Robert I, Count of Artois

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Robert I
RobertArtois maly.jpg
Count of Artois
Reign1237 - 1250
SuccessorRobert II
Born25 September 1216
Died8 February 1250(1250-02-08) (aged 33)
SpouseMatilda of Brabant
IssueBlanche of Artois
Robert II of Artois
HouseCapet
FatherLouis VIII of France
MotherBlanche of Castile

Robert I (25 September 1216 – 8 February 1250), called the Good, was the first count of Artois. He was the fifth (and second surviving) son of King Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile.[1]

Life[]

He received Artois as an appanage, in accordance with the will of his father (died 1226) on attaining his majority in 1237 (aged twenty-one).[2] In 1240 Pope Gregory IX, in conflict with the Emperor Frederick II, offered to crown Robert as emperor in opposition to Frederick, but the French count refused to pretend to such a title.

Coat of Arms of Robert of Artois

Marriage[]

On 14 June 1237 Robert married Matilda, daughter of Henry II of Brabant and Marie of Hohenstaufen.[3]

They had two children:

Death[]

While participating in the Seventh Crusade, Robert died while leading a reckless attack on Al Mansurah, without the knowledge of his brother King Louis IX.[6] After fording a river, he and a group of Knights Templars charged a Mamluk outpost, during which the Mamluk commander, Fakhr-ad-Din Yusuf, was killed.[6] Embolded by his success, Robert, the Templar knights, and a contingent of English troops charged into the town and became trapped in the narrow streets.[6] According to Jean de Joinville, Robert defended himself for some time in a house there, but was at last overpowered and killed.

In popular culture[]

Robert Artois is featured in a segment of Horrible Histories, season 3, episode 1.

References[]

  1. ^ Dunbabin 2014, p. 244.
  2. ^ Wood 1966, p. 23.
  3. ^ Nieus 2005, p. 166, 176.
  4. ^ Gee 2002, p. 141.
  5. ^ Nieus 2005, p. 166.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c Strayer 1969, p. 499-501.

Sources[]

  • Dunbabin, Jean (2014). Charles I of Anjou: Power, Kingship and State-Making in Thirteenth-Century. Routledge.
  • Gee, Loveday Lewes (2002). Women, art, and patronage from Henry III to Edward III, 1216-1377. The Boydell Press.
  • Nieus, Jean-François (2005). Un pouvoir comtal entre Flandre et France: Saint-Pol, 1000-1300 (in French). De Boeck & Larcier.
  • Strayer, Joseph R. (1969). "Crusades of Louis IX". In Setton, Kenneth M. (ed.). A History of the Crusades. II. University of Wisconsin.
  • Wood, Charles T. (1966). The French Apanages and the Capetian Monarchy. Harvard University Press.


French nobility
New title Count of Artois
1237–1250 		Succeeded by
Robert II
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