Holyrood Palace council of nobles met to discuss a ransom for the captive king, William the Lion. Robert the Bruce held a parliament at the abbey in 1326, and by 1329 it may already have been in use as a royal residence. In 1370, David II became the first of several Kings of Scots to be buried at Holyrood. Not only was James II born at Holyrood in 1430, it was at Holyrood that he was crowned, married and laid to rest. James III and Margaret of Denmark were married at Holyrood in 1469. The early royal residence was in the abbey
Westmalle Abbey church tower was demolished by the retreating Belgian army, it was rebuilt in 1924 with a campanile. During the war 10 monks, led by father Isidorus Verelst, stayed in the abbey. The other ones lived in exile in monasteries in Zundert, Echt and Tegelen in the (neutral) Netherlands. In 1930 a cowshed was built and in 1934 a new brewery was built. The abbey kept "blister head" cows for their milk and the production of Trappist cheese. During World War II, the abbey was spared and after the war the library was enlarged and the church modernized. Between 1946 and