Braveheart how much is true

As his legend grows, Wallace fights with all he has to save his home, sacrificing his life to the cause. While the movie definitely delivers an emotional storyline and bloody war — with an R-rating and a three-hour runtime — the inescapable question on most viewers' minds when they watch Braveheart is whether it's based on a true story.

Well, as it turns out, that answer is a little complicated. The main subject of Braveheart is widely accepted by historians as having existed and been a major part of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, but William Wallace's story has grown to legendary proportions in Scottish history. There are a few aspects of his history that people are widely agreed upon, and Braveheart tends to ignore them.

For example, the film depicts Wallace as a farmer and highlander, when in reality, he was actually a member of the gentry — an upstanding social class just below the nobility. Also, the rebellion of the Scots started a year after England invaded, unlike in the film, in which the Scottish people have been under English rule for a long while.

Caroline White of the U. This charge was probably true because he did lead raids into northern England. By the end of August , Wallace was found guilty and drawn and quartered, a death reserved for traitors. Wallace's body parts and head were displayed in different parts of England to make an example against those considering revolting against the English king.

Despite Wallace's death, he is shown as gaining revenge by impregnating the king of England's future consort, Edward II's wife, Isabella of France. In reality, Isabella would have been no older than 9 years of age at this time and not yet married to Edward II. While Edward II is portrayed as effeminate, historical records do indicate he was possibly gay.

But his role in English rule was not significant until after his father's reign. However, because Edward II was a relatively weak king, the Scots did successfully rebel against him. Robert the Bruce, in many ways, was far more successful than William Wallace. He successfully rebelled against England, and Scotland regained its independence under his reign. The Battle of Bannockburn, as suggested by the movie, was a major turning point. Bannockburn was the culmination of years fighting the Scots and English.

Nevertheless, as the movie suggests, the Scots did gain their independence after Edward I's reign. Much of William Wallace's life has now been steeped in myth, where in actuality very little is known about him.

Most of what we know derives from primary accounts center around the battles from and captured in August Nevertheless, William Wallace did, for various reasons, gain symbolic importance. Later stories, such as Exploits and Death of William Wallace , helped create a romantic and tragic character, perhaps more similar to later figures than William Wallace. Nevertheless, the significance of William Wallace is evident to Scotland's national character, where today, many statues and monuments are dedicated to him.

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The life of Sir William Osler. Hamburg: Severus Verl. William Wallace was, we can ascertain with reasonable certainty, born in in Elderslie, Scotland. Unlike the figure portrayed in Braveheart , Wallace was not a commoner but was born into a family of minor aristocracy.

Tradition holds that he was educated by the monks of Paisley Abbey, although simply being literate would not have set him too far apart from a number of his fellow countrymen; in the late 13th century, literacy although still confined to a minority of the population, especially in the countryside was becoming more widespread.

As the son of a minor noble, he would also have been taught something of the arts of combat from an early age. He would have learned the basics of swordsmanship as well as horse riding, although is it not known whether he actually trained as a knight.

Because his father was a landowner, Wallace would likely have had experience hunting and shooting with bows as well. It is also thought that he may have served as a mercenary for a time. The reigning monarch of Scotland at the time was Alexander III, a popular and competent leader whose rule was generally a time of peace and stability. However, things changed rather drastically after his death in Alexander III died without male heirs, and a power struggle between several different factions ensued.

For a time his only descendant — his granddaughter Margaret — sat on the throne, but she died in The struggled continued, with John Balliol claiming the throne of Scotland in It was a time of turmoil, with some Scottish nobles appealing to Edward I nicknamed Longshanks for aid. Edward, an ambitious man, began installing men loyal to him in high positions and bribing prominent Scottish noblemen.

King John, in an act of open rebellion against King Edward, attempted to forge an alliance with the French in He sent an English force to dethrone the king and crush the uprising before it could start. Some suggest that director Mel Gibson changed the name out of concern that Wallace's love interest would be confused with Maid Marion of the Robin Hood legend.

The scene depicting the Battle of Falkirk shows Irish soldiers, originally fighting for the English, switching sides to fight with the Scottish rebels, even greeting them with handshakes on their walk over. This did not happen in any way, shape, or form. There were no Irish at this battle, but it does make the English look like idiots in the movie. Edward II had multiple intimate male relationships during his lifetime, though it's unclear if any were lovers. In the film, though, he's depicted as gay and one of his supposed lovers is thrown from a window by Edward I.

It's possible this person was meant to be Piers Gaveston , a handsome friend to the Prince who was given many titles and lands to the chagrin of England's nobles. Either way, Gaveston did not die falling from a window. No close friend of Edward II is ever said to have died in this manner.

In Braveheart, young William Wallace is taken in by his badass Uncle Argyle, who teaches him Latin and shows him how to be a cultured Scot. This just didn't happen, although the milky-eyed mysterious uncle is a nice cinematic touch. In the film, the trouble in William Wallace's life begins when the men of his Scottish village are called to a meeting with the English that ends up being a trap. All the Scots at the meeting are brutally murdered and young Wallace is traumatized by the image of their corpses.

This atrocity provokes Wallace's father and the other patriarchs in his village to fight back, resulting in his father's death. There is no historical evidence, however, that this treacherous meeting ever happened. Scottish nobles did swear fealty to the king of England, but they weren't killed afterwards, and the Wallaces certainly did not have a connection to any such event.

The immaculate, matching uniforms of the English in the film is not a failure only on Braveheart 's part. To be fair, almost every movie about medieval Europe gets this wrong. The reality would be visually confusing to most movie watchers. In the thirteenth century, soldiers were not wearing matching standards over their chain mail, they were wearing whatever tunics they could find or afford. Some may have worn more particular, family standards, but they did not wear any unified "English Army" colors.

William Wallace Was Not 'Braveheart'. Photo: Paramount Pictures.