Robert II le Pieux, roi des Francs and Constance d'Arles Regina des Francs
Husband Robert II le Pieux, roi des Francs [19021] 1
Born: 27 Mar 972 - Orléans, Loiret, Centre-Val de Loire, France 1 Christened: After 27 Mar 972 - Saint Denis, Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon, France 1 Died: 20 Jul 1031 - Meulan-en-Yvelines, Seine-et-Oise, France 1 Buried: Jul 1031 - Saint-Denis, Seine, France 1 FamilySearch ID: 9ZZL-PZY
Father: Hugues Capet roi des Francs [19023] (941-996) 2 Mother: Adélaïde d'Aquitaine Regina des Francs [19024] (Abt 945-1006) 2
Marriage: 18 Sep 998 - Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, France 3Events
• Title of Nobility: King of France, 30 Dec 987, France.
• Title of Nobility: King of the Franks, 996.
• Coronation: 30 Dec 987, France.
• Biography: Robert II (c. 972 \endash 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 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 long struggle to gain the Duchy of Burgundy (which ended in 1014 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, annulling two of these and attempting to annul the third, prevented only by the Pope's refusal to accept a third annulment), strangely contrasted with the pious aura, bordering on the 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.
Life
Youth and political formation
The only heir of the Duke of the Franks
Main article: Robertians
Main article: Hugh Capet
Denier of Hugh Capet, "Duke by the grace of God" (Dux Dei Gratia), Paris studio (Parisi Civita), late 10th century.
Robert II's exact date and birthplace are unknown, although historians have advocated for the year 972 and the city of Orléans (the capital of the Robertians from the 9th century onward).[2] The only son of Hugh Capet and Adelaide of Aquitaine, he was named after his heroic ancestor Robert the Strong, who had died fighting the Vikings in 866. His parents' marriage produced at least two other daughters: [b] Hedwig (wife of Reginar IV, Count of Hainaut) and Gisela (wife of Hugh I, Count of Ponthieu).
In the 10th century, the Robertians were the most powerful aristocratic family in the Kingdom of France. In previous decades, two of its members, Odo (888) and Robert I (922), had ascended to the throne, displacing the ruling Carolingian dynasty. The principality of Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks and Robert II's paternal grandfather, marked the apogee of the Robertians until his death in 956. In the middle of the 10th century, Hugh Capet succeeded as the head of the family.[4]
Robert II's youth was especially marked by the incessant fights of King Lothair of France to recover Lorraine, the "cradle of the Carolingian family", at the expense of Emperor Otto II:Marr: 19 May 1051 - Reims, Marne, France (then: Reims, Archbishopric of Reims, Champagne, Kingdom of France) 1
\emdash Richer of Reims, ca. 991\endash 998.[5]
In August 978, King Lothair unexpectedly launched a general assault on Aix-la-Chapelle where the imperial family resided, which narrowly escaped capture. After having looted the imperial palace and the surroundings, he returned to France carrying the insignia of the Empire. In the following October, to take revenge, Otto II assembled an army of 60,000 men and invaded Lothair's domains. The latter, with only a few troops around him, was forced to take refuge with Hugh Capet, who was then said to be the savior of the Carolingian kingship.[6] The Robertian dynasty then took a turn that changed the fate of young Robert II. Bishop Adalbero of Reims, originally a man of King Lothair, turns more and more towards the Ottonian court for which he feels a great sympathy.
An exemplary education
Hugh Capet quickly understood that his ascent could not be attained without the support of Archbishop Adalbero of Reims. Illiterate himself, not mastering Latin, he decided around 984 to send his son, not with the scholar Abbo of Fleury, near Orléans, but to Archbishop Adalbero so he could train him in the basics of knowledge. Indeed, at the end of 10th century, Reims had a reputation as the most prestigious school of all of West Christianity. The prelate willingly welcomed Robert, who was confided to his secretary, the famous Gerbert of Aurillac, one of the most educated men of his time.[7]
It is assumed that to follow Gerbert's teaching, the young Robert II had to acquire the basics of Latin. He thus enriched his knowledge by studying the trivium (grammar, rhetoric and dialectic) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy). Robert II is one of the few laypeople of his time to enjoy the same worldview as contemporary clergy.[c] After about two years of study in Reims, he returned to Orléans. His intellectual level had also developed in the musical field, as recognized by another great scholar of his time, Richer de Reims. [9] According to Helgaud de Fleury, at an age unknown in his adolescence, the young Robert II fell seriously ill, to such an extent that his parents feared for his life. It was then when they went to pray at the Sainte-Croix church in Orleans and offered a golden crucifix and a sumptuous 60-pound (30 kg) vase as an votive offering. Robert II miraculously recovered.
His pious mother sent him to the schools of Reims and entrusted him to master Gerbert, to be brought up by him and sufficiently instructed in liberal doctrines.
\emdash Helgaud of Fleury, Epitoma vitæ regis Roberti pii, ca 1033.
Robert II's association to the throne (987)
Denier of Robert II the Pious, struck at Soissons.
Immediately after his own coronation, Hugh Capet began to push for the coronation of his son. "The essential means by which the early Capetians were seen to have kept the throne in their family was through the association of the eldest surviving son in the royalty during the father's lifetime," Andrew W. Lewis has observed, in tracing the phenomenon in this line of kings who lacked dynastic legitimacy.[12][d] Hugh Capet's claimed reason was that he was planning an expedition against the Moorish armies harassing Count Borrell II of Barcelona, an invasion which never occurred, and that the stability of the country necessitated a Junior King, should he die while on expedition.[13] Rodulfus Glaber, however, attributes Hugh Capet's request to his old age and inability to control the nobility.[14] Modern scholarship has largely imputed to Hugh Capet the motive of establishing a dynasty against the claims of electoral power on the part of the aristocracy, but this is not the typical view of contemporaries and even some modern scholars have been less sceptical of his "plan" to campaign in Spain.[15]
Once Hugh Capet proposed the association of Robert to the throne, Archbishop Adalbero of Reims was reportedly hostile to this and, according to Richer of Reims, he replied to the king: "we do not have the right to create two kings in the same year" (on n'a pas le droit de créer deux rois la même année). It is believed that Gerbert of Aurillac (who was himself close to Borrell II, for a time his protector), would then have come to the aid of Hugh Capet to convince the Archbishop that the co-kinship was needed due to the purposed expedition to assist the Count of Barcelona, and to secure a stable transition of power. Under duress, Archbishop Adalbero finally consented.[16]
Unlike that of Hugh Capet, the coronation of Robert was precisely detailed by Richer of Reims \emdash even the day and place were clearly identified. Dressed in purple woven with gold threads, as tradition dictated, the 15-year-old boy was acclaimed, crowned and then consecrated by the Archbishop of Reims on 25 December 987[e] at the Sainte-Croix Cathedral in Orléans.[19][20][21]
Richer of Reims also underlines that Robert II is only "King of the peoples of the West, from the Meuse to the Ocean" and not "King of the Gauls, Aquitaine, Danes, Goths, Spaniards and Gascons" as his father.
The episcopal hierarchy, the King's first support
Robert II directs the religious affairs
Crowned as Junior King, Robert II had begun to take on active royal duties with his father, as evidenced by his signum at the bottom of certain acts of Hugh Capet. From 990, all the acts have its inscription. In the written acts: "Robert, very glorious king" as underlined by a charter for Corbie (April 988) or even "filii nostri Rotberti regis ac consortis regni nostri" in a charter for Saint-Maur-des-Fossés (June 989).[22] On the strength of his instruction received from Gerbert of Aurillac, his task, initially, was to preside over episcopal synods:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_II_of_France
.
Wife Constance d'Arles Regina des Francs [19022] 1
Born: Abt 986 - Arles, Kingdom of Arles, Holy Roman Empire (France) 1 Christened: Died: 28 Jul 1032 - Melun, Melun, Île-de-France, France 1 Buried: 4 Aug 1032 - Basilica of Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France 1 FamilySearch ID: LDSS-6H5Events
• Title: Queen of France,
. • Biography: Constance of Arles (c. 986 \endash 28 July 1032), also known as Constance of Provence, was Queen of France as the third wife of King Robert II of France.
Life
Born c. 986 Constance was the daughter of William I, Count of Provence and Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou, daughter of Fulk II of Anjou.[1] She was the sister of Count William II of Provence. Constance was married to King Robert, after his divorce from his second wife, Bertha of Burgundy.[2] The marriage was stormy; Bertha's family opposed her, and Constance was despised for importing her Provençal kinfolk and customs. Robert's friend, Hugh of Beauvais, count palatine, tried to convince the king to repudiate her in 1007. Possibly at her request 12 knights of her kinsman Fulk Nerra then murdered Beauvais in 1008.[3]
In 1010 Robert went to Rome, followed by his former wife Bertha, to seek permission to divorce Constance and remarry Bertha. Pope Sergius IV was not about to allow a consanguineous marriage which had been formally condemned by Pope Gregory V and Robert had already repudiated two wives. So the request was denied. After his return according to one source Robert "loved his wife more."[4]
In 1022, a trial accused clergy members of heresy, Constance's previous confessor Stephen included. Robert had his wife Queen Constance stand at the door to prevent any mob violence. However, as the condemned clerics left the trial the queen "struck out the eye of Stephen... with the staff which she carried". This was seen as Constance venting her frustration at anyone subverting the prestige of the crown.[5]
Tomb of Robert 'the Pious' and Constance of Arles at Saint-Denis
At Constance's urging, her eldest son Hugh Magnus was crowned co-king alongside his father in 1017.[6] But later Hugh demanded his parents share power with him, and rebelled against his father in 1025. Constance, however, on learning of her son's rebellion was furious with him, rebuking him at every turn. At some point Hugh was reconciled with his parents but shortly thereafter died, probably about age eighteen. The royal couple was devastated; there was concern for the queen's mental health due to the violence of her grief.[7]
Robert and Constance quarrelled over which of their surviving sons should inherit the throne; Robert favored their second son Henry, while Constance favored their third son, Robert.[7] Despite his mother's protests and her support by several bishops, Henry was crowned in 1027. Constance, however, was not graceful when she didn't get her way.[8] The ailing Fulbert, bishop of Chartres told a colleague that he could attend the ceremony "if he traveled slowly to Reims\emdash but he was too frightened of the queen to go at all".[8]
Constance encouraged her sons to rebel, and they began attacking and pillaging the towns and castles belonging to their father. Her son Robert attacked Burgundy, the duchy he had been promised but had never received, and Henry seized Dreux. At last King Robert agreed to their demands and peace was made which lasted until the king's death.
King Robert died on 20 July 1031. Soon afterwards Constance fell ill; she was also at odds with both her surviving sons. Constance seized her dower lands and refused to surrender them. Henry fled to Normandy, where he received aid, weapons and soldiers from his brother Robert. He returned to besiege his mother at Poissy but Constance escaped to Pontoise. She only surrendered when Henry began the siege of Le Puiset and swore to slaughter all the inhabitants.
Constance died after passing out following a coughing fit on 28 July 1032 and was buried beside her husband Robert at Saint-Denis Basilica.[9]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_of_Arles
.
Children
1 M Henri I Roi des Francs [19019] 4
Born: 4 May 1008 - Reims, Marne, France 4 Christened: 23 May 1008 - Reims, Marne, France 4 Died: 4 Aug 1060 - Vitry-aux-Loges, Loiret, France 4 Buried: 10 Aug 1060 - Saint-Denis, Seine, France 4 FamilySearch ID: L8W6-ZVQSpouse: Anna Yaroslavna 4 [19020] (1036-1076)
1 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 28 Nov 2025), entry for Henri I, person ID L8W6-ZVQ.
2 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 28 Nov 2025), entry for Robert II le Pieux,, person ID 9ZZL-PZY.
3 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 28 Nov 2025), entry for Constance d'Arles, person ID LDSS-6H5.
4
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 28 Nov 2025), entry for Hugues 'le Grand' de Vermandois, person ID LDW5-FB6.
Table of Contents | Surnames | Name List
This website was created 2 Dec 2025 with Legacy 10.0, a division of MyHeritage.com; content copyrighted and maintained by castlewrks@aol.com