William Wallace: History & Facial Reconstructions Revealed | Royalty Now

hello everyone and welcome back to royalty now where we take you through the lives of famous figures from the past and reveal what they may have looked like today we'll be talking about Sir William Wallace his reputation looms large in Scotland and after the 1995 film Braveheart his legacy became known around the globe today we'll attempt to separate the man from fiction and show what he might have looked like so let's go ahead and get started [Music] the core of the story you may know about Sir William Wallace is true he was a man who fought bravely for Scottish Freedom during the first war of Scottish independence but what we really know about William Wallace comes only from a few sources most notably the 15th century writings of a poet called Blind Harry blind Harry claimed that his work was inspired by the personal accounts of one of William Wallace's childhood friends however his narrative doesn't always line up with historical records of the time unfortunately there are many periods of Wallace's life for which no information exists sometime around AED 1270 William Wallace the man before the legend was born his mother was Margaret Crawford a minor noblewoman and according to historians his father was a man named Malcolm of eldersley however according to William Wallace's own seal recovered by historians his father's name was Alan Wallace and he was a member of the nobility as well either way as the Second Son of the Scottish Gentry it was not likely that William would inherit land or title from his father usually second Sons would join the priesthood or take work as a mercenary Wallace seems to have chosen the latter we see on his personal seal that it Bears the Insignia of an Archer William probably received his Early Education from either a monastery or from his maternal uncles who were priests he was well educated speaking French as well as Latin and may have also spoken gallic the country during the time of William Wallace's birth was peaceful thriving under the rule of King Alexander III of Scotland but a terrible sequence of events was about to destroy that peace and change William Wallace's life forever in 1275 Alexander's queen died and over the course of four years all three of his children and heirs also perished he would marry again needing an heir in March of 1286 he had been drinking and celebrating his second marriage and decided to ride through the night to surprise his new bride for her birthday but the weather turned and he was separated from his party in the dead of night Alexander's body wasn't found until the next morning with a broken neck the only remaining Heir for Alexander now was his granddaughter the young Margaret known as the maid of Norway she was proclaimed Queen of Scotland at only three years old unfortunately on her voice to Scotland to be crowned Queen in 1290 she died of an illness before arriving there was now a terrible power vacuum in the Kingdom of Scotland no less than 13 noblemen stepped forward to claim the crown including the two biggest players Robert the Bruce and John baliel this period is now known as the great cause and in an effort to avoid a civil war between them the Scottish Nobles invited the English king Edward the first also known as Edward Longshanks to help arbitrate the succession the move would prove to be an enormous mistake and Edward took the opportunity to assert his authority over Scotland it would only help if all the claimants agreed to recognize him as their feudal Overlord although reluctantly all of the claimants eventually agreed at the end of it all John baliel was named the next King of Scotland but King Edward used his influence to mold balial into a puppet for English interests tired of the repeated humiliation from King Edward a Scottish Council ousted King John baliel and instead made a treaty with France England's sworn enemy for King Edward of England this betrayal was unforgivable and exactly what he had been waiting for after more than a hundred years of peace between England and Scotland Edward the first would begin what would end up becoming 250 years of bitter hatred and bloody Warfare between the two countries he would later come to be known as The Hammer of the Scots I want to take a moment to thank established titles for sponsoring today's episode you can join team royalty now in becoming a lord or Lady of Scotland established titles allows you to buy at least one square foot of dedicated land on a private estate in edelston Scotland my favorite part is that it helps preserve the beautiful woodlands in Scotland and reforestation efforts around the world each order equals one tree planted we received our certificates not long ago and we are so excited it's been so fun showing friends and family and it feels awesome to support a wonderful cause the packages make a great last minute or novelty gift each order comes with a unique plot number so that you can see the exact location of your land the first 200 people purchasing a title pack with our link will actually be really close to our royalty now plot established titles is running a massive early Black Friday sale right now plus if you use the code royalty now you'll get an additional 10 off so head on over to establishtitles.com royaltynow to get your gifts and help support the channel now back to William Wallace in March of 1296 long Shanks raises 30 000 men and marches to invade Scotland 's first stop is the tactically important Border Town of Barrack Scottish historian Walter Bauer writes of the bloody Siege Edwards spared no one whatever the age or sex and for two days streams of blood flowed from the bodies of the slain for in his tyrannous rage he ordered 7 500 Souls of both sexes to be massacred so that Mills could be turned round by the flow of their blood the English troops roamed like ants North through Scotland easily cutting through Scottish resistance Edward installed sheriffs around the country not naming a new king but solidifying his claim to Scotland with this show of force small acts of resistance and violence broke out here and there across Scotland there were pockets of rebellion but no one to unite them [Music] it's here that William Wallace pops into the history books he is first mentioned as an Outlaw by English records in May of 1297 William Wallace and a small group of other Rebels murder the sheriff of lenark supposedly in Rebellion for the English Sheriff killing the woman that Wallace loved this is the Romantic thread that Mel Gibson utilized in the movie Braveheart to spin the origin story for Wallace's anger towards the English but historians disagree on whether or not this woman ever actually existed either way it's the First Act definitively known to have been carried out by Wallace Wallace then seems to join William the Hardy Lord of Douglas indicating and growing and more organized Scottish resistance supposedly using the ancient Scottish Forest as a base for raiding and Guerrilla attacks Wallace's reputation as a Scottish Patriot begins to rise more and more Rebels travel to join him another important figure was working in the north Andrew damore the son of a wealthy Scottish nobleman Maury had already been working for some time against the English fighting with his father at the Battle of Dunbar and even spent a period of captivity in England which he escaped folklore about William Wallace that he was skilled in hand-to-hand combat incredibly Brave massively tall and wild in appearance reached Moray the two naturally joined forces outside of Dundee around September of 1297. by this point the two men had recaptured nearly all of the north and were working their Way South later that same month just as Autumn arrives the English and Scottish forces meet at the Battle of Sterling it's the only battle we know for sure that William Wallace fought in now the English were weakened they had been fighting on two fronts Scottish and French it was the perfect time for the rebels to strike Sterling and its Castle were the perfect strategic choke point whoever controlled Sterling controlled the movement between the North and the South but in the lead-up to the battle the English army was so confident that it would crush the Scottish Rebels that its General Hugh Crossing him decided not only to sleep in but to send some troops home to save money this insult to Wallace would not be taken lightly although the Scottish Army was greatly outnumbered they had a much stronger strategy the English had Cavalry thought to be the most Superior military unit while the Scotsman were only on foot but they used massive phalanx-like Spears to their advantage the rebels used Sterling Bridge the natural choke point of the battle to control movement and Massacre the English forces Hugh de cressingham was killed in the battle giving birth to the legend that his body was flayed by the Scots and William Wallace made a sword belt out of his skin despite the enormous victory of reclaiming Sterling Castle Mori had been Gravely wounded in the battle Moray and Wallace were named guardians of Scotland essentially becoming the Regents of the recaptured land Wallace himself was becoming richer and richer having plundered from the English it was enough funding to gather more and more supporters and larger scale raids were being undertaken by his group sadly in November of 1297 Andrew Murray would die from his wounds in battle true Scottish hero and a man that was essential to the legend that would become William Wallace Wallace was formally knighted at Selkirk a symbol of great respect for the man who was fighting so hard for Scottish freedom Scotland was nearly free if only for a moment but in April of 1298 Edward Longshanks renewed his effort to take back Scotland ordering a second wave of invasion almost 30 000 Welsh and Englishmen were sent rambling through the country trying to bring the Scots to another battle and ultimately trying to capture William Wallace but the Scots now masters of Guerrilla tactics shadowed the English army always avoiding a true battle they were hoping to wait for English supplies to run out and the plan nearly worked there was Strife in the English ranks due to low morale and supplies and Edward himself had to quell internal rebellions however just as the English were planning to flee and resupply King Edward received intelligence of the Scots nearby location at Falkirk he wasted no time Gathering his troops hoping to finally meet the Scotsman on the battlefield while the Scottish Army still had just as many men as they did on Sterling Bridge it was Andrew Murray's strategic mind that was the difference the loss of Murray coupled with Welsh longbowmen fighting for the English the battle was lost almost as soon as the first arrows fell yet somehow William Wallace still finds a way to escape ashamed of all the Scottish lives lost in the battle you would resign as guardian of the realm the Scottish people never stopped seeing him as their leader it's unclear exactly where William goes during these years some say he traveled to France to beg them to assist in the war for Scottish independence others say he traveled to Rome to ask for help there either way he's likely back in Scotland by 1303 continuing to fight for his country's freedom during his years away Robert the Bruce had become the guardian of the realm and the Rebellion had continued to rage but by 1304 the English victories had begun to add up and most Scottish Nobles had submitted to King Edward including Robert the Bruce but Wallace was left out of any peace treaties too dangerous to be kept alive he was a symbol to the Scottish people the living embodiment of Scottish independence and King Edward was determined to make an example out of him in August of 1305 the luck of William Wallace ran out he was seized near Glasgow when Scottish Knight John demonteth betrayed him revealing his location to Edward's men Wallace was brought to London where he was tried at the old Palace of Westminster in Westminster Hall during the trial he uttered the iconic line I could not be a traitor to Edward for I was never his subject on the 23rd of August William Wallace was hung drawn and quartered head was placed on a pike on London Bridge and his limbs sent to strongholds around the country as a grim reminder of what Rebellion against the English would mean but his defiant death would inspire a new Rebellion under Robert the Bruce that would free Scotland plaque at the place of Wallace's execution was erected in the 1950s reading in Latin I tell you the truth freedom is what is best Sons never live life like slaves William Wallace is one of the most celebrated figures in Scottish history and remains a national hero and Legend so what did William Wallace really look like unfortunately there's no existing portrait of William Wallace left for us today that was made from life the closest thing we have to possible accuracy is this sketch made by the 11th Earl of Buchan in the late 18th century the Earl claimed that this sketch was made from a medieval original that's now lost to us it appears that most Engravings and artistic renderings of Wallace are based on this sharing really similar features this one shows him with darker hair and eyes so I've used that for my recreation in absence of other sources unfortunately we also lack contemporary descriptions historian Walter Bauer did write about Wallace in the 14th century saying he was a tall man with the body of a giant cheerful in appearance with agreeable features broad-shouldered and big boned pleasing in appearance but with a wild look with strong arms and legs a most spirited Fighting Man of course we're not exactly sure where Bauer got this description and it's difficult to untangle where the man Wallace ends and the legend of Wallace begins this description could definitely include some folklore the Fearsome giant man but since it's all we have to go on I've integrated this into my depiction in terms of media the prevailing depiction of Wallace comes from the movie Braveheart which is really inaccurate in many respects although I still love the film personally surprisingly the movie gets a lot right about women's medieval clothing and the clothing of the high nobility but where it gets it wrong is in the Scotsman Wallace and other Scotsman would not have worn Kilt at this time as Kilts weren't even worn until the late 1500s the Scottish armies also wouldn't have used the blue face paint That's shown in the movie it's likely that Wallace would have worn a costume typical to a man at Arms chain mail covered by a tunic with a helmet he would have worn a beard and he also would not have worn the full plate armor that's depicted in more modern images of him the statue depicting Wallace in Edinburgh is probably closest to what he would have actually worn so since we have no true images of Wallace this is mostly an artistic interpretation but I hope it gives you a sense of what William Wallace the man could have really looked like so let's take a look at the Recreations now [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Royalty Now Studios

Views: 774,016

Keywords: real face of, what historical figures would look like, true face of, true faces of, real faces of historical figures, true faces of historical figures, what historical figures would look like today, royalty now, roylaty now, william wallace, braveheart, the real braveheart, william wallace speech, william wallace death, william wallace freedom yell, william wallace facts, william wallace biography, braveheart freedom, mel gibson braveheart, scottish history, english history

Id: RCGygEMGx8Q

Length: 18min 3sec (1083 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 23 2022