Robert I, Count of Artois

Robert de Valois
Count of Artois
Personal details
Born	September 25, 1216
Died	February 8, 1250
Spouse(s)	Matilda of Brabant

Robert I of Artois (1216 – 8 February 1250), called the Good, was the first Count of Artois, the fifth (and second surviving) son of Louis VIII of France and Blanche 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). 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 refuse to pretend to such a title.

Marriage

On 14 June 1237 Robert married Matilda, daughter of Henry II of Brabant and Marie of Hohenstaufen.
They had two children:

• Blanche (1248–1302)
• Robert II (1250–1302), who succeeded to Artois after Robert I was killed in Egypt during the Seventh Crusade, led by his brother Louis IX of France.

Death

Robert died while leading a reckless attack on Al Mansurah. He and the Templars accompanying the expedition charged into the town and became trapped in the narrow streets. According to Jean de Joinville, he defended himself for some time in a house there, but was at last overpowered and killed. According to Matthew Paris, he fled in disgrace at the height of the battle, and drowned while trying to cross a river named Thanis (a branch of the Nile). In Egypt it is believed that Sultan Qutuz killed him.

References

• Leese, Thelma Anna, Blood royal: issue of the kings and queens of medieval England, 1066-1399, Heritage Books Inc., 2007.
• Masson, Gustave, The story of mediæval France: from the reign of Hugues Capet to the beginnings of the sixteenth century, G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1888.