Robert II, Count of Artois

Robert II, Count of Artois
Robert II, Count of Artois
Spouse(s)	Amicie de Courtenay Agnes of Dampierre Margaret of Hainaut
Noble family	House of Artois
Father	Robert I of Artois
Mother	Matilda of Brabant
Born	September 1250
Died	11 July 1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs, near Kortrijk

Robert II (September 1250 – 11 July 1302) was the Count of Artois, the posthumous son and heir of Robert I and Matilda of Brabant.^[1] Nephew of the sainted King Louis IX, as a young man Robert was fond of practical jokes and in later life owned a pet wolf.^[2] He died at the Battle of the Golden Spurs.

Life

An experienced soldier, he took part in the Aragonese Crusade and attempted an invasion of Sicily in 1287.^[3] In 1288 Robert began work on a great park at Hesdin. The park contained a menagerie, aviaries, fishponds, orchards, an enclosed garden and facilities for tournaments.^[4] It also contained mechanical statues including waving monkeys draped in skins.^[5]

He defeated the Flemings in 1297 at the Battle of Furnes.^[6] He was again sent into Flanders in July 1302, where he began to ravage the countryside and attempted to take the town of Kortrijk.

Battle of the Golden Spurs

He then met the Flemish army at the Battle of the Golden Spurs. His infantry advanced with great success against the Flemings (mostly city militia), but he ordered their recall to allow his cavalry to make the final, victorious charge. But on the broken, marshy ground, his knights were unable to gain enough momentum to break the Flemish shieldwall, and they were knocked down and slaughtered. Robert led some of the reserves in a second charge in an attempt to reverse their fortunes, but he and his troops were cut down by the Flemish infantry.^[7]

Family

In 1262 in Paris Robert married Amicie de Courtenay (1250–1275), daughter of Pierre de Courtenay, Seigneur de Conches, a great-grandson of Louis VI, and Perronelle de Joigny. They had three children:

• Mahaut (1268–1329)
• Philip (1269–1298)
• Robert (born 1271, died young).

After Amicie's death, Robert married twice more: first, in 1277, to Agnes of Dampierre (1237–1288), heiress of Bourbon, and then, on 18 October 1298 to Margaret (died 1342), daughter of John II, Count of Hainaut. After Robert's death, his daughter Mahaut inherited Artois, but his grandson Robert III unsuccessfully tried to claim it.^[1]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Robert II, Count of Artois

16. Louis VII of France               8. Philip II of France                       17. Adèle of Champagne               4. Louis VIII of France                             18. Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut               9. Isabelle of Hainaut                       19. Margaret I, Countess of Flanders               2. Robert I, Count of Artois                                   20. Sancho III of Castile               10. Alfonso VIII of Castile                       21. Blanche of Navarre               5. Blanche of Castile                             22. Henry II of England               11. Eleanor of England                       23. Eleanor of Aquitaine               1. Robert II, Count of Artois                                         24. Godfrey III, Count of Leuven               12. Henry I, Duke of Brabant                       25. Margaret of Limburg               6. Henry II, Duke of Brabant                             26. Matthew, Count of Boulogne               13. Mathilde of Flanders                       27. Marie I, Countess of Boulogne               3. Matilda of Brabant                                   28. Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor               14. Philip of Swabia                       29. Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy               7. Marie of Hohenstaufen                             30. Isaac II Angelos, Byzantine Emperor               15. Irene Angelina                       31. Unknown Palaiologina?, afterwards Irene

References

1. Artois, John Bell Henneman Jr., Medieval France: An Encyclopedia, ed. William W. Kibler, Grover A. Zinn and Lawrence Earp, (Routledge, 1995), 143.
2. Jordan, William Chester. "Count Robert’s "Pet" Wolf" (PDF). Retrieved 18 July 2012.
3. Housley, Norman, The later Crusades, 1274-1580: from Lyons to Alcazar, (Oxford University Press, 1992), 204.
4. Landsberg, Sylvia (1995). The Medieval Garden. New York: Thames and Hudson. p. 22.
5. Macdougall, Elisabeth B. Medieval Gardens. Google Books. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
6. Funck-Brentano, Fr., The Middle Ages, (WILLIAM HEINEMAW LTI), 375.
7. Dunbabin, Jean, A hound of God: Pierre de la Palud and the fourteenth-century church, (Oxford University Press, 1991), 178.

Sources

• Dunbabin, Jean, A hound of God: Pierre de la Palud and the fourteenth-century church, Oxford University Press, 1991.
• Funck-Brentano, Frantz, The Middle Ages, Heinemann, 1922.
• Housley, Norman, The later Crusades, 1274-1580: from Lyons to Alcazar, Oxford University Press, 1992.
• Leese, Thelma Anna, Blood royal: issue of the kings and queens of medieval England, 1066-1399, Heritage Books Inc., 2007.

External links

• Coat of Arms in the Wijnbergen Roll