Since there are many different stories about the same man, historians and scholars find it difficult to determine the actual truth about William Wallace and his past. As a result, historians are often left with conflicting opinions about who William Wallace really was. Historians, therefore, disagree on such issues as the date of his birth, birthplace, facts concerning Wallace's elimination of English tyranny in Scotland, and the roles Wallace played in battles with the English.

In this paper I am going to show the conflicting views about William Wallace's life. I will use a wide variety of sources including the movie Braveheart's script,

The movie, however, seems to avoid certain conflictions about his life. For example, in the script the young William Wallace was written as being at the age of eight when his father and brother died. Yet the year in which he was born is never mentioned. Many scholars debate about the possible years in which he could have been born. According to James Mckay, his research provides him that the best date is either the year 1272 or 1273, although many other scholars place it anywhere from 1260 to 1278. The reasons placed behind the disbelief of such numbers is simple. If he were born in 1260 then at the time that he fought the English at Stirling he would be 37 years old, which is a bit beyond the normal life expectancy for someone at that time. If he were born in 1278 then he would only be 19 at the time that he fought the English and therefore, this would seem somewhat ridiculous because there would not be a great amount of time in which he could learn such amazing military tactics that were used at Stirling. However, if it is stated that he was born in 1272 then there is a hole of about 5 years in between his defeat at Falkirk and his capture by the English. Explanation of this period of question is thought to be that this is the period in which Wallace hid out in the forests, slowly gathering troops and ambushing and destroying anything that had an English insignia on it.

Another debate about his life that is avoided by the movie is his place of birth. Over time as with many stories, words and their meanings have gotten a little mixed up. This mix up has been traced back no later than the Eighteenth century. All belief of Wallace's birthplace has been derived from the fact that he was raised in Ellerslie. His father was also raised in Auchenbothie and Ellerslie. Since Auchenbothie is in Renfrewshire it has been believed that Ellerslie has referred to the Renfrewshire town of Elderslie. This is wrong, it should be noted that Ellerslie and Elderslie did both exist, yet Ellerslie is the actual birthplace of William Wallace.

After Wallace was caught he was taken to London to be executed. His crime was treason of the King of England, although he never swore allegiance to him. He was stretched, beaten, disemboweled, had his entrails set aflame, and yet he did not ask for mercy from the English magistrate.

you'll have to email me for proper bibliography, I don't have it with me on my computer at the moment.

A lot of debate is also centered around who actually betrayed him into the hands of the English. In Braveheart it is shown as Robert the Bruce who betrayed him. Some scholars claim that it was Scotsman John Mentieth, and even other's say it was Mentieth's servant. Most likely it is how James McKay

Some common words found in the essay are:
William Wallace, William Wallace's, Richard Wallace, English Explanation, King Edward, Guardian Scotland, English Stirling, william wallace, Wallace Historians, James Mckay, King England, seven inches, six feet, king edward, william wallace's, believed william wallace, quick thinking, robert bruce, english soldiers, feet seven, wallace example, william wallace fought, feet seven inches, six feet seven, william wallace hero,
Approximate Word count = 1837
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)