Historic letter urging support for William Wallace displayed on St Andrew’s Day
The letter dates from 1300 and was written by the King of France in support of the Scottish independence leader.
A famous and historic letter in support of Scottish hero William Wallace has been put on display on St Andrew’s Day.
More than 250 people turned up to see the fragile document which was only on display for five hours to protect it from too much daylight.
The letter from the King of France to his agents at the papal court in Rome, is known as the “Wallace letter of recommendation”, and turned up among other historic documents in the Tower of London in the 19th century.
The letter dates from 1300, three years after Wallace and Andrew Moray led the Scots to victory over the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
The French monarch’s letter urged allies to support Wallace in “those things which he has to transact”.
The document was last displayed in 2018 and is kept out of the light for years at a time to preserve it for future generations.
The National Records of Scotland, which runs the national archive at General Register House in Edinburgh, put the fragile fragment of parchment on display for five hours only.
Archivist Jocelyn Grant said: “It was a pleasure to put this rare document on show, alongside two tapestries inspired by it, and the so-called Lubeck letter.
“It was nice to see so many people take advantage of one of the few opportunities to see this document in-person; as well as the tapestries.
“Skilled weavers from the Dovecot studios created them in 2012, and this is the first time they have been on display since then.”
