A FRESH petition has been launched urging the Scottish Government to ensure the William Wallace letter remains in Scotland.
The 700-year-old letter, written in a form of Latin shorthand, was sent to the French King’s agents in the court of Pope Boniface VIII in 1300.
Wallace’s mission in Europe remains a mystery, but in the note, King Phillipe IV asks the Pope to support the Scottish knight in “those things which he has to transact”.
The document has been on loan to The National Records of Scotland for 14 years, but it is scheduled to be returned to The National Archives in Kew, England, in September.
A previous petition launched on change.org, which said the letter "symbolizes freedom, resistance and the spirit of Scotland's fight for sovereignty", was signed by more than 6500 people.
Now, a fresh petition has been launched on the Scottish Parliament website, which says the letter should be "kept where it is most significant".
Started by David Reid, the convenor of the Society of William Wallace, the petition states: "This letter is one of the few items we know Wallace had and as he is Scotland's national hero the letter is of huge significance to Scotland's culture."
The petition states that the letter was taken from Wallace prior to his execution in 1305.
"Had Wallace not been captured the letter would be in the National Archives of Scotland," it added.
In May, Culture Secretary Mairi McAllan said the medieval letter “should remain in Scotland” and vowed to work with the UK Government to keep it here.
And in an update last month, the Scottish Government insisted it still wants the letter to remain north of the Border, despite claims from campaigners that they are being shut out of talks.
Wallace is famous for leading the Scots in the defeat of the English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. He later spent time in Europe but by 1305 was back in Scotland where he was captured, taken to London and executed.
Historians discovered the letter in the Tower of London in the 1830s, and while no-one knows exactly how it got there, experts believe Wallace carried it with him.
The letter is only one of two surviving documents with a direct personal link to Wallace.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government’s position is that the Wallace letter should be in Scotland.
“We are exploring options with UK authorities to seek a solution that would best preserve the document, enable it to be displayed, and see its future in Scotland.”
