Sir William Wallace - Stirling Bridge 1297

Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight that gained national relevance during the early years of the First War of Scottish Independence (1296-1328).

After the death of Alexander III of Scotland, the succession to the throne was contested. That led to a period of unrest and almost a civil war. The Scottish nobility invited Edward I of England as arbiter to settle the succession and soon it became clear that the English king planned to transform Scotland into a vassal state, demanding that the nobles swear allegiance to him and asking for troops to serve in his war in France.

An uprising against the English was inevitable. Wallace joined it when he killed the sheriff of Lanark and raided the city of Scone. His highest moment came when, along with Andrew Moray, he successfully led an army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297) and obtained a crushing victory over a more numerous English army.

He was then appointed Guardian of Scotland, but his luck was about to change. He was defeated at the Battle of Falkirk the following year, which led to the resignation of his duties, as his military prestige suffered badly. He was captured in 1305 and sent to London, where he would be tortured and executed. The man was dead, but the legend had just born.

William Wallace is the perfect example of how a historical character can be easily misrepresented by a major motion picture. Dont get us wrong, we have nothing against Mel Gibsons Braveheart, in fact, it is a fantastic movie, but the lack of accuracy around the main character always made us want to do a more correct representation of how he would have looked like.

Also, we took the chance to add an extra head and sword so you can create a generic knight of your choice. To illustrate it, Alfonso Giraldes did a fantastic second boxart using the alternative parts to recreate a Tuscan Knight from the Battle of Campaldino. The possibilities are endless.