Not to forget "Braveheart"
William Wallace (born circa 1270, executed in 1305):
This Scottish freedom fighter called for resistance against
King Edward I. of England who had claimed sovereignty over Scotland and had forced the Scottish King
John de Balliol to abdiction.
In the
Battle of Stirling Bridge Wallace and his men inflicted a crushing defeat to the English combatants, chased them away from Scotland and haunted them as far as Northern England.
But later on Edward defeated William Wallace in the Battle of Falkirk.
William fled, but betrayed by Scottish noblemen, he was captured, brought to London and sentenced to death, after he had refused to swear devotedness to Edward.
Immediately after the "trial," Wallace was taken to the place of execution. He was stripped naked, bound and dragged face down four miles, under the tails of two horses. As he was led to the scaffold, William asked for his psalter to be held open where he could see it.
To ensure Wallace felt the most extreme effects of the sentence, officials made sure William hanged but did not die. While he was still alive, his genitals were cut off with a dull blade. His intestines were cut out and burned in his presence. Only after he had endured torture, beyond human comprehension, he was beheaded. After he died, his body was quartered. The body parts were sent to Newcastle, Stirling, Berwick and Perth, as specified in the sentence.
Stirling received one of his arms. Legend has it that once the flesh deteriorated, monks at Cambuskenneth Abbey buried Williams's arm somewhere on the Abbey's grounds. As one last stroke of defiance, the buried arm was outstretched toward Abbey Craig, the scene of William's great victory against the English at Stirling Bridge.
Stirling, Wallace Monument