William Wallace

"I can not be a traitor, for I owe him no allegiance. He is not my Sovereign"

- Wallace on accusations of treason against Edward I of England

Sir William Wallace (1273-1305) was a Scottish knight with Welsh heritage and landowner who is known for leading a resistance during the Wars of Scottish Independence and is known today in Scotland as a patriot and national hero. Wallace's father and brother were killed by a English knight. William Wallace began his fight for independence by killing the son of the English governor of Dundee, who had been bullying Wallace and his family. In 1291 or 1292, he killed the son of an English noble, named Selby, with a dirk. However, Wallace's most well-documented early combat occurred in 1297, when he killed William Heselrig, the English Sheriff of Lanark, supposedly to avenge the murder of Marion Braidfute, a young maiden Wallace had courted and wed.

On September 11, 1297, Wallace's forces won the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Although vastly outnumbered, the Scottish forces routed the English army by funneling them across a narrow bridge, which would collapse later in the battle, sending many English soldiers to a watery grave. After the battle, Wallace was knighted, possibly by Robert the Bruce (who later become King of Scots), and was named "Guardian of Scotland and Leader of its armies." In the months that followed, Wallace led a raid on Northern England.

The following year, Wallace was defeated at the Battle of Falkirk, but managed to evade capture until August 5, 1305, when a Scottish knight loyal to England turned him over to the English. He was transported to London, where he was convicted of treason. On August 23, Wallace was hanged, drawn, and quartered, strangled by hanging but released while still alive, eviscerated and had his bowels burnt before him, and was finally beheaded while his body was cut into four parts.

Battle vs. Alexander the Great (by Lachlan Blake)
Alexander:

Wallace:

Steel crashed into steel.

The sound echoed through the field, more clashes and shouts rang out over the grass and the fire crackled and burned, spreading out around the field. Two figures appeared, grappling with each other, one was gaining an advantage; he punched his foe in the jaw, sending him stumbling back into a rock. The man stood over his enemy, taking his sword and stabbing it into his opponent’s unconscious body with a two-handed thrust, yelling into the night sky as the fire raged behind him.

Earlier in the day, Alexander the Great was walking in an English forest with his soldiers.

“The land here is ripe for the taking, we will take the whole of Britain, but I need to gain the trust of the king” Whispered Alexander to his most trusted soldier.

“It sounds as though you have planned the whole operation out my lord” said the soldier.

“Yes, the time grows near, and I shall expand my empire to the west, but for now, we will enjoy the woods, shall we go on a hunting trip in this area?” Suggested Alexander.

“But we will have to discard or weapons at the camp, the weapons we have now are more suited to killing men” responded the soldier.

“No, look to the sky, the clouds are irritated and dark, a storm will soon appear, we will make the most of the present moment” Alexander turned to his troops, “My friends, we will stop to hunt, I hear the animals here are a great catch!”

The troops agreed, they needed to have something to entertain themselves with, patrolling the forests was tedious.

Alexander turned to his guide and spoke in English, “What say you, guide?”

The peasant who had been allocated by King Edward to be a guide to his esteemed guest responded with a warning:

“You may hunt here, but please, you must not cross into the field, that land belongs to the Scotsmen, and they will not treat you with respect, they have come to hate the English, and as you are their guest, they will hate you”.

“Do you hear men? Do not cross into the land of the Scots over the field to the North of us!” ordered Alexander, taking out his Gastraphetes and loading an arrow.

The Greeks ran into the forest in search of prey, while a Scottish scout that was hiding in a tree above them climbed down and slit the English guide’s throat with a dirk, dragging his body over the border and into some bushes, he then went to the cottage where William Wallace was training five of his men.

“Sir, I have news!” said the scout.

“What is it?” Said Wallace, halting the training.

“The English have a guest in the forest, a Greek man”.

“Then we shall greet him like we would greet an Englishman”. Said Wallace.

Later in the afternoon as it was getting dark, the Greek men were sitting by a deer they had killed, complementing their main bowman on such a good shot. The Greeks heard yelling and suddenly torches were thrown at them, the Greeks began to run from the yelling, as they left a Scotsman emerged from the burning scrub and followed, firing an arrow into the group.

“We are being fired at!” yelled a Greek soldier. “From behind! Get to the long grass in the field! It will provide cover!”

The men arrived in the grass and dived, an arrow landed in the mud in front of a Greek soldier’s nose.

“Bowman! Kill this madman!” Commanded Alexander.

The man took his gastraphetes and stood, the forest was alight, fires burning all around, and the sky was black from the smoke and storm clouds, he could just make out a man crouching with a bow, he fired.

The Greek bowman thumped back into the grass, an arrow was jutting from his neck, but as they yelled and tried to comfort the dying man, they heard screams, one stood to see the Scotsman trying to pull an arrow from his chest, and then collapsing.

The Greeks looked up to see a burning tree fall into the field, setting the grass alight. They began to ran back, where the scots where waiting.

A Scotsman with his hammer leaped from the grass and swung, smashing a Greek skull, but another Greek was ready with his Xyston, he yelled and stabbed the man in the ribs, impaling him.

Another scot ran from the grass with a claymore, slashing a Greek head clean off, and then running into combat with Alexander himself.

The last Greek soldier lay in the grass, he heard the Scots yelling and running into combat with Alexander, but one ran to close to him, he chopped at the legs of the Scottish man, cutting into the foot making the man fall screaming onto his face, he then got up and delivered the finishing blow with his Kopis.

The Greek soldier stood and saw Wallace approaching, he took out his Xyston and jabbed towards the man, trying to ward him off. William cut the spear in half with his claymore and ran into the Greek, cleaving him in half from the waist, his body toppling into the grass.

Alexander was standing too close to the raging fire, it was moving towards him fast, and the scot was exhausting him. The Scottish man charged with his targe, but it was cut into by Alexander, who sidestepped, dropping the sword, he grabbed the man as he stumbled back towards the fire, pushing him onto the ground and stabbing him in the chest with his spear, he then collected his sword from the shield and left the Scot to die from the fire, screaming in pain.

William ran through the grass towards the Greek general, who saw him coming.

“My god, you are a monster!”

Alexander put up his sword to block an overhead claymore strike, which clanged massively, sending the sound out over the grass, more slashes and parries, and finally Alexander dropped his sword and tackled William, who dropped his long claymore, as the fight was too close to use such as long sword.

The two grappled and fought, but William was winning, he punched Alexander in the jaw, sending him stumbling back into a rock. Wallace stood over his enemy, taking his sword from where he discarded it and stabbing it into his opponent’s unconscious body with a two-handed thrust, yelling into the night sky as the fire raged behind him.

“That will show the English that we will be FREE!” He roared, and ran off to escape the fire, which engulfed Alexander’s corpse.

Expert's Opinion
Wallace dominated physically and was more intimidating, and his longer-reaching, harder-hitting weapons factored in for his victory over Alexander the Great.

[http://deadliestfiction.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Lachlan_Blake/Deadliest_leaders_of_history:_Alexander_the_Great_vs_William_Wallace. Click here to see the original battle, votes and weapons]