Moray died from his battle wounds, leaving Wallace as sole commander. More conquests ensued, and Wallace's reputation as a charismatic leader grew. His army of followers recaptured Stirling Castle, then invaded the English shires of Cumberland and Northumberland. Later that December, he was knighted and proclaimed Guardian of Scotland, ruling in Balliol's name. Still, most of the Scottish nobles refused to support him.

On July 3, 1298, Longshanks invaded Scotland, his ninety-thousand-strong army soundly defeating Wallace at Falkirk. His military reputation ruined, Wallace resigned his guardianship and traveled to France on a diplomatic mission.

By 1303, the hostilities between England and France were over and Longshanks could again concentrate on his conquest of Scotland. Stirling was recaptured in 1304, Wallace betrayed a year later by a Scottish knight, who served Edward.

On August 23, 1305, Sir William Wallace was hanged, kept alive, then disemboweled, his entrails burned before his eyes. His body was then decapitated and quartered, his head impaled on a spike and displayed on London Bridge.

The barbarism of Wallace's execution made him a martyr to the Scots and gave Robert the Bruce the momentum he needed to lead another uprising. In 1306, the triumphant Bruce was crowned King of Scotland.

Bruce's army would defeat the English in 1314 in the battle of Bannockburn. Twice he invaded England before finally accepting a truce with Longshanks's son, King Edward II. Peace between Scotland and England lasted thirteen years before another war broke out. The Scots were again victorious, and in 1328, Bruce secured a treaty recognizing Scotland's independence. A year later, the king would die of leprosy, leaving the crown to his son, David II.

In 1390, David II died, and Bruce's nephew, John Stewart (Stuart), Earl of Carrick, was crowned King Robert II.

Thus began what is known in Scotland as the Stuart Monarchy.

The next three centuries of rule would be marred by internal strife, conflicts of commerce, and marriages manipulated between Scotland's and England's royal houses. More bloodshed followed, as brother fought brother and religion battled religion in the age-old nonsense of settling whose method of worship was holiest to our Creator, who, for all our murderous efforts, most likely despises the lot of us.

Religious differences would lead to the House of Stuart's undoing.

In 1603, King James VI of Scotland, son of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, cousin to Elizabeth I, Queen of England, also became King James I of England in the Union of the Crowns. By succeeding to the throne of England, he thus united Scotland and England as one kingdom—Great Britain—believing the English would accept his Scottish brethren just as they accepted him. But centuries of bloodshed are not so easily forgotten, and England's parliament quickly voted against the proposal.