Robert Curthose
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Robert Curthose | |
---|---|
Sybilla of Conversano | |
Issue | William Clito |
House | Normandy |
Father | William the Conqueror |
Mother | Matilda of Flanders |
Robert II of Normandy, or Robert Curthose (
Robert's reign as Duke is noted for the discord with his brothers
Early life
Robert was the eldest son of
In 1077, Robert instigated his first insurrection against his father as the result of a prank played by his younger brothers
Exile
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Robert fled to Flanders to the court of his uncle Robert I, Count of Flanders, before plundering the county of the Vexin and causing such mayhem that his father King William allied himself with King Philip I of France to stop his rebellious son. Relations were not helped when King William discovered that his wife, Robert's mother Queen Matilda, was secretly sending him money. At a battle in January 1079, Robert is said to have unhorsed King William in combat and succeeded in wounding him, only stopping his attack when he recognised his father's voice. Humiliated, King William cursed his son. King William then raised the siege and returned to Rouen.[8]
At Easter 1080, father and son were reunited by the efforts of Queen Matilda, and a truce between the two lasted until she died in 1083. Robert seems to have left court soon after the death of his mother and spent several years travelling throughout France, Germany, and Flanders. He visited Italy seeking the hand of the great heiress
Reign as Duke of Normandy
In 1087, the elder William died of wounds suffered from a riding accident during a siege of Mantes. At his death he reportedly wanted to disinherit his eldest son but was persuaded to instead divide the Norman dominions between his two eldest sons. To Robert he granted the Duchy of Normandy and to William Rufus he granted the Kingdom of England. The youngest son Henry was given money to buy land. Of the two elder sons Robert was considered to be much weaker and was generally preferred by the nobles who held lands on both sides of the English Channel since they could more easily circumvent his authority.[9]
At the time of their father's death the two brothers made an agreement to be each other's heir. However, this agreement lasted less than a year when barons joined with Robert to displace Rufus in the Rebellion of 1088. It was not a success, in part because Robert never showed up to support the English rebels.
Robert took on
First Crusade and return
In 1096,
Robert joined forces with his brother-in-law, count
Robert and Stephen were the last leading nobles to arrive at the gathering point in Constantinople but were welcomed with respect by Emperor Alexios and memories of Robert's grandfather's visit to Constantinople during his pilgrimage to Jerusalem.[11] Both then swore, as had the other crusading leaders except for count Raymond of Toulouse, an oath to restore all cities that had been in Byzantine possession to Alexios and honour his superior status.[12]
In the first week of June 1097 Robert and Stephen joined the main forces of the crusading army who at this point were besieging Nicea which was successfully conquered on the 19th of June.[13] Robert then participated in all further military ventures during the crusade and was among the remaining crusading forces that took Jerusalem in August 1099. The fulfilment of his crusader vows was a personal triumph for Robert: he had shown military skills as well as the ability to mediate between different factions in the crusading forces.[14]
Robert left the Holy Land around September 1099 and returned via Constantinople, where Emperor Alexios showered him with gifts and offered him to enter into the service of the Byzantine Empire, but Robert declined.[15] Instead, he travelled again to Southern Italy where he wintered again and married Sybil which also brought him a big dowry which enabled him to raise the necessary funds to buy back his duchy.[16] However, when William II died on 2 August 1100 and Robert was still on the return journey and absent from Normandy, his brother Henry was able to seize the crown of England for himself.
Upon his return, Robert—urged by Flambard and several Anglo-Norman barons—claimed the English crown, on the basis of the short-lived agreement of 1087, and in 1101 led an invasion to oust his brother Henry. He landed at Portsmouth with his army, but the lack of popular support among the English (Anselm, the archbishop of Canterbury, was decidedly against him and the Charter of Liberties issued at Henry's coronation was well liked) as well as Robert's own mishandling of the invasion tactics enabled Henry to resist the invasion. Robert was forced by diplomacy to renounce his claim to the English throne in the Treaty of Alton. Orderic claimed that Robert squandered his wealth and became so poor that he had nothing to wear, but this seems unlikely given that Robert would have been reduced to penury so short after his return and might rather refer to his pre-Crusade persona.[17]
Imprisonment and death
In 1105, however, Robert's continual stirring of discord with his brother in England as well as civil disorder in Normandy itself prompted Henry to invade Normandy. Orderic reports on an incident at Easter 1105 when Robert was supposed to hear a sermon by the venerable
In 1106, Henry defeated Robert's army decisively at the Battle of Tinchebray and claimed Normandy as a possession of the English crown, a situation that endured for almost a century. Captured after the battle, Robert was imprisoned in Devizes Castle in Wiltshire for twenty years before being moved to Cardiff.
In 1134, Robert died in
Descendants
Robert married Sybilla of Conversano, daughter of
Sybilla, who was admired and often praised by chroniclers of the time, died shortly after the birth of her son.
Robert also had at least three illegitimate children – Richard, who died hunting in the
Notes
- ^ "Soon after the birth of her (Sibyl's) only child, William the Clito, she died at Rouen, and was buried, amid universal sorrow, in the cathedral church, Archbishop of William Bonne-Ame performing the obsequies."[20]
- Richard, who died earlier, and William Rufus, who died later in the same year.
Sources
References
- ^ Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (2006). "Robert Curthose (d. 1134)". In The Crusades – An Encyclopedia. pp. 1041–1042.
- ^ Bates 2016, p. 171.
- ^ Aird 2008, p. 26.
- ^ Aird 2008, pp. 43–44.
- ^ Aird 2008, p. 68.
- ^ Jessee 2000, p. 92.
- ^ a b Thompson 2002, p. 41.
- ^ David 1920, pp. 17–41.
- ^ David 1920, pp. 42–118.
- ^ Aird 2008, p. 191.
- ^ Aird 2008, p. 171.
- ^ Aird 2008, p. 172.
- ^ Aird 2008, p. 173.
- ^ Aird 2008, pp. 189–190.
- ^ Aird 2008, p. 189.
- ^ Vaughn 1994, p. 268.
- ^ Aird 2008, p. 204.
- ^ David 1920, pp. 117–189.
- ^ David 1920, p. 146.
- ^ Lack 2007, p. 153.
- ^ Aird 2008, pp. 96–97.
- ^ Aird 2008, p. 126.
- ^ Aird 2008, p. 193 note 17.
Works cited
- Aird, William H. (2008). Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy c. 1050–1134. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-8438-3660-5.
- Bates, David (2016). William the Conqueror. Yale University Press.
- ISBN 1-4326-9296-8.
- Jessee, W. Scott (2000). Robert the Burgundian and the Counts of Anjou, Ca. 1025-1098. The Catholic University of America Press.
- Lack, Katherine (2007). Conqueror's Son: Duke Robert Curthose, Thwarted King. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7509-4566-0.
- Thompson, Kathleen (2002). Power and Border Lordship in Medieval France: The County of the Perche, 1000-1226. The Boydell Press.
- Vaughn, Sally N. (1994). "Anselm in Italy". Anglo-Norman Studies Proceedings of the Battle Conference. 16: 245–270. ISBN 978-0-8511-5366-7. Retrieved 1 February 2023.