Count of Flanders
Robert II, Count of Flanders
(c. 1065 – 5 October 1111) was
Count of Flanders
from 1093 to 1111. He became known as
Robert of Jerusalem
(
Robertus Hierosolimitanus
) or
Robert the Crusader
after his exploits in the
First Crusade
.
Early life
[
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]
Robert was the eldest son of
Robert I of Flanders
(also known as Robert the Frisian) and
Gertrude of Saxony
.
His father, hoping to place the cadet branch (or "Baldwinite" branch) of Flanders over the county, began to associate him with his rule around 1086.
From 1085 to 1091 he was regent of the county while his father was away on pilgrimage to the
Holy Land
.
Robert II became count in 1093 and supported the restoration of the
diocese of Arras
in order to limit the influence of the Holy Roman Empire in his dominion. With the approval of
Pope Urban II
, the diocese
was split of from the
diocese of Cambrai
in 1093/94 and
Lambert of Guines
elected as its first bishop.
[5]
First Crusade
[
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]
In 1095, Robert joined the
First Crusade
, launched by Pope Urban II. He made his wife,
Clementia of Burgundy
, regent in Flanders,
and formed the
army of Robert the Crusader
that followed the retinue of his kinsman
Godfrey of Bouillon
,
Duke of Lower Lorraine
. After reaching
Constantinople
, the crusaders were obliged to swear an oath of fealty to
Byzantine emperor
Alexius I Komnenus
and promise to return to the
Byzantine Empire
any land they might capture. Robert, whose father had already served Alexius during his pilgrimage in the 1080s, had no problem swearing this oath, but some of the other leaders did and there was some delay in leaving the city.
The routes of the First Crusade leaders, with Robert's in yellow
Robert then participated in the
Siege of Nicaea
, after which the army was split into two groups. Robert marched with
Stephen of Blois
,
Bohemond of Taranto
,
Robert Curthose
, and the Byzantine guides, one day ahead of the rest of the crusaders. This army was surrounded by the
Seljuk
sultan
Kilij Arslan
at the
Battle of Dorylaeum
on 30 June 1097.
The next day, the second army, led by
Raymond IV of Toulouse
, Godfrey of Bouillon, and
Hugh of Vermandois
, arrived and broke the encirclement; the two armies joined, with Robert and Raymond forming the centre. The Turks were defeated and the crusaders continued their march.
At the end of 1097 the crusaders arrived at
Antioch
. The
Siege of Antioch
lasted many months; in December, Robert and Bohemund briefly left the army to raid the surrounding territory for food, and on 30 December they defeated an army sent to relieve Antioch, led by
Duqaq
, ruler of Damascus. Antioch was eventually betrayed to Bohemund by an Armenian guard, and Robert was among the first to enter the city, but only a few days later they were themselves besieged by
Kerbogha
. atabeg of Mosul. On 28 June 1098, the crusaders marched out to meet him in battle.
Robert and Hugh of Vermandois led the first of six divisions. Kerbogha was defeated and the Muslim-held citadel finally surrendered to the crusaders. Robert, along with Bohemond, Raymond, and Godfrey, occupied the citadel, but Bohemund soon claimed the city for himself. Raymond also claimed it, but Robert supported Bohemund in this dispute.
The dispute delayed the crusade even further. Raymond left Antioch to attack
Ma'arrat al-Numan
, which was captured. Robert took part in this siege as well. Raymond then tried to bribe Robert and the other leaders to follow him instead of Bohemund; Robert was offered six thousand
sous
, but each attempted bribe was ignored. Raymond continued south to Jerusalem in January, 1099, but Robert and Godfrey remained behind in Antioch until February. They rejoined Raymond's army at the
Siege of Arqa
. In June, Robert and
Gaston IV of Bearn
led the vanguard which arrived at
Ramla
, and with
Tancred
, he led an expedition into
Samaria
to find wood in order to construct
siege engines
for the
Siege of Jerusalem
. When Jerusalem was captured on 15 July, Robert supported Godfrey's claim over that of Raymond, and on August 9 marched out with him to meet the
Fatimid
army under
al-Afdal Shahanshah
which was coming to relieve Jerusalem. Robert formed part of the centre wing in the ensuing
Battle of Ascalon
, which resulted in a crusader victory. However, Godfrey and Raymond quarrelled over possession of Ascalon, and even Robert could not support Godfrey in this dispute; the city remained uncaptured, although the victory allowed for the establishment of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem
.
At the end of August, Robert returned home with Robert Curthose and Raymond. On the way back they captured
Latakia
, which was returned to the Byzantine emperor, as promised years before. Raymond remained there but both Roberts continued home by way of Constantinople, after declining Alexius' request to stay there in his service. Robert brought back with him a precious
relic
, the arm of
Saint George
, a gift from Alexius. The relic was placed in the church of
Anchin Abbey
in Flanders.
After he returned, Robert built the monastery of St. Andrew in Sevenkerke (now Zevenkerke, near
Bruges
.
Because of his crusade and the spoils he brought home, he was nicknamed Robert of Jerusalem.
Later life
[
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]
19th-century portrait by
Henri Decaisne
During his absence,
Holy Roman Emperor
Henry IV
had tried to seize imperial Flanders. Robert responded by supporting the revolt of the Commune of
Cambrai
against the emperor and his supporter, Bishop Gaulcher, and seized a number of castles. Peace was restored in 1102 and homage paid to the emperor for imperial Flanders, but after 1105, the new emperor,
Henry V
, marched on Flanders, with the aid of Count
Baldwin III of Hainaut
and an army from Holland. Robert stopped them outside of
Douai
and a new peace was signed, in which the emperor recognized Robert's claim to Douai and Cambrai.
Like his wife Clementia, Robert was a promoter of the
Cluniac reform movement
, supporting the reformers of the
Abbey of Saint Bertin
and assisting progressive ecclesiastic actors in general.
[10]
In 1103 he made an alliance with
Henry I of England
, offering 1000 cavalry in exchange for an annual tribute.
When Henry refused to pay, Robert allied with his nominal overlord,
Louis VI of France
, and attacked
Normandy
. With the king diverted,
Theobald IV of Blois
led a revolt of the French barons. Robert led an army against
Meaux
. During the battle he fell off his horse and was trampled to death
on 5 October 1111.
Family
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]
He married
Clementia of Burgundy
, sister of
Pope Callistus II
and daughter of
William I, Count of Burgundy
.
They had three children, but only the oldest survived to adulthood. He succeeded Robert as
Baldwin VII of Flanders
.
References
[
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]
Sources
[
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]
- Bouchard, Constance Brittain (1987).
Sword, Miter, and Cloister:Nobility and Church in Burgundy, 980-1198
. Cornell University Press.
- Frankopan, Peter (2012).
The First Crusade: The Call from the East
. Harvard University Press.
- Kostick, Conor (2008).
The Social Structure of the First Crusade
. Brill.
- Nicholas, Karen S. (1999). "Countesses as Rulers in Flanders". In Evergates, Theodore (ed.).
Aristocratic Women in Medieval France
. University of Pennsylvania Press.
ISBN
978-0812200614
.
- Nicholas, David M (2013).
Medieval Flanders
. Routledge.
- Paul, Nicholas L. (2012).
To Follow in Their Footsteps: The Crusades and Family Memory in the High Middle Ages
. Cornell University Press.
ISBN
978-0801465543
.
- Runciman, Steven (1951).
A History of the Crusades: The First Crusade
. Vol. I. Cambridge University Press.
- Riley-Smith, Jonathan (2002).
The First Crusaders, 1095-1131
. Cambridge University Press.
- Vanderputten, Steven (2013).
Reform, Conflict, and the Shaping of Corporate Identities: Collected Studies on Benedictine Monasticism, 1050 - 1150
. LIT Verlag Munster.
ISBN
978-3-643-90429-4
. Retrieved
22 May
2024
.
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