I hope you guys remembered the little hint I left for you in the last post. Because today we'll be talking about the BraveHeart and where it actually comes from. Now I'm sure most of, if not all of you have either heard of or seen the Mel Gibson movie BraveHeart. In the movie Mel Gibson is the BraveHeart. A Scottish knight known as William Wallace. The movie depicts Wallace during a time known as the Scottish Wars of Independence. Yes, wars. The Scots and the English have a very harried history, but for this article we'll focus on the first in this series of wars, which began in 1296.
It was only a year later in 1297 that William Wallace along with other Scottish knights and guardians began to rebel against the english invaders. And much like in the movie Wallace was an inspiring leader and effective strategist, and is well deserving of his praise and adulation for his impact on Scottish culture and history, but to give him all the credit would be false and an error. Along with Andrew Moray one of Wallace's closest allies was the soon to be king known as Robert the Bruce. Unlike the movie the real robert the bruce was a staunch loyalist to the Scottish cause and people. Now the way in which the nickname BraveHeart came about is actually quite fascinating.
During the Wars of Independence there were essentially two camps. One being Robert the Bruce, and the other being John Comyn. Historically these two are known for having a tenuous relationship. At one point however they met in a church, and were resolved to settle their differences, and decide who would be the next King of Scotland. No one's quite sure what happened in that church, but one fact is known, and that is that John Comyn did not come out alive. Now this is a serious issue. Murder alone is considered Mortal Sin, but murder in a church? That's grounds for excommunication. And that's exactly what happened. Shortly after a hastily constructed coronation King Robert the Bruce of Scotland was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. Now at the time when this happened if a ruler was excommunicated so was the country they ruled, which led the Bruce to find a way to redeem himself and his people. Which leads us closer to how he got the nickname BraveHeart.
You see one of the ways people could either relieve their excommunication or remove years from purgatory was by participating in the crusades. For Robert the Bruce this was a double blessing so to speak. Apparently the Bruce had desired to participate in the crusades for many years, but the Wars for Independence at home had kept him away from his desire. And as the war came to a close and his desire of taking part of the crusades becoming a possible reality the Bruce contracted leprosy. So here we have man who had just freed his country from invaders and was preparing to embark on his next adventure perish just before he could fully realize his desire. Yet even on his deathbed the Bruce was determined to make his crusade. On his deathbed the Bruce asked his right hand man Sir James Douglas to upon his death, cut out his heart and take it on a crusade. And it is exactly that, which Sir James Douglas did cutting out the heart of Robert the Bruce, putting it in a lead can, and wearing it on a necklace during his King's crusade. Venturing into Spain Sir Douglas and his fellow Scots came across an army of Saracens and Moors. And in a true crusaders fashion led his men into battle with the war cry: "“Lead on Braveheart, as thou dost!” A war cry paying homage to his dearly beloved king. Needless to say Sir Douglas and his men died that day, but they died with their mission fulfilled. Eventually the heart was recovered and was laid to rest in Melrose Abbey where the BraveHeart finally rests, having fulfilled its desire.
