Scottish Icons
martes, 24 de julio de 2012
domingo, 22 de julio de 2012
Stirling
In
1297, at Stirling Bridge, a large English force was routed by a much smaller
Scottish army led by Wallace. In England, preparations for a retaliatory
campaign started immediately, but the Scots refused to engage in open battle
again, preferring instead to raid the English countryside in smaller groups.
Nevertheless, the English managed to subdue the country by other means: Wallace
was betrayed. When responding to the treason charge, he stated "I could
not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject." He was publicly executed.
He has just turned 35.
viernes, 20 de julio de 2012
William Wallace
The
relationship between the nations of England and Scotland by the 1280’s was one
of relatively harmonious coexistence. Problems arose only with the Scottish
succession crisis: In the years from 1281 to 1284, Alexander's two sons and one
daughter died in quick succession and two years later King Alexander III died
himself, leaving as heir to the throne of Scotland his granddaughter, the
three-year-old Margaret, “the Maid of Norway”, born in 1283 to Alexander's
daughter Margaret and King Eric II of Norway. It was already agreed that
Margaret should marry King Edward's -then one-year-old- son, (and future Edward
II) but Scotland would remain free of English overlordship. Margaret sailed
from Norway for Scotland in the autumn of 1290 (aged 7), but she fell ill on
the way and died. This left the country without an obvious heir, and led to a
succession dispute.
Even
though as many as fourteen claimants put forward their claims to the title, instead
of fighting to decide which of them should be king, they asked Edward (former
brother-in-law to the late King Alexander III) to arbitrate in the dispute and settle
the question. With the prospect of a
personal union between the two realms, the question had not been of great
importance to Edward before, but now he insisted that, if he were to settle the
contest, he had to be fully recognised as Scotland's overlord. Supported by a
vast English army behind, what could the Scottish nobles do but kneel at the
feet of Edward and promise to be his vassals?
This they did; and so Scotland became a part of Edward's kingdom. In
1292 John Baliol -one of the rivals who claimed the Scottish throne- was made
the “vassal” king, thus asserting Edward’s authority over Scotland.
Soon
after, Edward demanded the Scots to provide military service in his war against
France. But the Scots refused, and instead formed an alliance with France.
Edward responded by invading Scotland. At the bloody Battle of Dunbar, in 1296,
Scottish resistance was crushed. Determined that the Scots should have no more
kings of their own, Edward carried away the sacred stone of Scone, on which all
Kings of Scotland sat when they were crowned, and put it in Westminster Abbey
in London. He also took Balliol prisoner.
But the English triumph would only be temporary.
Resistance soon emerged under the
leadership of the strategically gifted and charismatic William Wallace (1270-1305),
(whose figure is widely recognized nowadays due to the film Braveheart, in
which the Australian actor Mel Gibson plays the main role) [1]
[1] The film won five Academy
Awards at the 68th Academy Awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture
and Best Director). The soundtrack was composed and conducted by James Horner,
and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
miércoles, 18 de julio de 2012
lunes, 16 de julio de 2012
sábado, 14 de julio de 2012
jueves, 12 de julio de 2012
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