Robert Bruce was the heroic King of Scots who, despite set-backs, secured Scotland's independence from England. Bruce was distantly related to the Scottish royal family and always had ambitions to be king. He took his chance in 1306, when Edward was ailing, by arranging a secret meeting, in Greyfriars Kirk, Dumfries, with Balliol's agent in Scotland, Comyn. The meeting ended in disaster because the two men quarrelled and Bruce stabbed Comyn to death. Thus, he made enemies of King Edward, the Comyns and the Church for committing murder in a holy place. Bruce was crowned at Scone in March 1306. Shortly afterwards, he was defeated by the English and then by the Comyns. After that, Edward captured Bruce's wife and family and put some of them in cages as a punishment. Legend says Bruce spent that winter alone, sheltering in a cave on a deserted island, watching a spider trying to spin a web. When it failed, it simply started all over again. Bruce took that as a lesson. He returned to inflict a series of minor defeats on the English which won him fame and brought him more supporters. Then, he turned on the Balliols and Comyns and destroyed them because they would not accept him as king. Finally, Bruce attacked the English bases in Scotland and demolished them because he did not have troops to garrison them. His attempts to capture Stirling Castle led to his famous victory at Bannockburn in 1314. Although Bruce had undisputed control over Scotland after Bannockburn, the King of England did not agree that he was King of an independent country until 1328. By that time, Bruce was an old man who died a year later. His body lies in Dunfermline Abbey but his heart is buried in Melrose Abbey.