| “ | All of you know full well, the great pains I've always taken never to be too strict, too rigid with the application of our laws, and as a consequence, have we not learned to live together in relative peace and harmony, huh? And this day's lawlessness is how you repay my leniency. Well you leave me with little choice. An assault on the king's soldiers is the same as an assault on the king himself. | „ |
| ~ The Magistrate to the Scots. |
The Magistrate of Lanark, also known as the Sheriff of Lanark, is a supporting antagonist in the 1995 Mel Gibson directed film Braveheart.
He was portrayed by Malcolm Tierney.
Biography[]
The Magistrate was a an officer in the English Army and served as the magistrate in the town of Lanark. He was under the command of Lord Bottoms. A few days after King Edward I of England instituted the Prima Nocte, one of his soldiers named Smythe attempted to rape a Scottish woman named Murron, who was recently secretly married with William Wallace who attacked him and managed to saved her. Wallace managed to escape and went into hiding but Murron was captured and brought to the Magistrate.
As Wallace was not showing his face, the Magistrate decided to execute her in order to give the Scots a message and lure Wallace out of hiding. To make Wallace even more angry, he also opened the graves of his father and brother. Unknown to him, Wallace and some of his friends decided to take them by surprise. Wallace arrived at the Magistrate's fortress and pretended to surrender. He then started to kill the English soldiers one by one and his friends soon joined. Seeing that he is danger, the Magistrate ordered his Corporal to put archers on the tower. However, that didn't stop the Scots from killing every single soldier with only the Magistrate and his Corporal remaining. Wallace stared the Magistrate in the eyes and kicked him. He then put him into the same wood that Murron was killed, and slit his throat in the same way he did her, killing him and avenging her death. His death marked the beginning of the Scottish rebellion.
Legacy[]
Despite not appearing for long, the Magistrate has a critical effect on the story, as his action of killing Murron changed William Wallace's life forever and forced him to lead the Scottish War of Independence, thus making him indirectly responsible for the events that transpired later.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
- King Edward I of England
- Lord Bottoms
- Smythe
- Unnamed corporal
Enemies[]
- William Wallace
- Murron MacClannough
- Campbell
- Hamish
- Morrison