Robert II (Normandy)

Robert II (Robert Curthose), c.1054-1134, duke of Normandy (1087-1106); eldest son of King William I of England. Aided by King Philip I of France, he rebelled (1077) against his father. Father and son became reconciled, but Robert was later exiled. At William's death he inherited Normandy. England fell to his younger brother William II, with whom Robert was intermittently at war (1090-96) until Robert went (1096-1100) on the First Crusade. While he was away, William II died and Henry I, youngest son of William I, was crowned. Robert invaded (1101) England but was forced to recognize Henry. In Normandy, Robert's misgovernment prompted an invasion by Henry (1105), who defeated (1106) Robert at Tinchebrai, seized Normandy, and kept Robert a prisoner.

Bibliography: See biography by C. W. David (1920).

Robert II (1054–1134) ( Robert Curthose) Duke of Normandy (1087–1106). The eldest son of William I (the Conqueror), he disputed Normandy and England with his younger brothers, William II and Henry I, and played a prominent part in the First Crusade (1096–99). In 1106, Robert was defeated and captured by Henry, and imprisoned for life.

Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy (c.1050–1134), the eldest son of William the Conqueror, was designated as heir to Normandy before 1066 and succeeded his father there, despite a series of quarrels and two periods of exile. Any hopes Robert may have had of obtaining England were, however, dashed by his father's death-bed bequest in 1087. Two attempts in 1088 and 1101 to wrest the kingdom from his brothers William II and Henry I failed and in 1106 he was himself ousted from the duchy by Henry after the battle of Tinchebrai. He was thereafter kept in prison until his death. Contemporary sources portray Robert as brave, but ineffective; a harsh verdict given that his difficulties in Normandy and Maine can be interpreted as the consequence of a reaction against his father's oppressive rule and that his two brothers unquestionably commanded greater resources. His heroic contribution to the First Crusade shows him as a redoubtable warrior capable of prospering in a great military enterprise. His nickname, literally ‘Short Boots’, is said to have been conferred by his father.

David Richard Bates