The Scottish national hero Sir William Wallace, (born;1272, died Aug. 23, 1305) led the resistance against the attempt of Edward I of England to impose his rule on Scotland. In 1297, Wallace led a group of men who killed the English sheriff of Lanark. In the same year he defeated John de Warenne, earl of Surrey, the English governor of Scotland, near Stirling.

Wallace went on to drive the English out of Scotland and invade northern England. Many Scottish nobles did not support Wallace, however, and in 1298, Edward defeated him at Falkirk. Wallace went to France in an unsuccessful bid for assistance. After his return he was arrested and executed for treason.

Robert I, known as Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland, restored Scottish independence from England. During the next decade Bruce, switched his allegiance back and forth between Edward and the independence of Scotland. After the execution (1305) of Sir William Wallace, a national hero, Bruce, not fully trusted by either side. On Mar. 27, 1306, Bruce was crowned at Scone. Following major setbacks in 1306-07, he rallied from an apparently hopeless situation and began systematically winning back his kingdom from the English. On June 24, 1314, at the Battle of Bannockburn, Bruce defeated Edward II, who had succeeded Edward I in 1307. The historic site of an English defeat (1297) by the Scots under Sir William Wallace, Stirling was a favorite residence of the Stuart kings and queens of Scotland in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. Robert I spent the remainder of his life fighting the English in Ireland and along the Scottish borders. In 1328, England formally recognized Scottish independence. Robert was succeeded by his son, David II.