Call for return of Wallace letter.......

azzuri · Call for return of Wallace letter.......

see - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4385544.stm

A letter carried by William Wallace in 1305 to grant him safe conduct to visit the pope should be returned to Scotland, according to an MSP.
The document has been archived in London since Wallace was tried and executed on charges of treason.

Nationalist Jim Mather has lodged a motion at the Scottish Parliament to retrieve it and put it on display.

He urged the National Library of Scotland, Scottish Museums and National Archives to join his campaign.

The paperwork, written by the King of France, was being carried by Wallace when he was seized in Robroyston near Glasgow.

The MSP for the Highlands and Islands said the letter, known as The Safe Conduct, should be returned to mark the 700th anniversary of William Wallace's death.

"Once here it could be properly displayed and provide a rare tangible link to the national hero, who led the nation at the start of the Wars of Independence," he said.

Wallace became a symbol of Scottish nationhood after his victory over the English at the battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.

He was defeated in battle at Falkirk the following year.

Wallace was captured in 1305 and was hanged and dismembered with his head put on public display at London Bridge and his limbs sent to Scotland.

Abieuan

I did not know of this letter - it should be a national treasure, it's liberation from English hands should be pursued with vigour.

azzuri

wonder how we can find out more about it?

Blackadder

"Letter of safe conduct" ... from a Frenchie?? Not worth the ink used. Wallace was an insurgent against his rightful king, John Balliol and an impediment to his ally, Edward I of England. Hung, drawn and quartered for treason? He got off lightly.

garye

Blackadder

Sorry ... couldn't resist playing Blackadder as a serious aristocratic snob there!

IF Convenor

Poor grasp of history, old bean. Wallace always fought in the name of his rightful King; John Balliol.

Blackadder

Not as the English saw it, OLD BOY!!

"... playing Blackadder as a serious aristocratic snob there!"

You have a poor grasp of imaginative humour, dontcha thunk?

IF Convenor

I get the humour; I just can't resist correcting an aristo. Wink

btw, aristo or not, you described Wallace as "an insurgent against his rightful king, John Balliol". I simply corrected your misrepresentation of Wallace as an insurgent against Balliol.

You have failed to grasp my pedant persona.

Blackadder

Correction. Yes ... I remember that. Mrs Miggins House of Correction for Waywayrd Boys. I, of course, tried to get as wayward as possible. I think you'll find many aristos, such as I, like a little correction now and again.

And no ... I didn't fail to grasp it ... pedantry is very common on this Intranet thingie. There's no impediment to pedants, is there?

IF Convenor

Indeed. The ninternet is a virtual pedant's playground.

Blackadder

Nice one! Pedantic pedantry plays perfect pedants in pedantic persons' playground.

I take it you appreciate we of the Alliterati???

RFM

To Azzuri:
There has been nothing but a lot of confusion concerning the so-called Wallace safe conduct letter. A copy of the text can be found in the Public Records Library at Kew, England, not an original, which everyone seems to believe is the case. It can be found at reference number SC 1/30 m.81 and appears to be a clipping from a collection of antique data. It is supposed to be a copy of a letter from King Phillip of France to his agents in Rome, asking for safe conduct for this individual, named in the French, not English, which everyone believes meant William Wallace. Why William Wallace should be carrying a copy or how he might have obtained a copy is not clear as his safety would obviously depend on Phillip's agents, not the text of a letter not addressed to him in the first place.
Why Wallace should be carrying it at all in England while conducting military operations is likewise not clear.
There have also been a number of conflicting views concerning Wallace's capture and trial, in particular a very popular 19th century novel supposedly written by a woman who says that Wallace was tried by the Scottish nobility at Sterling Castle, convicted and turned over to King Edward to carry out the sentence.