The original portrait of william wallace
In later generations, william wallace's literary and artistic works are generally regarded as savage heroes of folk origin. But in fact Wallace came from a wealthy knight family in western Scotland. In A.D. 1296, Wallace became an enemy of the Plantagenet Dynasty by attacking and killing tax collectors sent by Edward. Of course, it is only a legend that the tax collector and Wallace have "the revenge of taking away his wife", but Edward's high taxes on all walks of life in Scotland are tantamount to "the revenge of killing his father". Therefore, Wallace's ascent was immediately echoed by all parts of Scotland.
Edward, who was busy dealing with French king Philip IV, didn't care about the uprising led by Wallace at first. Only two Ors were sent to assemble an English and Scottish aristocratic alliance of more than 7,000 people to suppress it. The two armies confronted each other on the Stirling Bridge across the Fox River. At that time, Stirling Bridge was just a small bridge that only allowed two horses to cross side by side. Therefore, in the face of the commanding heights on the north bank of the river, the British army should not take the initiative to attack Wallace's troops. However, the huge financial pressure caused by the long-term confrontation made the British commander decide to launch a frontal attack on the morning of September 1297+0 1.
Battle of stirling bridge
With the help of longbowmen in England and Wales, the regular troops of Plantagenet dynasty quickly broke through Wallace's bridgehead defense, but the follow-up troops made slow progress on the crowded bridge. Wallace captured the fighter plane and ordered the Scottish lancers in the array to charge Stirling Bridge from the highlands. Just as the British cavalry crossing the river fell into each other's pike and suffered heavy casualties, the overburdened Stirling Bridge suddenly broke. The British army in a dilemma immediately fell into a fish-like dilemma.
After Stirling Bridge destroyed the main force of the Plantagenet Dynasty, Wallace immediately marched into northern England, captured and looted Yorkshire. Edward realized the seriousness of the problem and sent governors from all over England and Wales to the north to face Wallace. Facing the Plantagenet army, Wallace rationally chose to retreat to the interior of Scotland and gather more reinforcements in the central city of Falcock. Objectively speaking, Wallace didn't have much problem in choosing the battlefield, but in the face of Edward's flanking cavalry, Wallace chose the famous spearmen to form a circular array for defense.
Battle of Falkirk
After completing the outflanking of Wallace and his men, Edward showed his trump card. A large number of longbowmen from Wales fired a large number of deadly bows and arrows at Wallace's army. The Scottish army, which lacked long-range weapons, immediately became the target of intensive attacks. The famous English longbowman in the future also laid the foundation of the main arms of the Plantagenet Dynasty by virtue of his outstanding performance in this war.
The British longbowman who made his debut.
Under the rain of arrows, more than half of the Scots were killed and wounded, and the English cavalry stepped into the gap with their bodies. Once the Scottish front was breached, the spearmen were immediately cut down mercilessly. Wallace and his followers had to flee separately to avoid being caught. The Scots as a whole may be invincible. However, Wallace was finally betrayed by his men after the defeat. 1305, he was taken to Westminster Palace, tried in a solemn atmosphere, and finally hanged on the gallows. For example, Edward brutally cut open his own body. However, the Scottish war, as a chronicler said, "winter goes and spring comes, and it goes on and on."
The oil painting about Wallace's trial is deliberately close to Christian saints such as Jesus.
As the saying goes, "reading history can make people wise, and the past does not forget the teacher of the future." However, the role of history may not be as simple as meeting the future. People who read deeply must understand that reading history only gives us greater freedom and initiative to create the future.
Life is not just the present, but also poetry and distance. In Gao's lyric poems, we not only experienced a literary complex, but also pursued inner freedom and feelings. Poetry creates a spiritual utopia for us, while Shi Zhecun makes us more aware of reality. We should not only live in the present, but also live in the future. Follow these classics, follow the footsteps of history, unveil the veil bit by bit, restore the real scene, feel the passage of time, pursue the thoughts of philosophers, explore the spiritual world of mankind bit by bit, and meet smarter yourself day by day.