(Vatican Insider) -- He didn’t wear a kilt but a religious habit. Part warrior, part monk, he was above all armed with a “fervent Catholic faith”: this was the real William Wallace, the Scottish national hero, made famous by the Oscar-winning film “Braveheart” that came out in 1995, starring Mel Gibson. This is according to traditionalist website Pontiflex.roma.it, which covers studies and research carried out in Scotland by the Society for Tradition, Family and Property, a body that was established to promote the thinking of the Catholic intellectual, Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: It seems so common that people forget that if you called yourself a Christian anywhere in the Western World prior to the 16th century that meant you will likely a member of the Roman Catholic Church. After five centuries we have so easily forgotten that Christianity was essentially unified in the West prior to the Reformation and the words 'Catholic' and 'Christian' were completely synonymous. William Wallace was one such Christian, a devout Catholic and defender of his people.
According to the Catholic website, Gibson’s film is important in that it taught the whole world the story of the Scottish leader who led his fellow nationals in the rebellion against English occupation. However, it missed out one fundamental fact about the figure of Braveheart: his Catholic faith.
Since his birth in 1270, the young nobleman, Wallace, received a Catholic education. His career was allegedly church oriented: he was educated by the Augustinians and the Benedictines and apart from his mother tongue, Gaelic, he also spoke English, French, German and Latin.
Then, a series of violent episodes made him abandon religious life. An English patrol killed his father and eldest brother in cold blood, after they were found guilty of refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to Edward I of England and of supporting the Scottish sovereign, John Balliol’s cause instead. William consequently killed some English soldiers and went into hiding: this was the moment when the man who was to lead the revolt against the invader, with the help of the Bishop of Glasgow, was born...
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Those of us who claim our cultural heritage from Scotland, particularly those of us in the American Southeast -- Dixieland -- would do well to remember that. Catholicism is just as much our cultural heritage as anything else.
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After five centuries we have so easily forgotten that Christianity was essentially unified in the West prior to the Reformation and the words 'Catholic' and 'Christian' were completely synonymous.
Mr Knight,
This is so true. Just a couple of comments:
Braveheart is my favorite film. I have, however, seen it only once and that was nearly 15 years ago. (Watching it was such a sublime experience that I don't think I could go through it again). I do seem to remember, however, a scene early in the film where he and Murrin pray in a cemetary with Celtic crosses (which I believe is the cemetary in Glendalough -- it was filmed primarily in Co. Wicklow, Ireland). And wasn't there a reference to a priest who was Wm's tutor? Anyway, my recollection was that Wallace was a thoroughly Catholic character and that "Braveheart" was a thoroughly Catholic film, even if Catholicism was not mentioned explicitly (and isn't that the best kind of Catholic art?).
With regard to claiming a Catholic heritage for Dixieland - that is interesting stuff. I was always taught growing up that the heritage of the South was mainly "Ulster Scots," and that anti-Catholicism was part of this culture. Clearly this was an oversimplification. (I am, however, aware of the tie between Irish music and bluegrass, and even took a continuing education course in the very same subject many years ago by a scholar called June Sawyers, from which I remember nothing, unfortunately!).
I would love to hear more of your thoughts on the Catholic heritage of the South.
Luciana
Mr Knight,
Flannery O'Connor once wrote: "While the South is hardly Christ-centered,it is most certainly Christ-haunted."
I am very interested in hearing your thoughts on this quote.
Luciana
I remember reading an article about Wallace that yes he was a Cultural and Religious Catholic however, he didn't know or speak Scot-Gaelic and barely spoke English. His first language was French. I always meant to follow up on this but never did.
Hellaire Belloc's book The Faith and Europe is available as a free download at Google Books. It is an excellent history of Christendom and how the Catholic Church and Europe were historically one and the same.
Any American that has the funds to travel to Europe may see the Catholic heritage in the Cathedrals and churches, even those that were stolen by protestant governments such as in England and Scandinavia. In America, there is a historical gap relating to Catholicism because of history books that fail to mention details of the whole West Coast, Southwest, Northern Midwest, and Florida which were filled with Catholic mission settlements before the British even arrived. Also, Canada is majority Catholic.
The most important lesson of Braveheart, which I will never forget is DON'T TRUST THE NOBLES!
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