Robert II (September 1250 – 11 July 1302) was the

Count of Artois The count of Artois (French: Comtes d'Artois, Dutch: Graven van Artesië) was the ruler over the County of Artois from the 9th century until the abolition of the countship by the French revolutionaries in 1790. House of Artois *Odalric (c. 850s) ...

, the posthumous son and heir of

Robert I Robert I may refer to: *Robert I, Duke of Neustria (697–748) *Robert I of France (866–923), King of France, 922–923, rebelled against Charles the Simple *Rollo, Duke of Normandy (c. 846 – c. 930; reigned 911–927) * Robert I Archbishop of ...

and

Matilda of Brabant Matilda of Brabant (14 June 1224 – 29 September 1288) was the eldest daughter of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and his first wife Marie of Hohenstaufen. Marriages and children On 14 June 1237, which was her 13th birthday, Matilda married her ...

. He was a nephew of

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...

. He died at the

Battle of the Golden Spurs The Battle of the Golden Spurs ( nl, Guldensporenslag; french: Bataille des éperons d'or) was a military confrontation between the royal army of France and rebellious forces of the County of Flanders on 11 July 1302 during the Franco-Flemis ...

Life

An experienced soldier, he took part in the

Aragonese Crusade The Aragonese Crusade or Crusade of Aragon, a part of the larger War of the Sicilian Vespers, was declared by Pope Martin IV against King Peter III of Aragon in 1284 and 1285. Because of the recent conquest of Sicily by Peter, Martin declared ...

and attempted an invasion of Sicily in 1287. In 1288, Robert began work on a great park at

Hesdin Hesdin (; vls, Heusdin) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Geography The N39, from Arras to Montreuil, used to be the main thoroughfare of the town. In the 1950s, a circular route was created to help traffic flo ...

. The park contained a menagerie, aviaries, fishponds, orchards, an enclosed garden and facilities for tournaments. It also contained mechanical statues including waving monkeys draped in skins. He defeated the

Flemings The Flemish or Flemings ( nl, Vlamingen ) are a Germanic ethnic group native to Flanders, Belgium, who speak Dutch. Flemish people make up the majority of Belgians, at about 60%. "''Flemish''" was historically a geographical term, as all inha ...

in 1297 at the

Battle of Furnes The Battle of Furnes, also known as ''Battle of Veurne'' and ''Battle of Bulskamp'', was fought on 20 August 1297 between French and Flemish forces. The French were led by Robert II of Artois and the Flemish by Guy of Dampierre. The French fo ...

. He was again sent into Flanders in July 1302, where he began to ravage the countryside and attempted to take the town of

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...

(Courtrai).

Battle of the Golden Spurs

He then met the Flemish army at the

. 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. Artois was unhorsed by

Willem van Saeftinghe Willem van Saeftinghe ("William of Saeftinghe"; d. 1309?) was a lay brother in the Cistercian abbey of Ter Doest in Lissewege, West Flanders, Belgium. He fought at the Battle of the Golden Spurs, and became a Flanders, Flemish folk hero. Life ...

. He and his troops were cut down by the Flemish infantry.

Family

In 1262, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, Robert married

Amicie de Courtenay Amicie de Courtenay (1253–1275) was a French noblewoman and a member of the Capetian House of Courtenay, a cadet line of the House of Capet. Her father was Peter of Courtenay, Lord of Conches and Mehun (1218-1250); he fell in the Battle ...

(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 Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

(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 Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...

, and then, on 18 October 1298 to Margaret (died 1342), daughter of

John II, Count of Hainaut John II (1247 – 22 August 1304) was Count of Hainaut, Holland, and Zeeland. Life John II, born 1247, was the eldest son of John I of Hainaut and Adelaide of Holland.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der ...

. After Robert's death, his daughter Mahaut inherited Artois, but his grandson Robert III unsuccessfully tried to claim it.

In popular culture

Robert II and his "contrivances for amusement" at Hesdin are depicted in the segment "You’ve Been Artois’d!" from ''

Horrible Histories ''Horrible Histories'' is an educational entertainment franchise encompassing many media including books, magazines, audio books, stage shows, TV shows, and more. In 2013, Lisa Edwards, UK publishing and commercial director of Scholastic Corpora ...

'', season 3, episode 1.

References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

Coat of Arms in the Wijnbergen Roll
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robert 02 of Artois 1250 births 1302 deaths Counts of Artois House of Artois French military personnel killed in action 13th-century peers of France 14th-century peers of France