Capture and Execution of William Wallace is in 1300-1309 Scottish Succession.
On 5th August 1305 William Wallace was handed over to the English forces by John Menteith (age 30) at Robroyston, Glasgow.
On 23rd August 1305 William Wallace was hanged, drawn and quartered at the Elms in Smithfield [Map]. His head being displayed on London Bridge [Map].
On 8th April 1956 a plaque was unveiled on the wall of St Bartholomew's Hospital near to the site of his execution the text of which reads ...
To the immortal memory of Sir William Wallace Scottish patriot born at Elderslie Renfrewshire circa 1270 A.D. Who from the year 1296 fought dauntlessly in defence of his country's liberty and independence in the face of fearful odds and great hardship being eventually betrayed and captured brought to London and put to death near this spot on the 23rd August 1305.
His example heroism and devotion inspired those who came after him to win victory from defeat and his memory remains for all time a source of pride, honour and inspiration to his Countrymen.
"Dico tibi verum libertas optima rerum nunquam servili sub nexu vivito fili"
Translation: I tell you the truth, son, freedom is the best condition, never live like a slave
"Bas Agus Buaidh" aka Death and Victory, a traditional Scottish battle cry.
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Illustrations of Scottish History. The following account of the capture and execution of Wallace is transcribed from the Arundel MS. 220, fol. 287, b. From internal evidence the volume appears to have been written about the year 1320, or shortly after.
In the year 1305 [5th August 1305], William Wallace was captured. He had first been a scoundrel and a thief, and later, during the Scottish war, was made a knight by the Scots and became their leader. He invaded Northumbria, which he largely burned, including even the noble church of Hexham. However, he was captured in the house of a certain Rowe Ra by Lord John of Menteith and brought to London by Lord John de Segrave. There, having received judgment, he was first drawn as a traitor, then hanged as a thief, then, while still alive, cut down and beheaded as a banished man. Afterward, he was disemboweled and his entrails were burned, just as he had burned churches full of men and women. Then his body was divided into four parts, just as he had wished to divide the people of Scotland from their king, Edward. His head was placed on display in London on the bridge; his right hand on the bridge at Newcastle upon Tyne above the public latrines; his right foot at Berwick; his left hand at Stirling; and his left foot at Perth, that is, the town of St. John.
Anno MCCC quinto, captus est Willelmus Waleys, qui primo fuit ribaldus et latro, et postea in guerra Scociae factus miles a Scotis, et ductor eorum factus, intravit Northumbriam, quam pro magna parte conbussit, sed etiam illam nobilem ecclesiam de Exilsham. Captus autem erat in domo cujusdam Rowe Ra per dominum Johannem de Menethet, et ductus Londonias per dominum Johannem de Segrave, ibique accepto judicio, ibique primo tractus tanquam traytour, postea suspensus tanquam latro, et vivus post deorsum dimissus decapitatus est tanquam forbannitus, deinde exentratus et viscera sua combusta sunt, sicut et ipse ecclesiam hominum et mulierum conbusserat. Post hoc in quatuor partes divisus, sicut et ipse gentem Scottorum voluit a rege suo Edwardo divisisse, caputque ejus suspensum est Londoniis super pontem, manus dextra super pontem apud Novum Castrum super Tynam ultra cloacas communes, pes dexter apud Berewyk, manus sinistra apud Strivelyn, et pes sinister apud Perth, id est villam Sancti Johannis.
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The Ancient Kalendars and Inventories Volume 1. After 5th August 1305. In the hanaper, among the rods, at such a sign.
Certain letters from Philip, King of France, John, King of Scotland, and Haakon, King of Norway, granting safe-conduct to William Wallace in their respective kingdoms, for travel to and from. Also included were some letters of ordinance and confederation made for the said William by certain magnates of Scotland. These letters were found with William Wallace when he was captured, and they were brought to the King (of England) at Kingston [by Sir John de Segrave].
In hanapio de virgis ad tale signu.
46. Quedam lre Phi Regis Franc, Johis Reg Scoc t Haqini Reg Norwag de conductu p eosdem Reges Willo le Waleys concesso in regnis eodem Regū eundo t redeundo cu quibʒd lřis de ordinacoibʒ t confederacoibʒ p quosdam Magnates Scoc psato Willo sce que lre invente suunt cu eodm Willo qando capt fuit t Dno R apud Kyngeston apportate [p Dnm J. de Segave.]
Documents Illustrative of the Life of William Wallace Chapter 20. Memoranda respecting measures on the apprehension of Sir William Wallace.1
After 5th August 1305.
1. The Bishop of Chester, of Worcester... the Bishop of St... the Bishop of Worcester... the Earl of... Sir Adam Gurdon.
2. The letter to Sir Miles de Stapelton, William of [Berwick?], Renaud, etc., that they remit the sums.
3. Item: the letter from Mary, daughter of B[ernard or someone else—uncertain].
4. To remember the 40 marks that ought to be given to a valet who spied on William Wallace.
5. Item: the 60 marks that ought to be given to others, and the King wills that these 60, which were from the taking of the said William, be divided among them.
6. Concerning the letter: that is to say, the one by J. de Meneteth.
7. Concerning the appointment of those who will be in the Scottish business, etc.
8. Item: concerning the credit/validation of the letters, etc.
9. Item: concerning the writings from Scotland, etc., and the memoranda.
1. L Euesq de Cestř de Wyrecestř .... l Euesq de Seint .... l Euesq de Wyrecestr .... le Conte de .... Mons Ad Gurdon.
2. La lre a Mofs Mil de Stapelton Will de .... rgh .... Renaud &c. t q il remandet les somes.
3. It de la lre Marie fil B.
4. Fait a remembrer des XL mars q deyvent estre dones a un Vallet q espia Will le Waleys.
5. It de les LX mars q deyvent estre donez as autres , t le Roi voet q ces .... LX .... qui feurent a la pise du dit Willa p ptir entre eus
6. D la tre. cest assav c li p J. de Meneteth .
7. D smet de ceaux q sront au fail d Escoce &c.
8. It de la creance des lres &c.
9. It des escritz d Escoce &c . t des rembances.
Note 1. On a small pannel, written in a very loose manner. The first paragraph is written transversely, the others horizontally. The document appears to be a series of memoranda of business to be brought before the notice of the Parliament or Privy Council . It is here printed from the work last quoted, p. 295.
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Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke [-1360]. In this year [23rd August 1305], William Wallace of Wales was drawn, hanged, and beheaded1 at London, having previously committed many crimes against the English in Scotland and the surrounding regions.
Hoc anno fuit subtractus, suspensus, et decapitatus Willelmus of William Wallace. Waleys apud Londonias, qui prius contra Anglicos in Scocia et partibus finitimis multa facinora perpetravit.
Note 1. In the Annales Londonienses (printed in Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II, Stubbs, Rolls Series, 1882, p. 139) It is also printed in Documents illustrative of Sir William Wallace, ed. Stevenson for the Maitland Club, 1841; and Stow incorporated a translation of it in his Annals. Wallace was executed on the 23rd August 1305.
Lanercost Chronicle. [23rd August 1305] William Wallace was captured by a certain Scot, to wit, Sir John de Menteith, and was taken to London to the King, and it was adjudged that he should be drawn and hanged, beheaded, disembowelled, and dismembered, and that his entrails should be burnt ; which was done. And his head was exposed upon London Bridge, his right arm on the bridge of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, his left arm at Berwick, his right foot at Perth, and his left foot at Aberdeen.
The vilest doom is fittest for thy crimes,
Justice demands that thou shouldst die three times.
Thou pillager of many a sacred shrine,
Butcher of thousands, threefold death be thine!
So shall the English from thee gain relief,
Scotland! be wise, and choose a nobler chief.
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Langtoft's Chronicle Volume 2. [23rd August 1305] We have heard news, among companions,
Of William Wallace, the master of thieves;
Sir John de Meneteith followed him at his heels,
Took him in hiding by the side of his concubine;
Carried him to London in shackles and bonds,
Where he was judged on the following conditions:
In the first place to the gallows he was drawn for treasons,
Hanged for robberies and slaughters;
And because he had annihilated by burnings,
Towns and churches and monasteries,
He is taken down from the gallows, his belly opened,
His heart and his bowels burnt to cinders,
And his head cut off for such treasons as follow:
Because he had by his assumptions of authority
Maintained the war, given protections,
Seized into his subjection the lordship
Of another's kingdom by his usurpations.
His body was cut into four parts;
Each one hangs by itself, in memory of his name,
In place of his banner these are his gonfanons.1
Note 1. 'gonfanons' i.e. 'pennants'. The poem is suggesting his body parts are his banners.
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John of Fordun's Chronicle. 116. Death of William Wallace
In the year 1305, William Wallace was craftily and treacherously taken by John of Menteith (age 30), who handed him over to the king of England (age 66); and he was, in London, torn limb from limb, and, as a reproach to the Scots, his limbs were hung on towers in sundry places throughout England and Scotland.
Annals Londonienses. On the following day, Monday [23rd August 1305], the eve of Saint Bartholomew, he was led on horseback to Westminster. Sir John de Segrave and Sir Geoffrey de Segrave, along with the mayor, sheriffs, and aldermen of London, escorted and accompanied him, riding in procession with many others. In the Great Hall at Westminster, he was placed on the southern bench and was crowned with laurel leaves—because he had once claimed, as was commonly reported, that he ought to have worn a crown in that very hall. Immediately, he was called to judgment and was charged by Lord Peter Malory, justice of the King of England, as a traitor to the same king. Wallace replied that he had never been a traitor to the King of England, though he did admit to other charges brought against him. At length, the said Peter, together with the other justices, pronounced sentence, in the following terms:
In crastino vero, qui dicitur dies Lune in vigilia Sancti Bartholomæi, ductus fuit equitando apud Westmonasterium; Johannes de Segrave et Galfridus de Segrave milites, major, vicecomites et aldermanni Londoniarum eum sequentes ac ducentes, cum pluribus aliis eundo et equitando, et in aula magna Westmonasterii super scamnum australe positus, ac cum foliis lauri coronatus; pro eo quod ipse asseruit, tempore prewterito, coronam in eadem aula portare deberet, sicut vulgariter dicebatur. Statim ipso vocato ad judicium, et per dominum Petrum Maluree, justitiarium domini regis Angliæ, pro traditore ejusdem regis aggressus; qui respondit se nunquam traditorem regis Anglisiæ fuisse, sed alia crimina sibi imposita concessit. Tandem dictus Petrus cum aliis justitiariis decrevit judicium, serie qua sequitur:
All About History Books
The Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.
Documents Illustrative of the Life of William Wallace Chapter 28. 23rd August 1305. It is adjudged that the aforesaid William [William Wallace], for the manifest sedition which he committed against his lord the king by feloniously plotting to kill him, by carrying the banner against his liege lord in mortal battle, and by attempting the annulment and overthrow of his crown and royal dignity, shall be drawn from the palace at Westminster to the Tower of London, and from the Tower to Aldgate, and thus through the middle of the city to Smithfield (Elmes), and for the robberies, murders, and felonies which he committed in the kingdom of England and the land of Scotland, he shall be hanged there, and afterwards cut down. And because he was outlawed, and was never restored to the king's peace, he shall be beheaded and decapitated. And afterwards, for the immense vileness he committed against God and Holy Church by burning churches, vessels, and reliquaries in which the body of Christ and the bodies and relics of the saints were placed, his heart, liver, lungs, and all his internal organs, from which such perverse thoughts proceeded, shall be cast into the fire and burned. And also, because he committed the aforesaid sedition, depredations, arsons, murders, and felonies not only against his lord the king but against all the people of England and Scotland, the body of the said William shall be cut and divided into four quarters, and his head thus severed shall be set upon London Bridge in view of those passing by both by land and by water, and one quarter shall be hung on the gibbet at Newcastle upon Tyne, another quarter at Berwick, a third quarter at Stirling, and the fourth quarter at St. John's Town (Perth), as a warning and punishment to all who pass by and see them, etc.
Consideratum est quod prædictus Willelmus pro manifesta seditione quam ipsi domino regi secerat felonice machinando, in mortem ejus perpetrando, annulationem et enervationem coronæ et regiæ dignitatis suæ vexillum contra dominum suum ligium in bello mortali deferendo, detrahatur a palatio Westmonasterii ussque Turrim London, et a Turri usque Allegate, et sic per medium civitatis usque Elmes, et pro roberiis et homicidiis et feloniis, quas in regno Angliæ et terra Scotia fecit, ibidem sufsendatur et poftea devaletur. Et quia utlagatus fuit, nec postea ad pacem domini regis restitutus, decolletur et decapitetur. Et postea pro immensa vilitate, quam Deo et sacrosanctæ ecclesiæ fecit comburendo ecclesias, vasa et feretra, in quibus corpus Christi et corpora sanctorum et reliquiæ eorundem collocabantur, cor, epar, et pulmo et omnia interiora ipsius Willelmi, a quibus tam perversæ cogitationes processerunt, in ignem mittantur et comburentur. Et etiam, quia non solum ipsi domino regi, sed toti plebi Angliæ et Scotiæ, prædicta seditionem, deprædationes, incendia, et homicidia et felonias fecerat, corpus illius Willelmi in quatuor quarteria scindatur et dividatur, et caput sic abscissum assedatur super pontem London, in conspectu tam per terram quam per aquam transeuntium, et unum quarterium suspendatur in gibetto apud Novum Castrum super Tynam, aliud quarterium apud Berewyk, tertium quarterium apud Stryvelyn, et quartum quarterium apud Villam Sancti Johannis, in metum et castigationem omnium prætereuntium et ea conspicientium, & c.
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Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trevet [1258-1328]. [23rd August 1305] The King of England, having settled affairs in Scotland, returned to England, leaving behind the noble knight John de Segrave as guardian of the land. William Wallace, who had stirred up Scotland, was captured and brought to London; and there, having been judicially condemned, he was drawn, hanged, and finally beheaded. His head was placed on a high pole in London, in a prominent place; his body was sent to Scotland, divided into four parts, which were hung in various locations to serve as a warning to others.
Rex Angliæ, ordinatis rebus Scotiæ, revertitur in Angliam, Joanne de Segrave, milite nobili, custode terre relicto. Willelmus Waleis, qui Scotiam commoverat, captus Londonias ducitur; et ibidem judicialiter condemnatus, trahitur, sus- penditur, et ultimo decollatur: cujus caput Londoniis in loco eminenti figitur super palum; corpus vero in Scotiam transmissum, divisum est in quartas, que ad aliorum terrorem in diversis partibus suspenduntur.