Rob Halliday

Trivia: For much of ‘Braveheart' Robert the Bruce is torn between the choice of following his conscience by helping William Wallace or submitting to the English as a puppet ruler of Scotland. Thus he serves with the English army at the Battle of Falkirk, but helps Wallace to safety after the Scots are defeated. At the end of the film he is about to finally submit, when he has a change of heart, calls his followers to fight, and defeats the English. This is nonsense. Robert the Bruce was among the first Scottish noblemen to resist English control of Scotland. Edward I's Scottish wars lasted for more than ten years, and, at times, when it seemed that Edward had crushed all opposition, Robert the Bruce (like most Scots) made a half-hearted submission, but he soon took up arms again. There is no record that he was at the Battle of Falkirk (on either side). In 1306, seven months after Wallace's execution, he had himself crowned King of Scotland, provocatively rejecting English authority. For the rest of his life he waged uncompromising war against the English, culminating in his great victory at Bannockburn.

Rob Halliday

Factual error: The Battle of Stirling (Bridge) is shown inaccurately in the film: the English and Scots line up on a battlefield and proceed to set about each other, with the Scots winning, with no bridge in sight. In the actual battle the English were crossing a bridge over the River Forth. The bridge was narrow, so they had to file down into small ranks. Wallace and the Scots waited at the top of a hill until half the army had crossed, then, before the English had time to regroup and form battle lines, the Scots charged down the hill and massacred the unprepared English.

Rob Halliday