William Wallace

He didn’t wear a kilt but a religious habit. Part warrior, part monk, he was above all armed with a “fervent Catholic faith”: this was the real William Wallace, the Scottish national hero, made famous by the Oscar-winning film “Braveheart” that came out in 1995, starring Mel Gibson. This is according to traditionalist website Pontiflex.roma.it, which covers studies and research carried out in Scotland by the Society for Tradition, Family and Property, a body that was established to promote the thinking of the Catholic intellectual, Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.

According to the Catholic website, Gibson’s film is important in that it taught the whole world the story of the Scottish leader who led his fellow nationals in the rebellion against English occupation. However, it missed out one fundamental fact about the figure of Braveheart: his Catholic faith.

Since his birth in 1270, the young nobleman, Wallace, received a Catholic education. His career was allegedly church oriented: he was educated by the Augustinians and the Benedictines and apart from his mother tongue, Gaelic, he also spoke English, French, German and Latin.

Then, a series of violent episodes made him abandon religious life. An English patrol killed his father and eldest brother in cold blood, after they were found guilty of refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to Edward I of England and of supporting the Scottish sovereign, John Balliol’s cause instead. William consequently killed some English soldiers and went into hiding: this was the moment when the man who was to lead the revolt against the invader, with the help of the Bishop of Glasgow, was born.

He was prevented from carrying on after the betrayal of one of his noble friends. “On 22 August 1305 – Pontifex writes – Wallace was tried at Westminster Hall in London and sentenced to death. On the gallows, he confessed to the Archbishop of Canterbury and asked, as his final wish, to be able to pray the Psalter. He died disembowelled as he recited the penitential Psalms.” “An English priest present at the execution, later stated he had seen William’s soul welcomed into Heaven by a host of angels. Whether it was fact or legend, this vision of Braveheart taken to Heaven by angels became a recurrent theme in sermons for many years to come.” A recurrent theme, indeed. A bit like the wild cry for “Freedom!” shouted out by the Catholic, Mel Gibson - who was himself tormented - in the famous film.

A 14th-century letter asking Pope Boniface VIII to look favorably upon the Scottish patriot Sir William Wallace during his visit to Rome has been returned to Scotland.

“This document is an enigma,” said George MacKenzie, head of National Records of Scotland at the unveiling ceremony in Edinburgh on Jan. 12.

“It’s a letter from the French king to his officials at the Vatican mentioning Wallace, but we don't know what his business was with the Pope. What we do know is that the document still fascinates, 700 years after it was written.”

The life of Sir William Wallace was famously portrayed by Mel Gibson in his 1995 Oscar-winning film “Braveheart.” Until Jan. 12, the letter about the real-life Wallace was held in England, since being discovered in the Tower of London in the 1830s.

The letter was originally written in 1299, when Wallace traveled to the court of Philip IV of France to try and persuade him to support the Scots against Edward I of England. A year after Wallace’s arrival, Philip IV wrote the letter in question to his agents in Rome.

The letter, begins, “Philip by the grace of God, king of the French, to his beloved and loyal people appointed at the Roman Court,” and commands the French officials to “ask the Supreme Pontiff to consider with favor our beloved William le Wallace of Scotland, knight, with regard to those things which concern him that he has to expedite.” It is signed at the royal castle of Pierrefonds on the Feast of All Saints, Nov. 7, 1300.

“We do not have a lot of tangible links with Wallace as most of the documentation has been destroyed, so to have something that Wallace actually touched is a massive boost for Scotland,” said Duncan Fenton of the Society of William Wallace, who had campaigned for the return of the letter.

The document suggests that Wallace intended to visit the papal court of Pope Boniface VIII, but it is unknown whether he actually reached Rome.

Wallace was later betrayed and captured by English forces near Glasgow in 1305. He was then taken to London where he was executed following a show trial at Westminster Hall. Scotland’s freedom was subsequently secured, however, when Pope John XXII recognized the country’s independence in 1320.

“I am delighted to welcome the Wallace letter back to Scotland,” said Scottish Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop. “To have it here in Scotland, where it can be viewed by the Scottish public, is very significant indeed.”

The historic document will now go on public display this summer at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, alongside another rare letter associated with Wallace that dates back to 1297.

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