ROBERT I

died July 1035, Nicaea byname Robert The Magnificent, or The Devil, French Robert Le Magnifique, or Le Diable duke of Normandy (102735), the younger son of Richard II of Normandy and the father, by his mistress Arlette, of William the Conqueror of England. On the death of his father (1026/27), Robert contested the duchy with his elder brother Richard III, legally the heir, until the latter's opportune death a few years later. A strong ruler, Robert succeeded in exacting the obedience of his vassals. On the death of Robert II the Pious, king of France (1031), a crisis arose over the succession to the French throne. The Duke gave his support to Henry I against the party favouring his younger brother; in reward for his services he demanded and received the Vexin Franais, a territory not far north of Paris. A patron of the monastic reform movement, he died while returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. born July 11, 1274 died June 7, 1329, Cardross, Dumbartonshire, Scot. Robert I the Bruce, coloured engraving by an unknown artist, 1797 original name Robert VIII de Bruce, or Robert the Bruce king of Scotland (130629), who freed Scotland from English rule, winning the decisive Battle of Bannockburn (1314) and ultimately confirming Scottish independence in the Treaty of Northampton (1328). born c. 865 died June 15, 923, Soissons, Fr. younger son of Robert the Strong of Neustria, and briefly king of France (922923), or West Francia. His decisive victory over the Northmen at Chartres (911) led to a treaty settling one group of these fierce warriors in Normandy. Robert faithfully served his older brother, King Eudes, during Eudes's reign (888898). Though on Eudes's death he became one of the most powerful Frankish lords, inheriting all the family lands between the Seine and the Loire rivers, he swore fealty with other magnates to the new king, the Carolingian Charles III the Simple. Nevertheless, he was already served in his domains by viscounts, officials usually regarded as instruments of regal power. From 911 onward, his role became more decisive: his defeat of the Northmen at Chartres paved the way for the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, by which Charles assigned them territory in Normandy. Robert's military success greatly enhanced his prestige, and dissension between him and the King became undisguised. When Charles III imprudently offered preferment exclusively to lords from Lorraine, the Neustrian lords, led by Robert, broke into open revolt. They elected Robert king at Reims in June 922. In a battle near Soissons a year later, Charles's army was routed, but Robert was killed. His grandson was Hugh Capet, founder of the Capetian dynasty. born 1029, 32 died Oct. 13, 1093, Kassel, Ger. also called Robert The Frisian, French Robert Le Frison, Dutch Robrecht De Fries count of Flanders (107193), second son of Count Baldwin V. In 1063 he married Gertrude, guardian of her son, who had inherited Frisia east of the Scheldt River. Upon this marriage, Robert's father had also invested him with Imperial Flanders, including the islands of Frisia west of the Scheldt. He thus in his own right and that of his stepson was ruler of all Frisia (Zeeland) and thus became known among his Flemish countrymen as Robert the Frisian. His right to Imperial Flanders, however, was disputed by his elder brother, Baldwin VI, who had succeeded to the countship of Flanders. War broke out between the two brothers, and Baldwin was killed in battle in 1070. Robert then claimed the tutelage of Baldwin's children and obtained the support of the Holy Roman emperor Henry IV, while Richilde, Baldwin's widow, appealed to Philip I of France. The contest was decided at Ravenshoven, near Kassel, on Feb. 22, 1071, where Robert was victorious. Richilde was taken prisoner, and her eldest son, Arnulf III, was slain. Robert obtained from Philip I the investiture of Crown Flanders, and from Henry IV the fiefs that formed Imperial Flanders. Robert the Frisian led a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the late 1080s. In 1090, on his return, he took temporary service in the army of the Byzantine emperor Alexius I, in his war against the Seljuq Turks. Robert's pilgrimage and service with the Byzantine emperor established a pattern followed later in the First Crusade (109699). Additional reading The authoritative biography is G.W.S. Barrow, Robert Bruce & the Community of the Realm of Scotland, 3rd ed. (1988). This gives references to the sources and a full bibliography and supersedes all earlier works. The most important original authority for the life of Robert I is a poem in Scots by John Barbour, The Bruce, probably completed in 1376; a recent edition is ed. and trans. by A.A.M. Duncan (1997).