This post is the last in a week-long series about swords in conjunction with our first Cutting Edge product give-away. Place a comment before midnight (Central Time) on Sunday and you’ll be entered to win a 51-inch William Wallace replica sword ($119 value).
“I could not be a traitor to Edward for I was never his subject,’ said William Wallace while being tried for treason after his capture in August of 1305. Unfortunately, the British government thought otherwise.
After a brief trial, Wallace was stripped naked and dragged through the city by a horse. He was then hanged until he was barely alive, castrated, sliced open and forced to watch while his entrails were burned, and eventually decapitated. His head was covered in tar and placed on a pike on a top of London bridge.
It was undoubtedly a rough way to die, but Wallace had sent many a foe to equally brutal deaths during his reign as the most notorious freedom-fighter in Scotland.
Wallace’s crusade against the British began after infighting amongst the Scottish nobility allowed England to seize Scotland in 1296. While doing so, the British perpetrated a wide range of atrocities against the Scottish people
Historians speculate that Wallace’s wrath was additionally motivated by the murder of Marion Braidfute, a Scottish heiress that he was married to. He took revenge by slaying her murderer, William Heselright, the English Sheriff of Lanark.
From there, Wallace won a string of battles, pushing the British away from Scotland and inciting his fellow countryman to revolution. Often outnumbered and facing armies with superior weaponry, Wallace used military strategy to his advantage. His employment of tactical arrangements—like the Sheltron—as well as his use of strategic terrain defied military ethics of his time.
Though Wallace initially purged Scotland of the British, they eventually pushed back into the country sending Wallace and his troops into hiding.
Wallace was captured on August 5, 1305, when John De Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to England, turned him over to British soldiers.
While I’ve already covered the sordid circumstances of Wallace’s last moments, it’s intriguing to know that one of the most compelling artifacts of his rebellion did survive.
William Wallace’s Sword ( We’re giving away two of them!)
Wallace’s sword, a 52-inch claymore, was allegedly recovered by a British governor and passed onto King James IV of Scotland two hundred years later. There is much debate over whether the sword actually belonged to Wallace, with some sword experts stating that the weapon could not possibly date from this time.
The sword measures a giant 66 inches and weighs approximately 6 pounds. Historians think that because of its massive size, Wallace must have been at least 6 foot 5; the average height at the time was around five foot seven. The sword currently resides in the National Wallace Monument, a tower that stands near hilltop in Stirling in Scotland.
Luckily, you don’t have to travel all the way to Stirling to feel the raw power of William Wallace. All this week at the Cutting Edge, we’ve been running a contest in which anyone who comments on a blog post is entered to win a 51-inch William Wallace medieval replica sword.
Today is the last day to enter and since the contest has been so successful, we’ve decided to give away a second sword. Be the first to comment on this post telling us why you think William Wallace is cool (you must comment on the actual blog and not through Facebook) and you’ll win a sword.
Good luck!
April 10, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Did I win?
April 10, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Duh winning.
April 10, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Possibly, unless I won. Or some random third person won.
April 10, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Dang
April 10, 2011 at 12:35 pm
No I did lol jk
April 10, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Hey guys, you have to comment on the actual blog post, not on Facebook.
April 10, 2011 at 12:40 pm
did i win
April 10, 2011 at 12:40 pm
did i win?
April 10, 2011 at 12:41 pm
o forgot the last part well i liked william wallace because he was an excellant swordsman
April 10, 2011 at 12:42 pm
i think i won 🙂
April 10, 2011 at 12:45 pm
love anything that has to do with william wallace
April 10, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Wow the brittish suck but wallace was a great man and a greater warrior
April 10, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Im ganna win!!!
April 10, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Wow I didn’t thing braveheart was based on historical events that just makes it more awsome.
April 10, 2011 at 1:46 pm
meh! that would be pretty awesome to have!
April 10, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Now thats a knife!!!
April 10, 2011 at 1:57 pm
William wallace was hella raw
April 10, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Those were brutal times.
April 10, 2011 at 2:10 pm
That looks cool
April 10, 2011 at 2:33 pm
william wallace
April 10, 2011 at 2:38 pm
first
April 10, 2011 at 2:57 pm
i want my sword
April 10, 2011 at 3:40 pm
Dang what a bad way to die
April 10, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Yes I want a sword.
April 10, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Waka Waka
April 10, 2011 at 4:34 pm
I think it would be awsome to have a sword that is sacred. anyway, my acesters are from scotland and irland.
April 10, 2011 at 5:23 pm
You guys really know your history…
April 10, 2011 at 6:15 pm
u bet ya
April 10, 2011 at 6:22 pm
Whoop whoop
April 10, 2011 at 6:23 pm
no way we are all winners lol
April 10, 2011 at 8:07 pm
i think i could stand all that shit if i knew the king was gonna lose anyway.
April 10, 2011 at 8:49 pm
I hope i win lol for a history nerd this is awesome
April 10, 2011 at 10:27 pm
heck ya
May 21, 2011 at 3:09 am
Youre on top of the game. Thanks for shinarg.
April 10, 2011 at 10:46 pm
im gunna win
April 10, 2011 at 11:55 pm
William Wallace was one of Britons greatest nonreligious based war hero
April 10, 2011 at 11:58 pm
i agree with jess plus id love to have a replica of William Wallices sword
April 11, 2011 at 12:17 am
IM winnin this….william is personally gonna rise out of his grave to deliver it to me!!!!!!!right wallace?????
April 11, 2011 at 1:49 am
Sign me up
April 11, 2011 at 2:26 am
the scotsman should win this (im the scotsman)
April 11, 2011 at 3:14 am
I’m in. I’ve always loved collecting swords to put on my sword rack.
April 11, 2011 at 6:31 am
I like how no one even read what the OP said:
“Knife Depot Hey guys, you have to comment on the actual blog post, not on Facebook.”
April 11, 2011 at 6:32 am
So nice going, retards. Not one of you is eligible.
April 11, 2011 at 8:15 pm
im eligible i followed the rules
April 11, 2011 at 9:17 pm
William wallace was a true hero for his country!
May 6, 2011 at 8:09 pm
william wallace was a great hero, and a great strategic fighter live long wallaces memory
March 26, 2016 at 5:42 pm
I feel that William Wallace is cool( which is really not a good term for him–brave, determined, loyal, ” scotch stubborn”, or militarily genius would honor him more. In watching Braveheart ,I was extremely inspired by the courage and audacity that was portrayed by Mel Gibson . Especially edge of chair stuff was when William Wallace cryed out freedom as his dying word. Whether true or not, it demonstrated the plight of the Scots at the time. I am also in tune with this Scotch hero , as a seniors cousin had traced our lineage back to this era and even before and found we are related to Robert Le Bruce who (in the movie, allowed his father to turn him against Wallace in a weasel kind of way but in the end, repented and helped to rally the Scotch forces against the British. So, in summary, to own one of these swords would not only be a natural honor but would hold a great deal of family sentiment. ( I’d probably get knocks on my door from cousins I hadn’t seen in ages.) Thanks,Ken Johnson (My grandmother maiden name was Small which is a sept of the Murray clan.)
March 26, 2016 at 5:56 pm
Forget to mention that this sword would be a big plus to my small collection of Scottish knives (sgian dubhs, dirks, a folding dirk, a bollock knife and a medieval steak knife set that consists of a knife and a pricker.) Ken Johnson
May 6, 2016 at 8:40 am
I named my son William after a trip to Stirling. Not sure if we are somehow related to William but my son (William Wallace) certainly appears to be while 6ft+ at 15 years old and is fierce as a back line player in Rugby and Australian Rules. Nice to dream! My son would love to have a replica of William’s Sword.
June 11, 2016 at 4:34 pm
Wallace is cool because he felt much like our US forefathers, that the cost of eternal freedom was eternal vigilance. That freedom was more than a word that we hoped for, but a man must be willing to fight for. He withstood the political hierarchy of his time and won the hearts of his countrymen. He developed tactics that are still used today, and trained specialists in various tactics. He was way ahead of his time when it came to both warfare, and the ability to lead men.
August 12, 2016 at 7:08 pm
If he was such a genius why did his women become or himsexually assulted for him in order to retaliate and in turn suffer crying freedom in a long and what would be seen to be dramatic way
August 30, 2016 at 11:44 am
I guess I missed this contest since I am just seeing this info now. William Wallace was my grandfather’s hero…My grandparents and mother and all relatives on that side before them were born in Scotland. I have always been interested in the Wallace sword and have a replica but I’m sure it is nothing compared to this one … I wish I had seen this article while the contest was still going on 🙁
September 3, 2016 at 7:51 am
pick up your sword every day and fight for freedom, freedom for our souls. put on the word of God and lean on Jesus every day is freedom for Our souls . I like the sword because it represents fighting for our freedom . What will we due without freedom, a true heart for God!