We will be exploring the events of:

THE BATTLE OF STIRLING BRIDGE

11TH SEPTEMBER, 1297

MEDIEVAL MAP OF SCOTLAND

THIS MAP SHOWS THE IMPORTANCE THAT PEOPLE PLACED ON STIRLING DURING THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD…

STIRLING BRIDGE WAS SEEN AS THE PLACE WHERE THE HIGHLANDS AND THE LOWLANDS MET…

IT WAS THE GATEWAY TO THE

NORTH

“HE WHO HOLDS STIRLING HOLDS SCOTLAND!!!”

“HE WHO HOLDS STIRLING HOLDS SCOTLAND!!!”

WILLIAM WALLACE

ANDREW MORAY

HMMMM, HE WHO

HOLDS STIRLING

WOULD INDEED HOLD

SCOTLAND….!EDWARD I, KING OF

ENGLAND 1272 -1307

FOR THIS REASON,

ON 11TH SEPTEMBER

1297, THE ARMY OF

EDWARD I AND THE

ARMY OF WILLIAM

WALLACE MET AT

THE BATTLE OF

STIRLING BRIDGE… N.B. Edward was

not at the battle –

he was in France!

WILLIAM WALLACE

You will be completing gathering the developments to EASY WIN.

Take down at least 2 developments per point.

ACTIVITY

1

English were over-confident

Abbey Craig

Stirling Bridge

Yell of attack from Wallace

Wooden Bridge Collapses

Increasing numbers of English

killed

Not many Scottish casualties =

Scottish victory EDWARD I, KING OF

ENGLAND 1272 - 1307

Why did

Wallace win???

E-A-S-Y W-I-N

ACTIVITY

1

• The English were over confident. • Over 10 000 English troops including

cavalry and archers faced 5000 Scottish troops, mostly on foot.

• Military historians argue that the English simply thought they were going to win so had no real game plan! They were surprised that the Scots would not surrender.

English were

over

confident

• Wallace had organised his men onto a rocky hill called Abbey Craig which guarded a ford where the English could have crossed the river.

• With the Scots stationed here the English had to think of another way of getting across the river. Their choice led to their eventual defeat at Stirling Bridge.

Abbey Craig

• In 1297, Stirling Bridge was a

narrow, wooden bridge. • The English commanders

believed that this was the quickest and driest way to get to the Scots.

Stirling

Bridge

Yell of attack from

Wallace

• A Yell of ATTACK from Wallace at the

right time. • Once 500 English troops had started to cross the bridge Wallace yelled ATTACK!. • They were driven back.

• The Wooden Bridge carrying the English troops began to collapse.

• The English in a state of confusion tried to go back across the bridge.

• The bridge fell beneath them and many soldiers drowned in the River Forth.

• Many troops got trapped in the marshy muddy ground below the bridge and so were an easy target.

Wooden Bridge

Collapses

Increasing Number of

English Killed

• Increasing numbers of English troops were

killed as they fled from the river.

• Surrey and the rest of the English army could

only watch the slaughter from the other side

of the river.

• They retreated and were harried by the Scots

as they fled. Cressingham, the English

treasurer was flayed.

Not many Scottish casualties = Victory

• There were not many

Scottish casualties

compared to the English.

• Thousands of English troops

were killed. It was a victory

for Wallace and Moray.

Explain the reasons why Scotland won the Battle of Stirling Bridge. (5)

Describe, in detail, the events of the Battle of Stirling Bridge. (5)

EDWARD I, KING OF ENGLAND 1272 -

1307

Why did

Wallace win???

E-A-S-Y W-I-NACTIVITY 2