Robert I or Rupert (c. 697 – 758) was a
count or duke in the Hesbaye region. His father's name is known to be
Lambert.
It has been proposed that this is the same Robert who married Williswinda who founded
Lorsch Abbey
Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (; or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms, Germany, Worms. It was one of the most important monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ru ...
. This Williswinda had three children:
* Count
Cancor
Cancor (died 771) was a Frankish count associated with Lorsch Abbey. He was son of a noble lady Williswinda.
Since Williswinda's only known husband before being widowed was named Robert (Rodbert), it has been proposed that Cancor was a son of C ...
(died 771)
* Anselm (killed in battle in
Roncesvalles, Spain, 778),
Count Palatine
A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...
*
Thuringbert
Primary sources
In a charter of 741/2 which exists in several versions, wherein a Robert, son of Lambert, Count or Duke of the "''pago Hasbaniensi et Masuarinsi''", the land of Hasbanians and Masuarians, granted lands near
Diest
Diest () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Situated in the northeast of the Hageland region, Diest neighbours the provinces of Antwerp to its North, and Limburg to the East and is situated around ...
to
Sint-Truiden Abbey.
The third continuation of the ''Gesta Abbatum Trudonensium'', in its report of the charter, describes Robert as ''Robertus comes vel dux Hasbanie'' ("count or Duke of Hasbania").
This Robert, the ''Gesta'' says, is also the one mentioned as a Duke in the medieval biography (Vita) of Bishop
Eucherius of Orléans. When
Charles Martel
Charles Martel (; – 22 October 741), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...
exiled Eucherius to
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
this was under the custody of the said Duke Robert of Hasbania (''Hasbanio Chrodoberto duce'').
The connection to Williswinda has been proposed by some historians because her late husband had the name Robert, as is mentioned only once in the
Necrology
An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...
of
Lorsch abbey
Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (; or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms, Germany, Worms. It was one of the most important monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ru ...
.
[See Bouchard p.188 and p.307: footnote 55. Primary source for this: Lorsch necrology under 18 February: "Ruperti comitis. Hic fuit maritus domne Williswinde]
References
Sources
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robert 01, Count of Hesbaye
Counts of Hesbaye
8th-century Frankish nobility