--- title: "The medieval weapon so frightening Scots surrendered at first sight" description: "\"Braveheart\" missed a lot of key elements of England's conflict with the Scots-- for example, the giant trebuchet that hurled 300 lb rocks." date: "2022-06-18" modified: "2022-06-18" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/king-edwards-secret-weapon-braveheart/" categories: - "History" - "Tactical" - "Weapons" --- # The medieval weapon so frightening Scots surrendered at first sight ![A group of people engaged in conversation, including a man in a navy blue suit with a red poppy pin shaking hands with a man in a light gray suit. A woman with blonde hair in a beige outfit stands smiling behind them. Another man wearing a dark jacket with "FEMA" in yellow letters on the back is also present. The setting appears to be outdoors near an aircraft.]() *New Orleans, LA, November 4, 2005 - Prince Charles and Camilla greet FEMA officials as they arrive to tour the damages created by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Robert Kaufmann/FEMA And Camilla is lucky she wasn't thrown out of a window. (Wikimedia Commons)* There's not a lot about the 1995 movie "Braveheart" we can call "historically accurate." William Wallace never knocked up Isabella, he wasn't all that successful as a military leader, and the movie leaves out a lot of boring (but important) trade negotiations and diplomatic meetings in Europe. What the movie gets right, however, is that King Edward I of England really, *really* hated Scots. --- ![]() *TFW Someone brings up Scotland. (Paramount Pictures/ 20th Century Fox)* As a matter of fact, "Longshanks" wasn't his only nickname. He also earned the moniker "[Hammer of the Scots]()" for reasons that will be obvious to you by the end of this story, even if you haven't seen *"*Braveheart*"* The truth is that Edward didn't necessarily hate Scotland or Scots (I think... that's never really been clear). He was just dead-set on the conquest of his neighbors. In 1274, Edward picked up where his father Henry III failed in Wales and raised an army to subdue them. After a significant uprising of people with names that are difficult to pronounce, the Welsh were put down, and Edward's son and successor was dubbed "the Prince of Wales," a practice that continues today with Prince Charles. A decade or so later, the Scottish king, Alexander III, died suddenly and without a definite male heir. His daughter, Margaret, was just a baby when she was to be made queen, a process that was sped up to keep Edward from marrying his son to Margaret and claiming the throne by birthright. Because, believe it or not, the Scots and the English had a relatively peaceful co-existence until then. Eventually, Edward gave the throne of Scotland to John Balliol, who was, by then, his vassal. Edward effectively controlled Scotland, using the country to bankroll his wars and provide soldiers. Eventually, the Scots became sick of this arrangement and rebelled. The Scots formed an alliance with France, England's longtime enemy, which pissed Edward off to no end. Then, William Wallace killed the sheriff of Lanark. History doesn't record exactly why Wallace killed the Sheriff — but the execution of Wallace's wife is one possibility posited by historians. That's when the First War of Independence started. ![]() *William Wallace did not shoot the sheriff. That's not how Scots do things. (Paramount Pictures/ 20th Century Fox)* The movie "Braveheart" depicts the murder of the sheriff as well as the 1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge. What it *doesn't* show is Edward I returning to Stirling in 1304 at the head of the largest collection of giant catapults ever assembled on Earth. Ever. After cornering Scottish rebels inside the walls of Stirling Castle, Longshanks ordered the construction of 13 giant trebuchets right in view of the castle walls. It took 100 engineers months to build the massive siege weapons, the biggest of them being dubbed, "[Wolf of War]()." The English even procured gunpowder munitions to complement the boulders being tossed at Stirling Castle. Wolf of War was so massive that it wasn't even ready for the initial barrages. For months, the English fired at the walls of Stirling Castle, to no avail. Finally "Wolf of War" was ready in July, 1304. When the Scots saw the massive weapon and the 300-pound rocks it could hurl, they surrendered. ![A large stone castle sits atop a rocky hill surrounded by dense green trees, with a clear blue sky in the background. The castle features multiple windows, chimneys, and a fortified wall. The foreground includes a grassy field leading up to the wooded hill.]() *Stirling Castle today. (Wikimedia Commons)* Having spent so much time and effort on the construction of Wolf of War, Edward rebuffed their surrender and decided to fire the massive trebuchet at them anyway. People came from far and wide for its first firing at the Scots. Edward even ordered the construction of a special siege tower with a viewing balcony so his wife could watch. Wolf of War did what the other could not do in four months. With just a few shots, the massive weapon brought down entire sections of the castle walls. Entire buildings were smashed into rubble and only 30 Scots emerged to surrender to Edward. He had one of them drawn behind a horse and executed. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()