Robert Curthose

gigatos | March 27, 2022

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Summary

Robert, called Cosciacorta (in French Robert II de Normandie dit Robert Courteheuse) (Normandy, between 1052 and 1054 – Cardiff, 10 February 1134), was the eighth lord of Normandy under the name Robert II from 1087 to 1106, and was the sixth to formally obtain the title of Duke of Normandy. He had been earl of Maine since 1063 (until 1069 he was actual earl and then only titular), he was also twice pretender to the throne of England, in 1087, at the death of his father, William the Conqueror, and in 1100, at the death of his brother, William II Rufus.

His nickname, “Cosciacorta” (the English monk and chronicler, Orderico Vitale, described him of low stature like his mother, Matilde (Robert”s father, King William I, called him for mockery brevis-ocrea that is, short boots), while the chronicler and Benedictine monk of the abbey of Malmesbury in Wiltshire (Wessex), William of Malmesbury, who describes him in his youth, described him as brave and skilled in military exercises, although of short stature and prominent belly, while the English chronicler and Benedictine monk, Matthew of Paris, called him wild and untamable (homo ferus et indomitus).

However, he was also prone to laziness (Orderico Vitale accuses him of laxity) and his weakness of character disconcerted the nobles and according to the French medievalist, Louis Halphen, was exploited by Philip I, King of France, who saw the growth of power of the English sovereign in a negative light, and became part of the dispute between Robert and his father William. Although he was the eldest son, he was never able to occupy the English throne and as Duke of Normandy he is known for his discord with his brothers, who were kings of England, which led to the reunification of the Duchy of Normandy to the English crown. Finally he was one of the participants in the First Crusade.

Both according to the Norman monk and chronicler William of Jumièges, author of his Historiæ Normannorum Scriptores Antiqui, and according to William of Malmesbury, Ordericus Vitale and Matthew of Paris he was the eldest male child of the Duke of Normandy and King of England, William the Conqueror and of Matilda of Flanders (1032 – 1083), who, according to the Genealogica Comitum Flandriæ Bertiniana, was the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, and of the sister of the King of France, Henry I, who according to the Genealogiæ Scriptoris Fusniacensis was the daughter of the King of France, Robert II, called the Pious.

William the Conqueror, again according to William of Jumièges, was the only son of the sixth lord of Normandy, the fourth to formally obtain the title of Duke of Normandy, Robert I and Herleva of Falaise also known as Arletta (c. 1010 – c. 1050), of humble origins, who, according to William of Jumièges, was the daughter of Fulbert or Herbert, a valet of the duke (Herleva Fulberti cubicularii ducis filia) and his wife Duda or Duwa, as confirmed by the Chronica Albrici Monachi Trium Fontium.

His date of birth is usually set at 1054, but it could also be 1051.

The early years

In 1056 his father William succeeded in bringing back to Maine Count Eribert II, who had taken refuge in Normandy because he had been driven from his county by Gottfried II Martello, Count of Anjou; since Eribert II, due to his young age (in document no. 15 of the Cartulaire de l”abbaye de Saint-Vincent du Mans, dated November 15, 1058, Count Eribert II is mentioned as a child, Herberto puerulo comite), had no heirs, an engagement contract was stipulated between Robert, who was then about four years old, and Margaret, sister of Erberto (as Orderico Vitale confirms), with the clause that, at the death of Erberto II, still without heirs, the future son-in-law Robert would inherit the county.

In 1062, on the death of Erbert II, still without heirs, William, against the will of the people, occupied Maine on behalf of Margaret and Robert, and, after having imprisoned Eribert”s successors, Biota of Maine († circa 1064), daughter of Eribert I known as Evigilans canis (Awake Dog), and her husband, Gualtiero I († ca. 1064), count of Vexin and Amiens (according to Orderico Vitale Biota and Gualtiero died of poisoning), continued to occupy the county even after Margaret”s death, without having married yet (Orderico Vitale recalls that Margaret died when she was not yet of marriageable age). Robert thus became the Count of Maine, without having been able to marry.

According to Orderico Vitale, when his father, William, in 1067, left Normandy to return to England, conquered the year before, Robert, not yet of age (teenagers) joined his mother Matilda, in the government of the duchy of Normandy.

In 1069, the nobles of Maine, supported by the Count of Anjou, Folco IV the Rissoso, drove the Normans out of the county of Maine and offered the county to Gersenda, who, after the death of her sister Biota, was the legitimate heir of the county, who, with her husband Albert Azzo became Count and Countess of Maine.

Only four years later, in 1073, his father, William the Conqueror (no longer the Bastard) organized an expedition, of which Robert, then in his twenties, was not part, invaded Maine with English troops and arrived with ease in Le Mans. The Norman occupation of the county was never complete, because the Count of Anjou continued to support every revolt and rebellion, also intervening in first person, until, in 1081, was reached an agreement according to which the county of Maine was taken away from Hugh V of Maine and granted to Robert, who in turn gave feudal homage as his lord to Frank IV of Anjou. The agreement was short-lived and many viscounts rebelled, and virtually most of the county returned to the hands of Hugh V who enjoyed Angevin protection.

Robert, as the eldest son, was unhappy with the inheritance and power he had been granted and, in 1076, bitter arguments began with his father and brothers.

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The Rebel

William of Malmesbury remembers Robert as the one who aroused the king of France, Philip I against his father William (he exited Philip king of France against his father), while Matthew of Paris claims that it was Philip I who aroused Robert against his father, who did not comply with Robert”s requests.

In 1077, it seems that his first rebellion against his father was originated, in L”Aigle, by a joke made by his younger brothers William Rufus and Henry, who had poured stinking water on him. Robert was furious, and incited by his friends started a fight with his brothers that was interrupted only by the intervention of his father. Believing that his dignity had been offended, Robert became even more angry when he saw that King William did not punish his brothers. In fact, according to Orderico Vitale the quarrel between Robert and his father had arisen because William had not assigned the Duchy of Normandy to Robert as promised and did not subsidize him enough for his needs.

Robert and his retinue then attempted to capture the castle of Rouen. The siege failed, but when King William ordered their arrest, Robert and his companions took refuge with Hugh of Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais. Forced to flee again when King William attacked his base at Rémalard, Robert took refuge in Flanders, at the court of his uncle, Robert I of Flanders, then sacked the county of Norman Vexin and was welcomed by Philip I who, between 1077 and 1078, entrusted him with the fortress of Gerberoy, on the border between the French county of Beauvais and Normandy.

Relations did not improve when King William discovered that Robert”s mother, Queen Matilda, was secretly sending money to her son. However, in 1079, the disobedient was besieged by his father, now an ally of Philip I, and in a battle in January 1079, Robert unseated King William in combat and managed to wound him, stopping his attack only when he recognized his father”s voice. According to Louis Halphen, during a sortie led by Robert, his father was unseated, while his brother, William the Red was wounded and the Anglo-Norman army, put to flight. Humiliated, King William, behind the promise of submission of Robert lifted the siege and returned to Rouen, with the commitment to leave him Normandy, at his death. Eventually, Robert submitted to his father”s authority, and at Easter 1080 father and son reconciled and Robert returned to his father”s court. The truce lasted only three years. In 1083 Matilda died, and Robert the Short left his father”s court forever. Supported by Philip I of France, Robert stimulated the Norman baronial opposition, which lasted until the end of 1084, forcing his father to harsh retaliation against France. It seems that Robert, after that date, spent several years traveling through France, Germany and Flanders. He also visited Italy (William of Malmesbury wrote: went indignantly to Italy), looking for the hand of Matilda of Canossa or Tuscany, but without succeeding.

Duke of Normandy

In 1087 William on his deathbed acknowledged that the Duchy of Normandy should be given to Robert the Short, despite his disrespectful behavior; he also left written to Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, that the Kingdom of England should go to his third-born male son, William the Red (The Chronicles of Florence of Worcester with two continuations, confirms that Oddone, Bishop of Bayeux, William”s half-brother, along with many others who had been imprisoned, was freed, by order of William the Conqueror, who arranged for his eldest son, Robert, to obtain the title of Duke of Normandy, while the kingdom of England went to his second son, William II the Red. This paternal disposition to leave the kingdom of England to the youngest son, in a note in the margin, makes Matthew of Paris say that Robert lost his primogeniture, comparing him to Esau.

Robert, returned from exile, took possession of the duchy, as Orderico Vitale recalls; immediately afterwards, he denounced William as a usurper, but reached an agreement with his brother to appoint each other as heirs. This peace, however, lasted less than a year. In fact, the division between England and Normandy presented a dilemma for those nobles who had estates on both sides of the Channel. Since William the Red and Robert were natural rivals, the nobles could not hope to please both their lords, and thus ran the risk of losing the favor of one or the other (or both). With the intention of once again uniting England and Normandy under one ruler; in 1088 they then revolted against William the Red, in favor of Robert, who was considered to be of weaker character than his brother William the Red and therefore better for the interests of the nobility. The revolt to give the English throne to Robert was headed by the Count of Kent, the powerful bishop Odo of Bayeux, uncle of both William and Robert, as confirmed by The Chronicles of Florence of Worcester with two continuations (London), released after five years of imprisonment.

Two parties were formed and William the Red, who had the support of the majority of the clergy, however, was able to gather the English (the natives who provided the fighters on foot) and to defeat, during 1088, the rebellion, strong especially in Kent and Sussex, organized around Odo and his brother, Robert of Mortain, because Robert Cosciacorta or the Short, as always short of money did not show up in England to support his followers. Also according to The Chronicles of Florence of Worcester with two continuations (London), Odo, having fortified Rochester, had requested the intervention of his nephew, Robert, who from Normandy, had sent a small body of armed men, promising to arrive as soon as possible in aid of Odo; but William II, with the help of Lanfranc, reacted and managed to get rid of the rebels before the intervention of Robert. In the same year, Orderico Vitale informs us that Robert had to fight the rebellion of Goffredo son of Rotrone (“Goisfredus Rotronis Mauritaniæ comitis filius”), who claimed the possession of two cities by hereditary right.

In 1090 William the Red invaded Normandy, crushing Robert”s forces and forcing him to surrender the eastern part of the duchy. Then the two met at Caen, reconciled their differences and William agreed to help Robert recover the Cotentin and Avranches, which Robert had sold to his younger brother, Henry Beauclerc. After they reconciled and laid siege to Mont Saint-Michel, where Henry Beauclerc had locked himself up, and after his surrender forced him into exile, which he was able to return to England, only after 1095.

In 1094, William attacked central Normandy and attempted to occupy Caen, but was driven out by the King of France, Philip I, who rushed to Robert”s aid, charging him both in money and territorial concessions. Attacked on the spur of the moment in eastern Normandy as well, William was only able to save himself by bribing Philip, who agreed to withdraw from the enterprise.

The First Crusade

According to William of Malmesbury, in 1096, Robert mortgaged the Duchy of Normandy to his brother William the Red for the sum of 10,000 marks, in order to raise money to leave for the Holy Land with the First Crusade. Accompanied by his uncle, Odo of Bayeux, and Edgard Atheling, the last descendant of the House of Wessex and King of England for a few weeks before William the Conqueror, Robert began the journey of transfer in the company of his cousin, Robert II Count of Flanders, with a retinue of English, Norman, Frankish and Flemish knights in September 1096. The Scottish professor, William B. Stevenson, calls Robert one of the principal leaders of the First Crusade, for having a large retinue of Norman knights, although by temperament he was unfit for command.

According to Orderico Vitale, passing through Rome, the Crusaders led by Robert visited Pope Urban II, while William of Malmesbury says that they met the Pope in Lucca and continued to Rome. They continued to Apulia, where Robert of Flanders embarked in December, to winter in Epirus, while Robert II, Oddone and Edgardo Atheling, with the brother-in-law of Robert II, Stephen II of Blois and the Count of Boulogne, Eustace, brother of Godfrey of Bouillon, wintered in Italy. Waiting to embark in Brindisi, in the following spring they were guests of the Normans of the Duchy of Apulia and just, during this stop, Odo died suddenly, in Palermo, in the month of February 1097, while he was visiting the Count of Sicily, Roger I.

Roberto embarked in Brindisi April 5, 1097, reached Constantinople, where he stayed 15 days and continued to Nicea, where, arrived June 1, participated in the siege of the city. Roberto carried out the siege until the surrender of Nicea, on June 19, to the Greek contingent. The siege of Nicea is described in detail by the canon and custodian of the church of Aachen, the chronicler of the First Crusade, Albert of Aachen.

After the fall of Nicaea, the army headed for Antioch in two groups, about two miles apart. On July 1, the first group, smaller, composed almost entirely of Normans, among which, in addition to Robert there were Bohemond of Taranto with his nephew Tancred and Robert II of Flanders, was attacked by the Turkish army and was surrounded, beginning the Battle of Dorylaeum. The Normans resisted for almost two hours until the other crusaders arrived and scored a clear victory over the Turkish army.

Robert participated in the siege of Antioch, where he took part in a number of battles to prevent aid being brought to the besieged city, including the victory over the troops of Damascus on December 31, 1097.

After the fall of Antioch (June 2, 1098), Robert, on January 13, 1099, was one of the first to leave for Jerusalem, with Raymond IV of Saint Gilles and Tancred, then joined by Robert II of Flanders and Godfrey of Bouillon, slowly advanced toward Jerusalem, arriving in Jerusalem on June 7 and the city fell on July 15.

After having taken part in August to the battle of Ascalona, Robert, deprived of fiefs but full of glory (according to William of Malmesbury Robert had refused the throne of Jerusalem), decided to leave the Holy Land and return to Normandy, passing through Italy. In the winter of that year he arrived in Apulia and in the spring of 1100, now close to fifty years, he married the daughter of Goffredo, first Count of Conversano, Sibilla di Conversano, as confirmed by William of Jumièges, who, according to William of Malmesbury was exceptionally beautiful and brought him a large dowry, suitable to redeem the duchy mortgaged to his brother William II. According to Orderico Vitale, Sibilla was the daughter of Goffredo first Count of Conversano, Lord of Montepeloso, Brindisi, Monopoli, Nardò and Matera and Sichelgaita of Molise, daughter of Rodolfo Count of Molise and a Lombard princess.

Still only Duke of Normandy

When William died on August 2, 1100, Robert should have inherited the English throne, but he was still in Apulia, where he had married, and would have arrived in Normandy only in September. His younger brother Henry was therefore able to take possession of the English crown. On his return, Robert found that the county of Maine, after the death of William II the Red had been occupied by Elia de la Fleche, with the support of Folex IV the Rissoso, but did nothing to regain it.

Robert took as his trusted advisor Rainulfo Flambard, who had already been a trusted advisor to his father and his brother William the Red, but, by Henry I, had been put in prison, from which he had escaped. Pressured by Flambard, who had foreseen a favorable situation with a party ready to support him, Robert prepared an invasion of England to wrest the crown from his brother Henry. In the summer of 1101, in August, Robert landed at Portsmouth with his army, but the lack of popular support among the English allowed Henry to resist the invasion. Robert was forced through diplomacy to renounce his claims to the English throne with the Treaty of Alton, July 1101. In return Robert obtained from Henry the renunciation of the Cotentin peninsula and a pension of 3000 marks per year and the restitution of English possessions to his ally the Count of Boulogne, Eustace.

On October 25, 1102 was born William Cliton, the heir of the Duchy of Normandy, but his wife Sibyl died a few months after the birth, of disease, according to William of Malmesbury, of poison, according to Orderico Vitale. Orderico Vitale also claims that the turmoil that followed the death of Sibyl prevented Robert from marrying Agnes Giffard, who in turn was a widow and was suspected of being the poisoner.

In 1104, however, Robert”s continued discord with his brother in England prompted Henry to invade Normandy, to put an end to the continued abuse of his friends, operated by Robert II of Bellême with the tacit consent of Duke Robert II. Henry I was satisfied with the county of Évreux, as a reparation.

Orderico reports of an incident that occurred at Easter 1105, when Robert was expected to listen to a sermon by the venerable Serlo, Bishop of Sées. Robert spent the previous night with prostitutes and jesters, and while he was in bed trying to sober up, his unworthy friends stole his clothes. Robert awoke to find himself naked, and had to stay in bed, missing the sermon.

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The last years in captivity

The abuses of Robert II of Bellême continued and, in 1105, together with William of Mortain, attacked the Cotentin where some allies of Henry I resided, the relationship between the two brothers worsened and, according to The Chronicles of Florence of Worcester with two continuations, Robert, at the beginning of 1106, went to England and met Henry in Northampton, where he asked him the restitution of all the possessions he had taken in Normandy; having obtained a sharp refusal from Henry I, Robert was seized with great anger and returned to Normandy. Henry then led another expedition across the Channel, and, after a few victories, burned Bayeux and occupied Caen, and then proceeded to the county of Mortain, where William had barricaded himself, in the castle of Tinchebray, where the decisive clash between the two brothers, Henry and Robert II of Normandy took place. According to Florentii Wigornensis Monachi Chronicon Henry had besieged the castle of Tinchebray and the battle with the victory of Henry took place on September 29, 1106. Robert was captured (according to Orderico Vitale by the Breton contingent) together with William of Mortain, during the battle of Tinchebray, while Robert II of Bellême, managed to escape. Robert, recognized his defeat, ordered to Falaise and Rouen to surrender and released all his vassals from the oath of loyalty.

Robert was stripped of the duchy of Normandy, with the approval of King Philip I of France, who declared him incapable of maintaining order and peace in his territory, and Henry I claimed Normandy as a possession of the English crown; a situation that persisted for nearly a century.

Robert II was sent to England. William of Jumièges argues that Henry I brought with him Robert II, William and some others and kept them in custody for all their life and still Orderico Vitale argues that his imprisonment consisted in not being able to leave the place of detention, but for the rest could be considered golden (supplied with luxuries of every kind).Initially he was detained in the Tower of London, then in the castle of Devizes and finally in the castle of Cardiff.

Louis VI, who succeeded Philip in 1108, on more than one occasion over the years accused Henry I of holding his subject Robert II Duke of Normandy prisoner and asked him to free him, but Robert died in 1134 still imprisoned in Cardiff Castle. Both the Florentii Wigornensis Monachi Chronicon, Continuatio and The Chronicles of Florence of Worcester with two continuations, and also the chronicler, prior of the abbey of Bec and sixteenth abbot of Mont-Saint-Michel, Robert of Torigny, confirm that Robert, brother of the king (Henry I) and holder of the Duchy of Normandy, who had been in captivity for many years, died in Cardiff, in 1134, was transferred to Gloucester and was buried in the floor of the church of that city. Robert was buried in the abbey church of St. Peter in Gloucester, where an elaborate tomb was later placed. The church later became the city”s cathedral.

The Duchy of Normandy remained in the hands of Henry I as all of Robert”s children, legitimate and illegitimate, had predeceased their father.

From Sibilla Roberto had two sons:

Robert also had several illegitimate children by different women:

Historiographical literature

Sources