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Robert II of France

Robert II (c. 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious (French: le Pieux) or the Wise (French: le Sage), was King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty. Crowned Junior King in 987, he assisted his father on military matters (notably during the two sieges of Laon, in 988 and 991). His solid education, provided by Gerbert of Aurillac (the future Pope Sylvester II) in Reims, allowed him to deal with religious questions of which he quickly became the guarantor (he headed the Council of Saint-Basle de Verzy in 991 and that of Chelles in 994). Continuing the political work of his father, after becoming sole ruler in 996, he managed to maintain the alliance with the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou and thus was able to contain the ambitions of Count Odo II of Blois.

Robert II

24 October 996 – 20 July 1031

25 December 987 (as co-king)

Hugh Capet

Henry I

Hugh (1017–1025)

c. 972
Orléans, France

20 July 1031(1031-07-20) (aged 58–59)
Melun, France

Saint Denis Basilica, Paris, France
Rozala of Italy until 996
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(m. 988, annulled)​
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(m. 996; ann. 1001)​

House of Capet

Hugh Capet

Adelaide of Aquitaine

Robert II distinguished himself with an extraordinarily long reign for the time. His 35-year-long reign was marked by his attempts to expand the royal domain by any means, especially by his struggle to gain the Duchy of Burgundy (which ended in 1005 with his victory) after the death in 1002 without male descendants of his paternal uncle Duke Henry I, after a war against Otto-William of Ivrea, Henry I's stepson and adopted by him as his heir. His policies earned him many enemies, including three of his sons.


The marital setbacks of Robert II (he married three times, having two of these annulled and attempting to have the third annulled, prevented only by the Pope's refusal to agree to a third annulment), strangely contrasted with the pious aura, bordering on holiness, which his biographer Helgaud of Fleury was willing to lend him in his work "Life of King Robert the Pious" (Epitoma vitæ regis Roberti pii). His life was then presented as a model to follow, made of innumerable pious donations to various religious establishments, of charity towards the poor and, above all, of gestures considered sacred, such as the healing of certain lepers. Robert II was the first sovereign considered to be a "miracle worker". The end of his reign revealed the relative weakness of the sovereign, who had to face the revolt of his third wife Constance and then of his own sons (Henri and Robert) between 1025 and 1031.

Countess of Auxerre (ca. 1003 – aft. 1063), married Renauld I, Count of Nevers[57] on 25 January 1016 and had issue.

Hedwig [Advisa]

Junior King (1007 – 17 September 1025).

Hugh

successor (bef. 17 April/4 May 1008 – 4 August 1060).[58]

Henry I

Countess of Contenance (ca. 1009 – 8 January 1079), married (1) Richard III of Normandy and (2) Count Baldwin V of Flanders.[58]

Adela

(1011–12 – 21 March 1076), named by his father heir to the Duchy of Burgundy in 1030, installed as such in 1032 by his brother.[58]

Robert

Odo [Eudes] (1013 – 15 May 1057–59), who may have been according to the chronicle (ended in 1138) of Pierre, son of Béchin, canon of Saint-Martin-de-Tours. He died after his brother's failed invasion of Normandy.

intellectually disabled

(1003–1063), married Renauld I, Count of Nevers and had issue.[144]

Hedwig/Advisa of France

(1007 – 17 September 1025), co-King of France. He predeceased his father. No issue.[144]

Hugh

(4 May 1008 – 4 August 1060), succeeded his father as the next king.[144]

Henry I of France

(1009 – 8 January 1079). Had issue. Mother of Matilda of Flanders, Queen of England.[144]

Adela of France

(1011–21 March 1076). Had issue.[144]

Robert I, Duke of Burgundy

Eudes of France (1013–1056)

[144]

Constance of France (b. 1014), married and had issue.

Manasses, Count of Dammartin

Firstly, in 988, he married Princess Rozala of Italy, daughter of Berengar II, King of Italy.The union didn't produce any children.[40]


He married in 996 Bertha of Burgundy, daughter of Conrad I, King of Burgundy, and Princess Mathilda of France. Again, no children were born between the couple.[142]


Around 1001/1003, after Robert divorced Bertha, he married Constance of Arles, daughter of William I, Count of Provence.[143] Constance gave birth to 7 children for the king:

Jessee, W. Scott. "A missing Capetian princess: Advisa, daughter of King Robert II of France". Medieval Prosopography, 1990.

Atrium – Better understand the fears of the year 1000 (in French) .

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Atrium – What are the fears of the year 1000? (in French) .

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