defeated by Edward at Falkirk, De Bruce (then still in favor with Edward) was made one of the four regents who ruled the kingdom in the name of Baliol. In 1305 he was one of those consulted in the decision to make Scotland a province of England. De Bruce proclaimed his right to the throne, and on March 27, 1306, he was crowned king at Scone. De Bruce was deposed, however, in 1307 by Edward's army and forced to flee to the highlands and then to the little island of Rathlin on the coast of Antrim (now in Northern Ireland). In his absence all his estates were confiscated, and he and his followers were excommunicated. He continued to recruit followers, however, and in less than two years he wrested nearly all of Scotland from the English. De Bruce again defeated the English in 1314 in the Battle of Bannockburn, twice invaded England, and in 1323 concluded with King Edward II of England a truce for 13 years. After the accession of King Edward III in 1327, war again broke out, and the Scots won again. In 1328 they secured a treaty recognizing the independence of Scotland and the right of De Bruce to the throne.