All language subtitles for Lost.Worlds.S01E10.Bravehearts.Scotland.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Scotland, the
end of the 13th century,

a country under attack,
invaded by the greatest army

in Christendom.

Defeat seems inevitable.

But from nowhere emerges a
man who will become Scotland's

greatest hero.

AMANDA BEAM: He's someone
who rises from obscurity

and becomes this national
symbol of patriotism,

of survival, and of Scotland.

NARRATOR: William Wallace,
later known as Braveheart.

He is an inspirational
leader who will give his life

for Scotland's freedom.

And he will always be there
because he seems to be in-built

into the very psyche of what
it means to be Scottish.

NARRATOR: New research
allows us to journey back

to the lost world
that Braveheart fought

for, a violent age when
magnificent castles were built

to withstand a new generation
of weapons, where kings built

heavily fortified towns.

This is also a golden age of
culture and sophistication.

Traveling down secret
pathways that still

lie beneath modern Scotland,
we reveal a world that has not

been seen for 700 years.

And this is where we got this
fantastic wealth of material.

This is the "Lost
World of Braveheart,"

the world he died to protect.

[theme music]

Sterling, Central Scotland,
September 11, 1297.

Two armies face each
other across a valley.

In the shadow of Stirling Castle
stand the English, the finest

army in Europe, sent
by King Edward I.

On the other side, the Scots,
a rapidly assembled collection

of clan armies.

Their nation's
independence rests

on the outcome of this battle.

The Scots are
outnumbered 5 to 1.

Their cause seems hopeless.

Now, one man steps from
obscurity and into the fray.

He is William
Wallace, Braveheart.

FIONA WATSON: He's
come out of nowhere.

He's not a man that the
history books would ever really

have known, were it not
for what happened in 1297.

NARRATOR: This is his country.

He has the will to win.

He also has local
knowledge on his side.

FIONA WATSON: The reason why
Wallace knew to come here,

at Sterling, to meet
the English army

is because this bridge,
the Stirling bridge,

is the main crossing
point in Scotland.

And the River Forth cuts
central Scotland almost in half.

And this bridge,
the Stirling bridge,

is the way that you
would go North or South.

NARRATOR: The river
crossing is key.

Whatever happens here
will decide the battle

and ensure Braveheart's
place in history.

But this stone bridge was
built long after his death.

The bridge he knew is long gone.

And to understand the
crucial role it played,

we need to know what the
original structure looked like.

A team of historians has
been trying to uncover it.

Armed with simple equipment and
stories that have been handed

down through local
folklore, they

have found a series of clues.

First, stone
foundations long hidden

by the Forth's peaty waters.

Once you know
where they are, you

can even spot telltale
signs at the surface.

If you just look
over there, you'll

see the ripples coming
from the massive pier

that we discovered,
here on this point.

This pier is one of two
large piers equally spaced

across the river.

This is the actual route which
the ancient bridge would take

across the river.

NARRATOR: This appears
to be the remains

of an eight-pier structure.

It matches the bridge depicted
on Stirling's town seal,

an emblem dating back to
the time of the battle.

Records reveal that it
was built by the Romans,

and their engineering
techniques are well documented.

For each pier, they built
a watertight cofferdam

and lined it with large
stones mortared together.

They then filled the
hollow core with rubble.

By making the piers
taper towards the top,

they gain stability.

The image on the seal shows
clearly that the spans

were made of wood.

To accommodate heavy traffic,
a huge quantity of timber

would be needed.

And in medieval Scotland,
wood is a scarce commodity.

The shape of the piers
and the cost of the wood

meant that the bridge
between the two armies

had to be narrow.

This narrowness is fundamental
to Braveheart's tactics.

Because the English expect
him to follow the ancient code

of chivalry, they
expect him to wait,

to let them cross the bridge
and form up for battle.

They're wrong.

He won't play by their rules.

All the scouts have to do--
but this is going to be hard--

is allow enough
horsemen to come over

this narrow, wooden bridge.

Only two can get
across at a time.

The Scots basically are playing
a waiting game at this point.

NARRATOR: Braveheart
allows an advance guard

to cross, 2000 infantry and
hundreds men on horseback.

Then, he makes his move.

Summoned by the blast
of a great horn,

the Scots stride
grimly into battle.

They're deployed in tight
units called schiltrons.

Each one forms a moving
wall of iron pikes.

They drive into the
English vanguard.

FIONA WATSON: Scots start
to push the horseback.

There's nowhere for them to go,
so every knight had the choice.

He could either be impaled
on a Scottish spear,

or he could drown
in the River Forth.

NARRATOR: Braveheart
leads from the front

with his mighty sword.

The battle is brutal and swift.

The Scots cut a bloody swathe
through the panicking English.

FIONA WATSON: So it became
absolute carnage and hell.

And it must have been
appalling for their comrades

on the other side,
helpless, watching them die.

NARRATOR: What's left of
the English army flees.

They are so shocked
by the defeat

that they abandon
Scotland altogether.

The battle is not
entirely one sided.

Braveheart's co-commander,
Andrew Murray,

is fatally wounded.

He dies soon after.

But Stirling Bridge is a
major victory, a turning point

in the history of Scotland and
in the life of its champion.

William Wallace is declared
guardian of Scotland, leader

of his country.

Wallace was clearly
an extraordinary man.

I mean, he gave back
the Scots the confidence

to believe that they
could beat the English

and get them out of
Scotland, and Scotland would

be free and independent again.

NARRATOR: The centuries of
mythmaking that turned Wallace

into Braveheart have
obscured the truth,

and many important historical
accounts detailing his life

have disappeared.

During the Wars
of Independence,

a lot of the documents
were taken to London.

And then during
the 17th century,

one of the ships that was taken
documents back to Edinburgh

sank.

And so all of these documents
are at the bottom of the sea

somewhere.

NARRATOR: Without
this key evidence,

researchers have had to
delve deep into history,

and even underground, to
find clues to what life was

like in medieval Scotland.

Years of investigation
are finally

yielding a clearer picture
of Braveheart's lost world.

The first step is to
discover where he was born.

According to legend, this
is Braveheart's birthplace,

Elderslie.

It is now a suburb of the
sprawling city of Glasgow.

Archaeologist Derek Alexander
keeps returning here, hunting

for clues to the hidden
world of Wallace's childhood.

He needs evidence that will date
the site to the right period,

around 1270.

What we really
need to do is we

need to go behind this house
over here and into the garden,

and have a look at
the evidence there.

NARRATOR: Several historical
maps marked this plot

as Wallace's house.

Each one shows a
distinctive boundary line.

Derek thinks that
this corresponds

to a ditch that runs behind
the modern day house.

DEREK ALEXANDER: And we
think that the remains

of the enclosure might
still survive in bits of it,

but we don't know exactly where.

But the best we find out
about the date of this site

would be actually to
look in the ditch.

So we're going to have a look.

NARRATOR: Since
Braveheart's time,

there have been seven centuries
of construction and development

here.

Just one small corner
remains untouched,

and this is where
Derek began his search.

Now, these stones are part
of a modern sort of garden wall

feature.

So we excavated a trench
right across here.

But we got down quite quickly
through sort of modern rubbish,

lots of pottery and glass
and things like that.

But down underneath
was an earlier wall,

which is running along
in the same line.

NARRATOR: At its base, Derek
has uncovered a broad trench.

It's lined with
waterproofing clay.

DEREK ALEXANDER: It goes all
the way across the full width

of the ditch, so it would
have effectively been a moat.

NARRATOR: He's also found
signs of a wooden fence.

Together with the
moat, this suggests

a defensive fortification.

But crucially, there's one tiny
clue that enables Derek to date

the settlement.

DEREK ALEXANDER: What we
found was one single piece

of pottery, and it was
a 13th century piece

of medieval pottery, which is
obviously the time of William

Wallace, which is what
we're looking for.

So that was fantastic.

NARRATOR: This, and
evidence from other sites,

reveals a major part of the
world that Braveheart knew.

This was a large,
fortified settlement,

known as a [inaudible].

Several families shared living
quarters, halls, forges,

and stables.

There were smaller
cottages for farm laborers.

All were constructed using
well-established techniques.

The quality of
carpentry, of joinery,

generally, is very, very high.

These are people who are
master craftsmen in using wood.

The roofs, what you could
see as you approach it,

would probably be
largely thatch,

and birch bark, and
things like that.

There may be tiles, because
they're already starting to use

tiles, especially around the
areas like the smoke holes,

because you can imagine
sparks coming up out of these

from the cooking fires
and heating fires falling

onto the roof.

Next thing is, the whole
thing's gone up in smoke.

NARRATOR: Vertical poles
slot into a sill beam

to form the framework
of the building.

Woven twig panels called wattle
are smeared with mud, known

as daub.

These walls offer an
efficient insulation

against the cold
Scottish winter.

Another feature
reinforces Derek's idea

that the Wallace family lived
in a well defended settlement.

At the end of the moat is
an intriguing stone circle,

nine yards in diameter.

Derek thinks it's the
foundation of a tower.

So we would have had the ditch
running that way, ditch running

that way, and right
at the corner here,

we would have had the
circular tower feature.

NARRATOR: These towers
would give extra protection

against both outlaws
and the wolves that

roamed medieval Scotland.

Derek believes the [inaudible]
was a farm headquarters.

It's a clue to the
Wallace's wealth.

RICHARD ORAM: There's a tendency
to think of wooden buildings

as somehow primitive
or inferior,

but wood building is
something that is actually

quite high status.

So the Wallace family--

these are people who are
actually demonstrating

that they've got access to
what's becoming a very, very

scarce resource.

NARRATOR: So this contradicts
tales that Braveheart

was a lowly commoner.

Instead, it seems he came from
a family with land and money,

aristocrats.

To discover how these
aristocrats lived,

we follow clues underground
and discover the golden age

in which Braveheart was raised.

Hollywood portrayed William
Wallace as Braveheart,

a man born to fight.

But he had another past.

His family had intended that
he would join an order of monks

under the protection
of the pope.

When he left his
childhood farm, the way

ahead must have seemed clear.

Yet his life would follow a
violent path he could never

have imagined.

By investigating this journey,
we can uncover a window

into Braveheart's lost world,
and it revolutionizes our view

of medieval Scotland.

The journey takes us just a few
miles from his childhood home

to Paisley Abbey.

Much of the Abbey's
centuries old stonework

can still be seen.

In Wallace's time, this was
part of a Cluniac monastery.

And the Cluniac order
had a reputation

for wealth and splendor.

Their buildings were famed
for their magnificence.

RICHARD ORAM: The
abbey at Paisley

here, it's funded by
the Stewart family

back in the 12th century.

And the Stewarts are the
patrons of the Wallace family.

So it's a kind of place
that Wallace and this family

generally would have
been quite familiar with.

NARRATOR: Wallace's
education would

have been funded by his lord,
the head of the Stewart clan.

It's likely that it would
have been here at Paisley,

and that Wallace
would have become

part of the monastic order.

RICHARD ORAM: The lifestyle
there is very, very much that

of the monastic regime.

It means getting up before
dawn in the morning, services

in the church.

But they would also
have a fairly heavily

regulated routine of lessons.

They'd have to be
trained in scripture,

they'd have to be
trained in theology,

and just generally getting
the all round education

of a literate person
in the Middle Ages.

NARRATOR: Back in
the 13th century,

Paisley Abbey was a wealthy
and influential place,

its monks answerable
only to the pope in Rome.

The Abbey stood at the
center of a large monastery.

With cloisters attached, it was
surrounded by a great complex

of buildings.

There were barns,
stables, and storehouses.

They were ringed
by a precinct wall.

But the monks didn't
live in isolation.

Beneath this building, an
elaborate sewage system

has been discovered.

Research has revealed
that it serviced

all of the major buildings.

All the waste of everyday
life flowed through here.

The sewer demonstrates
this place

had extraordinary connections
with the outside world.

It provides evidence of a
sophisticated society that

has been hidden for 500 years.

RICHARD ORAM: Originally, we'd
have had a stream of water

running through it to flush
the drains from the latrines

up in the abbey.

NARRATOR: When the drains
were first re-opened,

they were blocked with around
550 years of compacted silt.

Over the course of a few weeks,
this silt was pumped out.

A team of archaeologists
spent three months

sieving through it.

They discovered
hundreds of artifacts,

from belt buckles
to tuning pegs.

RICHARD ORAM: So here,
we got one only slightly

used chamber pot,
survived complete,

having been dropped
down there by a monk

in middle of the
night, probably.

They're also collecting human
urine because they use it

for a variety of things.

It's used, for example, as a
cleanser, believe it or not,

and a disinfectant for clothing.

NARRATOR: Evidence here even
reveals what Wallace heard when

he came to the monastery.

This is handwritten notation
of the choir's music.

RICHARD ORAM: It's a
piece of multipart music.

In fact, it's the earliest
known surviving piece

of multipart music in Scotland.

It's for three voices.

And I think what's really most
interesting about this, what's

wonderful about this, is
this is the genuine voice

of the medieval monastic choir.

NARRATOR: These lead seals
once secured bales of cloth

brought from mainland Europe.

It's proof that medieval
Scotland was no isolated

backwater.

The remains of spices
and plants suggest access

to international trade routes.

This is where evidence for
the connections with the wider

world, far beyond even
Europe, some of these things

coming from the near East, some
of them coming from Indonesia

and places such as that.

NARRATOR: All the silt
and artifacts have now

been pumped out, but
experts are still astonished

by what has been left behind.

The drain itself.

Protected from the elements
for five centuries,

it's a beautifully preserved
piece of engineering history.

RICHARD ORAM: This is
high quality stonework,

first-class engineering.

NARRATOR: The designs
were carried out

by master masons, the elite
of the construction industry.

The quality of each
individual block here,

this is the craftsmanship
of individual masons.

And just to show who did
it, they put their own marks

onto the stones
so that they would

be paid for the pieces of work
that they had actually done.

NARRATOR: Hollywood's
portrayal of medieval Scotland

was as a primitive,
savage place.

But from what investigators have
discovered here in the sewer,

we know Braveheart
lived in a rich culture.

RICHARD ORAM: The material
from the drain is fantastic.

It's just completely
revolutionized our whole way

of looking at aspects of
medieval life in Scotland.

NARRATOR: In medieval
Scotland, the church

was a powerful force.

Its main stronghold was
here, Glasgow Cathedral.

This is where the
scholar Wallace

would begin his transformation
into the warrior Braveheart.

Here, he would come into contact
with one of the country's most

important men, the
Bishop, Robert Wishart.

Wishart had been appointed
to the Scottish government.

It was from him that
Wallace learnt of his

country's worsening political
and military situation.

In turn, Wishart
came to see Wallace

as the man who'd carry the
church's banner into battle.

Glasgow Cathedral is the most
magnificent Gothic structure

surviving in Scotland.

Building it presented an
extraordinary challenge.

RICHARD ORAM: What
they're trying to do

is emphasize the height
as much as possible.

A high building is a sign of
importance, sophistication,

the money that's
been spent on it.

They're making a statement
about the power of the church

and the glory of God.

NARRATOR: The
cathedral's construction

would span three centuries, a
daunting task for stonemasons

with limited tools
and materials.

RICHARD ORAM: They
didn't really have paper,

and so what they're doing is
they're tracing out the designs

maybe in sand trays.

And they're laying
out the design

so they can express
it to the others

and show them what
they are going

to be cutting and constructing.

And even the tools for cutting
the stone are fairly simple.

Large, wooden nails,
the hammers are

used for driving the chisels.

NARRATOR: They have to
find a way of lifting stone

blocks more than 100 feet.

RICHARD ORAM: They've also got
cranes powered by what really

looked like giant hamster
runs powered by people.

NARRATOR: The main
engineering challenge

is how to support the immense
weight of the cathedral's

soaring tower.

The masons solved
this with a series

of vaults, stone arches
that join together and carry

the load above.

RICHARD ORAM: Columns that
support the vaulting, they rise

up through the floor.

And it contains and carries the
weight of the superstructure

of the church above.

The whole thing,
it's to maximize

the spiritual experience in
the people who are visiting it.

NARRATOR: 500 years
ago, this place

looked radically different
from what we see today.

The inside was lime-washed,
with details picked out

in garish color.

It was in this striking setting
that Braveheart would seek

and win his Bishop's backing.

RICHARD ORAM: The bishop is one
of the richest men in Scotland.

He controls the
revenues of the Diocese.

He is able to provide
material support for Wallace

and his army.

NARRATOR: The bishop's
concern will always

be to defend the
independence of the church.

He knows that independence
is under threat.

There will soon be
war with England.

And he sees in Braveheart
a man who will take up

the cause of freedom.

In the spring of
1296, the English army

masses on the Scottish border.

The country and its
church is at risk.

In the royal town of
Lanark, two murders

will change the course of
Scottish history forever.

In the spring of
1296, Braveheart

sees the English army sweep
across the Scottish border.

The Wars of
Independence have begun.

The English target the wealthy
merchant towns and castles

being built across Scotland.

RICHARD ORAM: The English crown
is in debt up to its eyeballs,

and Scotland's perceived as
being a wealthy society that

can be taxed.

NARRATOR: England's
King Edward is also

fighting a war in Europe.

As well as money, he needs men.

And you can imagine
the kind of rumor

that would be going around.

What Edward is
actually trying to do

is get all the cream
of Scottish society,

all the best men in
Scotland, out of the country,

send them overseas,
where they will

be killed fighting in his war.

NARRATOR: Town after town
falls to Edward's army.

The Scots barely put up a fight.

RICHARD ORAM: What
we've got, bear in mind,

is that this occupation came
on the back of a very, very

short war.

There'd been a brutal and
bloody sack of Berwick,

when Edward I of
England had taken it.

But that was intended
as a terror tactic.

And so it worked.

No other Scottish borough
resisted Edward's army

as it advanced
around the country.

NARRATOR: Then, the
English set their sights

on the thriving town of Lanark.

New research enables us to
construct what this settlement

looked like in
Braveheart's time.

It's the stage for not
one, but two murders.

The events that finally
triggered his rebellion.

DAVID ROSS: It hasn't changed
much since the time of Wallace.

There was originally a stream
ran right down the middle.

And the reason it's set
back like this is this

was the old marketplace
of the town.

Now, although the
buildings are modern,

the outline hasn't
changed very much.

And the street
was wide like this

because there would have been
stalls of people selling things

on market day.

NARRATOR: Lanark was given
the special designation

of being a royal borough.

This meant that it was
planned and laid out

on very strict guidelines.

Side streets, known as vennels,
led away from the marketplace,

making a uniform grid.

RICHARD ORAM: The king
or the king's agent

would have come along
and actually marked out

on the ground, cutting
small ditches for example,

or marking out with
ropes, the dimensions

of these individual burgages,
as they're referred to.

NARRATOR: The creation of
royal towns like Lanark

was a huge success.

They attracted merchants and
craftsmen from across Europe,

bringing large
revenues to the king.

RICHARD ORAM: So it's a
crowded, noisy, smelly, vibrant,

dynamic environment.

NARRATOR: At the top
of the main street,

beyond the old town wall, stands
the Church of St. Kentigern.

According to folklore, this
is where William Wallace

met his sweetheart,
Marion Braidfute.

And legend has it they
were married here.

Wallace's marriage
and his coming to Lanark

to be with Marion marks
a very important time

in the history of Scotland.

And basically, the struggle to
regain Scotland's independence

was started in this
town by Wallace.

NARRATOR: According
to one source,

Marion was murdered by
the English soldiers,

and this is what spurred
Wallace into action.

RICHARD ORAM: This is where
the legend and history mixes

together very, very neatly.

There's a powder keg
waiting to explode,

and some circumstance,
perhaps the death of Marion,

and perhaps just the way in
which he was pushed around once

too often by a member
of the garrison,

triggers something in Wallace.

NARRATOR: Wallace heads
straight for Lanark's castle

and its garrison of
English soldiers.

The actual location of the
castle has long been uncertain,

but historian David Ross
believes this conical mountain

was the site where
Braveheart took his revenge.

Down in a ditch here.

And this ditch was actually
part of the defense

of the old castle of Lanark.

The castle was actually built on
top of this mound that runs up

behind me here.

It would have been wood, mostly.

NARRATOR: The castle was sited
on a motte, a natural mound

built up with earth taken from
the defensive ditch dug around

it.

A timber palisade was
built around the top,

and lined with
fighting platforms.

Inside was the sheriff's tower.

A flying bridge connected the
motte to the courtyard below,

known as the bailey.

This area contained the
soldiers' accommodation,

stables, and storehouses.

Timber castles can
be very quick to build.

It's one of the great
attractions of them.

And although they're
very quickly built,

they're actually very strong.

NARRATOR: Overlooking the town,
the castle's 70-foot mound

was more than just
a defensive feature.

DAVID ROSS: It would have been
quite imposing, this place,

because it can be seen
for miles around up here,

on top of the mound.

And of course, the English
would have been flying banners

to show that the place was
under English occupation.

NARRATOR: It may have
looked impressive,

but Lanark's timber fort
was by no means impregnable.

On a summer night in 1297,
Braveheart did the unthinkable.

Somehow, he entered
the castle and took

on the English commander,
Sheriff Heselrig.

DAVID ROSS: And Wallace
came here in retaliation

for the murder of his wife.

And somewhere within the
building that stood here,

he came face to face
with her murderer.

And he said, I am Wallace.

Die, Heselrig.

NARRATOR: As he fled
the timber fort,

he set it on fire,
burning it to the ground

and destroying it forever.

The murder of Sheriff Heselrig
was the first of Braveheart's

deeds to be recorded as fact.

DAVID ROSS: This misty man of
legend suddenly steps fully

grown onto the pages
of our history books.

NARRATOR: News of
Braveheart's uprisings

spread like wildfire
across Britain.

Young men of a like
mind started to flock

to Wallace's banner.

The Scottish War of
Independence was about to begin.

NARRATOR: During the summer
of 1297, William Wallace,

Braveheart, wages
a guerrilla war

against the occupying
English forces.

Then, in a pitched battle
at Stirling Bridge,

he stops them in their tracks.

AMANDA BEAM: It was a great
victory for the Scots.

Politically, the
Scottish government

was able to expel the
Edwardian administrators.

And Scotland, an independent
Scotland, seemed in their grasp

at that point.

NARRATOR: The nature
of the war has changed.

It is no longer about halting
the invaders' advance.

It is about driving them out.

FIONA WATSON: Obviously, winning
the battle was very, very

important.

But what Wallace had to do
now was to re-secure Scotland

for the Scots.

And to do that, he needed to get
the English out of Scotland's

castles.

NARRATOR: Castles dominated the
Scottish landscape, strongholds

of military power,
wealth, and government.

Time has taken its toll on
these once great fortresses,

but now we find the
clues to how they looked

in the age of Braveheart.

Taking castles would be
crucial to his strategy.

Each would present
its own challenge.

The first, Loch Leven, may not
appear to be a mighty fortress.

But since 490 AD, builders
have chosen this site

for its natural defenses.

It sits on an island in
the middle of a lake.

Legend has it that its capture
took all the courage for which

Braveheart would become famous.

He leads his men from the front.

DAVID ROSS: And Wallace
himself swam out to the castle

and managed to take the
garrison's boat, no mean feat

because the water here
is deep and very cold.

He managed to row back to shore,
he took his 18 men on board,

and they came out here.

The water came right up to
the walls in these days.

And obviously, you could
be picked off by archers.

NARRATOR: The walls surrounding
the castle are just 15 feet

high.

The English garrison
relied too heavily

on the protection of the lake.

They simply weren't prepared for
Braveheart's guerrilla tactics.

DAVID ROSS: We're told they
slaughtered 30 of the garrison,

but they did spare the
women and children.

But the extraordinary
thing for me

is to be able to come here,
seven centuries on, and touch

the stonework,
the very stonework

that Wallace and his
men scrambled over.

NARRATOR: Building this
stonework would have presented

a huge challenge.

I suppose most people must
look at old castles like this

and just look at
the strength of them

without actually thinking about
how they were constructed.

NARRATOR: The walls
are eight feet thick,

a double layer of mortared
stone filled with rubble.

Clearly, a huge weight
of rock was transported

across the lake, cut to
shape, then lifted into place.

But all records relating to
the castle's construction

have been lost, and seven
centuries of Scottish rain

have eroded away
any physical clues.

The mind boggles at just
the engineering problems

they've overcome to build
somewhere as complex as this.

NARRATOR: To understand
these problems,

we need to investigate another
castle, the best preserved

of Braveheart's time.

It's called Bothwell.

Bothwell was only half-built
when the invading English

overran it in 1297.

But a year later,
awesome stone defenses

would present Braveheart's army
with their greatest challenge.

Today, these same
defenses provide us

with the clues to how Scotland's
great castles were built.

This is Bothwell Castle,
probably the most spectacular

13th century castle ever
to be built in Scotland.

It was built by William
Murray, and it's an absolutely

magnificent sight.

NARRATOR: William Murray,
known as The Rich,

was the uncle of Andrew Murray,
Braveheart's co-commander

killed at Stirling Bridge.

This meant that Braveheart
would have had a personal motive

for wanting to recapture
the castle from the English.

ALLAN RUTHERFORD:
As you can see,

the castle literally
grows out of the bedrock.

The castle's built of
this absolutely beautiful

red sandstone.

NARRATOR: From these
surviving structures,

we can now recreate
this medieval world.

The castle's centerpiece
was a mighty tower

known as the donjon.

It was a massive piece of
engineering, split into four

levels.

The basement stored
food and weapons.

The ground floor was taken
up with a majestic banqueting

hall.

And above that was the common
hall, for the servants.

Murray's private
chamber was at the top.

This was a medieval penthouse
with en suite bathroom

and a large window offering
a magnificent view.

Proof of Bothwell's
sophistication

still survives on
the outer wall.

ALLAN RUTHERFORD:
What we're looking at,

a couple of medieval toilets.

They took sewage
and excrement away

from the interior of the
castle and shot it out.

NARRATOR: But it's
on the inner wall

that we find the evidence of
how these medieval castles were

built.

High up on the walls, we can
see some indentations, which

were used when they were
constructing the castle.

NARRATOR: Known as
putlog holes, these

indicate where the
scaffolding was actually

built into the thick walls.

Just below them are
smaller dimples.

These show where the masons
used calipers or cramps

to lift the heavy building
blocks nearly 90 feet.

ALLAN RUTHERFORD:
There was probably

a master mason, who was in
overall charge of work on site.

But he may have been taking
a lot of his instructions

from his patron.

NARRATOR: Murray employed
the best masons in Scotland.

They took their inspiration and
techniques from across Europe.

Each mason carved his
personal mark into the work

that he completed.

They built an enormous 60-foot
wall up to 15-feet thick,

adorned with arrow
slits and topped

with defensive battlements.

It was intended to withstand
bombardments from new siege

weapons like the trebuchet.

As the wall was
completed, the courtyard

filled with chapels, kitchens,
sleeping halls, and stables.

In effect, it was a
self-contained, fortified town.

When Braveheart came to
take it, Bothwell presented

a formidable challenge.

But we now know that
William Murray's dream

was to build a fortress
even more impressive.

ALLAN RUTHERFORD: Out
in front of the castle,

we have these grass
covered remains.

They look a bit like another
part of the castle that was

ruined, purposely destroyed.

But actually,
excavation has shown

that they were never completed.

And what was intended
at this point--

this would have been a massive,
double-towered gatehouse.

NARRATOR: Using
these foundations,

we can bring Murray's dream
to life for the first time.

This massive
pentagonal castle would

have covered almost two acres.

It would have been the most
magnificent castle ever built

in Scotland, large enough to
house a powerful garrison.

But Murray didn't survive
to complete his vision.

He was killed in the first
wave of English invasion.

Even so, the partially
completed Bothwell

was so well built that
Braveheart's army founders

against its mighty defenses.

They fall back on
the one surefire

way of taking a castle, siege.

They cut off the supply
lines and surround Bothwell,

and spend 14 long months
starving the English out.

Bothwell was so important
to the war effort

that it was won and lost several
times over the next few years.

Capturing and keeping the castle
was such a drain on resources

that it became a liability.

The Scots were driven to take
desperate and extraordinary

measures to stop Bothwell
being used against them again.

We can see here the mighty
remains of the great donjon,

the Scots did this themselves.

They cast down this
part of the donjon

to deny it to the English, so
they could never reoccupy it.

NARRATOR: But there is
one castle more important

to Braveheart than all others.

Sterling, the symbol of
Scotland's independence.

Centuries of war have destroyed
the original structure,

but now we can reveal how it
may have looked 700 years ago.

The 13th century was the
golden age of Scottish castles.

A new generation of
buildings was characterized

by formidable defenses
and grand residences.

Above the site of Braveheart's
famous victory at Stirling

Bridge stands the most
important of them all.

AMANDA BEAM: Stirling
Castle was strategically

the most important castle,
because whoever controlled

that one controlled
the north of Scotland.

NARRATOR: If Braveheart
is to expel the English

from Scotland, this is the
one castle he must take.

But so far, the Scots have been
unable to breach Stirling's

awesome natural defenses.

RICHARD FAWCETT: It's
probably the best location

for a castle in Scotland.

And you can see here
just why it was so good.

This is the edge
of volcanic sill

that probably began
to take shape,

what, 350 million years
ago, something like that.

NARRATOR: The castle
rock's sheer sides drop

250 feet to the plane below.

They make Stirling a
superb military base.

But it is much more
than just a fortress.

Sterling represents
Scotland's independence.

To understand this
symbolic power,

we have to find out how it
looked in Braveheart's time.

And by doing that, we
will discover, perhaps,

the most surprising
purpose behind the building

of these castles.

Sterling's physical qualities
made it the perfect residence

for Scotland's kings.

RICHARD FAWCETT: This was
an extremely important royal

castle.

You can see how the buildings
perch right on the very edge

of the castle rock.

That was probably the
most prestigious part

of the whole castle.

So we think that it must
always have been the site

for the royal lodgings.

NARRATOR: The royal family had
lived here for over 200 years.

RICHARD FAWCETT: And it was
very important to the kings

to make sure that the
buildings were absolutely

in the height of fashion.

NARRATOR: We now know that the
fashion of Braveheart's time

meant Stirling looked very
different from how it does

today.

RICHARD FAWCETT:
Masonry was never meant

to be seen as naked masonry.

It was always covered
over with a lime render.

And it's very likely that
several of the elements

would have been picked
out in quite rich colors.

NARRATOR: It was a fashion that
can be seen from miles around.

This is what castles were for.

As a royal castle,
Stirling demonstrates

it better than anywhere else.

We've got a tendency
to think about castles

as great fortresses.

You're constantly in a state of
armed preparedness for siege,

but these places
are status symbols.

It's a way of demonstrating your
wealth and your sophistication.

And you're proclaiming that
you are somebody that matters.

NARRATOR: When Braveheart
comes to take the castle,

he has already struck
the crucial blow.

Almost the entire
English garrison

had been cut down by his
army at Stirling Bridge.

The few soldiers that
remain are short of supplies

and so terrified by
Braveheart's unexpected victory

that they surrender within days.

Now, Braveheart
controlled Stirling.

He is able to chase the rest
of the English out of Scotland.

And yet within the
year, stung by defeat,

King Edward of England brings
his forces back to fight.

Less than 10 miles
from Stirling,

near the town of
Falkirk, he comes face

to face with Braveheart.

This time it is the English
king's radical new weapon

that determines the
outcome of the battle.

FIONA WATSON: To be fair
to him, for the first time,

I think, really,
in British history,

it's the long bow, the English
longbow that defeats the Scots.

But it was this hail of arrows
that the Scots could do nothing

about.

NARRATOR: Braveheart survives,
but his fall from power

is as rapid as his dramatic
ascent the year before.

AMANDA BEAM: After
the defeat of Falkirk,

Wallace let go of
the guardianship.

His leadership rested
on his military success,

and obviously, he didn't feel
that he could lead the country

if he couldn't win Falkirk.

NARRATOR: But Braveheart
doesn't give up his fight.

He goes overseas to seek support
for Scotland's independence.

AMANDA BEAM: The following
year, he went into France,

trying to get help from the
French and also from the pope.

NARRATOR: But by
1304, the Scottish

castles he had fought so
hard for were falling back

into English hands.

Braveheart returns home to
fight on the front line.

But within months, he
suffers betrayal by a friend

and is captured by the English.

A court in London finds
him guilty of treason.

Wallace is dragged
through the streets

to Smithfield, where he is
hung, drawn, and quartered.

It is a slow and
agonizing death.

FIONA WATSON: Where Wallace
really scores, I think,

is after his death, his
terrible, gruesome, and awful

death.

And that undying
spirit of freedom

that he never, ever gave up on.

NARRATOR: It would take
another 42 years for the Scots

to finally win the
Wars of Independence.

But Braveheart's example
had inspired a nation.

You can't compare anyone else
in Scottish history to him.

He's someone who
rises from obscurity

and becomes this national symbol
of patriotism, of survival,

and of Scotland.

NARRATOR: William Wallace
lost world was the birthplace

of Scottish independence.

As Braveheart, he
gave everything

to preserve his
nation's identity.

700 years on, that nation
still honors his name.

[music playing]