Editing Robert the Bruce (section)

=== Death and aftermath ===
[[File:Dunfermline Abbey - entrance.jpg|thumb|right|180px|King Robert I is buried in [[Dunfermline Abbey]].]]

Robert died on 7 June 1329, at the Manor of Cardross, near [[Dumbarton]].<ref name="Weir"/> Apart from failing to fulfill a vow to undertake a [[crusade]] he died utterly fulfilled, in that the goal of his lifetime's struggle – untrammelled recognition of the Bruce right to the crown – had been realised, and confident that he was leaving the kingdom of Scotland safely in the hands of his most trusted lieutenant, Moray until his infant son reached adulthood.<ref name="Macnamee 2006 271">{{harvnb|Macnamee|2006|p=271}}</ref> Six days after his death, to complete his triumph still further, [[papal bull]]s were issued granting the privilege of [[unction]] at the [[coronation]] of future Kings of Scots.<ref name="Macnamee 2006 271"/>

It remains unclear just what caused the death of Robert, a month before his fifty-fifth birthday. Contemporary accusations that Robert had leprosy, the "unclean sickness" – the present-day, treatable [[Hansen's disease]] – derived from English and Hainault chroniclers. None of the Scottish accounts of his death hint at leprosy. Penman states that it is very difficult to accept the notion of Robert as a functioning king serving in war, performing face-to-face acts of lordship, holding parliament and court, travelling widely and fathering several children, all while displaying the infectious symptoms of a leper.<ref>{{harvnb|Penman|2014|pp=302–303}}</ref> Along with suggestions of eczema, tuberculosis, syphilis, [[motor neurone disease]], cancer or stroke, a diet of rich court food has also been suggested as a possible contributory factor in Robert's death. His Milanese physician, [[Maino De Maineri]], did criticise the king's eating of [[eel]]s as dangerous to his health in advancing years.<ref>{{harvnb|Penman|2014|p=304}}</ref>

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 the skull and foot bone showed no signs of leprosy, such as an eroded nasal spine and a pencilling of the foot bone.<ref>{{cite web |author=((Department of Communications and Public Affairs, Western University)) |title=A rumour at rest: Western researcher clears a king's reputation |url=http://news.westernu.ca/2017/02/rumour-rest-western-researcher-clears-kings-reputation/ |website=Western News |access-date=2 March 2017 |date=16 February 2017}}</ref>