Edward Bruce pact with the English governor of Stirling Castle, which led to the English sending a large army to relieve the castle. This led to the Battle of Bannockburn on 23–24 June 1314, where he commanded a Scottish schiltrom. Some time between 1309 and 1313, Edward was created Earl of Carrick, a title previously held by his maternal grandfather Niall of Carrick, his mother and his elder brother. It is unclear if he was ever married. He did have an illegitimate son, Alexander Bruce, who would later inherit his father's earldom. By the early 14th century, Ireland had not had a
Robert the Bruce years. A team of researchers, headed by Professor Andrew Nelson from University of Western Ontario have determined that Robert the Bruce did not have leprosy. They examined the original casting of the skull belonging to Robert the Bruce's descendant Lord Andrew Douglas Alexander Thomas Bruce, and a foot bone that had not been re-interred. They determined that skull and foot bone showed no signs of leprosy, such as an eroded nasal spine and a pencilling of the foot bone. The king's body was embalmed, and his sternum sawn open to allow extraction of the heart, which Sir James Douglas placed