Robert II was the Count of Artois, the posthumous son and heir of Robert I

Robert I of Artois

Robert I , called the Good, was the first Count of Artois, the fifth son of Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile.-Life:...

 and Matilda of Brabant

Matilda of Brabant

Matilda of Brabant was the eldest daughter of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and his first wife Marie of Hohenstaufen.-Marriages and children:...

.

An experienced soldier, he took part in the Aragonese Crusade

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 the King of Aragon, Peter III the Great, in 1284 and 1285...

 and attempted an invasion of Sicily in 1287. He defeated the Flemings

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

 in 1297 at the Battle of Furnes

Battle of Furnes

The Battle of Furnes 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 forces were victorious...

. 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

Kortrijk ; , ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders...

. He then met the Flemish army at the Battle of the Golden Spurs

Battle of the Golden Spurs

The Battle of the Golden Spurs, known also as the Battle of Courtrai was fought on July 11, 1302, near Kortrijk in Flanders...

. 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, but was cut down by the Flemish infantry.

In 1262 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 Robert married Amicie de Courtenay (1250–1275), daughter of Pierre de Courtenay, Seigneur de Conches, a great-grandson of Louis VI

Louis VI of France

Louis VI , called the Fat , was King of France from 1108 until his death . Chronicles called him "roi de Saint-Denis".-Reign:...

, and Perronelle de Joigny.


They had three children:

• Mahaut (1268–1329)
• Philip
  Philip of Artois
  Philip of Artois was the son of Robert II of Artois, Count of Artois and Amicie de Courtenay. He was the Lord of Conches, Nonancourt, and Domfront....
  
   (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

House of Bourbon

The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...

, and then, on 18 October 1298 to Margaret (died 1342), daughter of John II, Count of Hainaut. After Robert's death, his daughter Mahaut inherited Artois, but his grandson Robert III

Robert III of Artois

Robert III of Artois was the son of Philip of Artois and Blanche of Brittany.In 1318 he married Joan of Valois , daughter of Charles of Valois, and had issue:* Louis...

 unsuccessfully tried to claim it.

Ancestry

Sources

• Dunbabin, Jean, A hound of God: Pierre de la Palud and the fourteenth-century church, Oxford University Press, 1991.
• Funck-Brentano, Fr., The Middle Ages, WILLIAM HEINEMAW LTI.
• Housley, Norman, The later Crusades, 1274-1580: from Lyons to Alcazar, Oxford University Press, 1992.
• Leese, Thelma Anna, Blood royal: issue of the kings and queens of medieval England, 1066-1399, Heritage Books Inc., 2007.

External links

• Coat of Arms in the Wijnbergen Roll