Coat of arms of the county of Artois (azure semé-de-lis or, a label gules, each point charged with three castles or).
(September 1250 – 11 July 1302) was the
Count of Artois, the posthumous son and heir of
Robert I and
Matilda of Brabant.
An experienced soldier, he took part in the
Aragonese Crusade and attempted an invasion of Sicily in 1287. He defeated the
Flemings in 1297 at the
Battle of Furnes. He was again sent into Flanders in July 1302, where he began to ravage the countryside and attempted to take the town of
Kortrijk. He then met the Flemish army at the
Battle of the Golden Spurs. 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 Robert married
Amicie de Courtenay (1250–1275), daughter of
Pierre de Courtenay, Seigneur de Conches, a great-grandson of
Louis VI, and
Perronelle de Joigny.
They had three children:
- 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, 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 unsuccessfully tried to claim it.
Ancestry
