Robert II, Duke of Normandy
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Duke of Normandy
The Duke of Normandy is the title of the reigning monarch of the British Crown Dependancies of the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey. The title traces its roots to the Duchy of Normandy . Whether the reigning sovereign is a male or female, they are always titled as the "Duke of...
from 1027 until his death. Owing to uncertainty over the numbering of the Dukes of Normandy he is usually called Robert I, but sometimes Robert II with his ancestor Rollo
Rollo
Rollo has multiple meanings. It may mean:a first name*Rollo Armstrong, member of British dance act Faithless* Rollo May, American psychologist...
as Robert I. He was the son of Richard II of Normandy
Richard II, Duke of Normandy
Richard II , called the Good , was the eldest son and heir of Richard I the Fearless and Gunnora.-Biography:...
and Judith
Judith of Brittany
Judith of Brittany was the daughter of Conan I, Duke of Brittany and Ermengarde of Anjou, and the mother of Robert the Magnificent.She was the first wife of Richard the Good, Duke of Normandy, whom she married in 996. They had six children:...
, daughter of Conan I of Rennes
Conan I of Rennes
Conan I was the count of Rennes from 958 and duke of Brittany from 990 to his death. He became ruler of Brittany after a period of civil and political unrest, having first succeeded his father Judicael Berengar, as count of Rennes....
. He was the father of William the Conqueror.
When his father died, his elder brother Richard
Richard III, Duke of Normandy
Richard III was the eldest son of Richard II, who died in 1027. Before succeeding his father, perhaps about 1020, he had been sent by his father in command of a large army, to attack bishop/count Hugh of Chalon in order to rescue his brother-in-law, Reginald, later Count of Burgundy, whom the...
succeeded, whilst he became Count of Hiémois. When Richard died a year later, there were great suspicions that Robert had Richard murdered, hence his other nickname, "the Devil". He is sometimes identified with the legendary Robert the Devil
Robert the Devil
Robert the Devil is a legend of medieval origin. Robert is the devil's own child, for his mother, despairing of heaven's aid in order to obtain a son, has addressed herself to the devil...
.
Robert aided King Henry I of France
Henry I of France
Henry I was King of France from 1031 to his death. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians...
against Henry's rebellious brother and mother, and for his help he was given the territory of the Vexin
Vexin
The Vexin is a historical county of northwestern France. It covers a verdant plateau on the right bank of the Seine comprising an area east-to-west between Pontoise and Romilly-sur-Andelle , and north-to-south between Auneuil and the Seine near Vernon...
(1032). He also intervened in the affairs of Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, supported his cousin Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
, who was then in exile at Robert's court, and sponsored monastic reform in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
.
By his mistress, Herleva
Herleva
Herleva also known as Herleve, Arlette, Arletta and Arlotte, was the mother of William I of England. She had two other sons, Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain, who became prominent in William's realm....
of Falaise, he was father of the future William I of England
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
(1028–1087). He also had an illegitimate daughter, but the only chronicler to explicitly address the issue, Robert of Torigny, contradicts himself, once indicating that she had a distinct mother from William, elsewhere stating that they shared the same mother. This daughter, Adelaide of Normandy
Adelaide of Normandy
Adelaide of Normandy was the sister of William the Conqueror.She was the daughter of Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy. Different chroniclers writing in the Gesta Normannorum Ducum call her sister of William the Conqueror either by the same mother or by different mothers...
(1030 – c. 1083), married three times: to Enguerrand II, Count of Ponthieu
Enguerrand II, Count of Ponthieu
Enguerrand II was the son of Hugh II count of Ponthieu. He assumed the county upon the death of his father on November 20, 1052.The Ponthievin alliance with duke William of Normandy had earlier been secured by the marriage of Enguerrand's sister, to duke William's uncle, William of Talou....
, Lambert II, Count of Lens
Lambert II, Count of Lens
Lambert II, Count of Lens was a French nobleman.He was the son of Eustace I, Count of Bologne and of Maud de Leuven . He married Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of Aumale, daughter of Robert I, Duke of Normandy. Lambert was killed at the Battle of Lille. He had a daughter, Judith of Lens and two...
, and Odo II of Champagne.
After making his illegitimate son William his heir, he set out on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. According to the Gesta Normannorum Ducum
Gesta Normannorum Ducum
Gesta Normannorum Ducum is a chronicle originally created by the monk William of Jumièges just before 1060. In 1070 William I had William of Jumièges extend the work to detail his rights to the throne of England. In later times, Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni Gesta Normannorum Ducum (Deeds...
he travelled by way of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, reached Jerusalem, and died on the return journey at Nicaea on 2 July 1035. Some sources attribute his death to poison and date it to 1 or 3 July. His son William, aged about eight, succeeded him.
According to the historian William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
, William sent a mission to Constantinople and Nicaea, charging it with bringing his father's body back to be buried in Normandy. Permission was granted, but, having travelled as far as Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
(Italy) on the return journey, the envoys learned that William himself had meanwhile died. They then decided to re-inter Robert's body in Italy.
In fiction
- Lomer, Mary, "Robert of Normandy". A biographical novel cum adventure/romance. London: Headline, 1991
Sources
1. "Robert The Devil." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. August 14, 2011.2. "The House of Normandy." English Monarchs. 2005. Web. August 14, 2011. http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/dukes_of_normandy.htm
3. "Person Sheet; Robert the Devil, Duke of Normandy. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Person Sheets. 2001. Web. August 14, 2011.