Robert I, Count of Artois

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

Robert I
Count of Artois and Prince of France
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

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.

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. Strayer 1969, p. 499-501.

Sources
  • Dunbabin, Jean (2014). Charles I of Anjou: Power, Kingship and State-Making in Thirteenth-Century. Routledge.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Gee, Loveday Lewes (2002). Women, art, and patronage from Henry III to Edward III, 1216-1377. The Boydell Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Nieus, Jean-François (2005). Un pouvoir comtal entre Flandre et France: Saint-Pol, 1000-1300 (in French). De Boeck & Larcier.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Strayer, Joseph R. (1969). "Crusades of Louis IX". In Setton, Kenneth M. (ed.). A History of the Crusades. Vol. II. University of Wisconsin.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Wood, Charles T. (1966). The French Apanages and the Capetian Monarchy. Harvard University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)


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