brother would become Pope Calixtus II. The Cluniac rule was introduced at Saint-Martin
de Tournai, Saint-Bertin, and Bergues-Saint-Winoc. Robert proclaimed a peace in 1111,
shortly before he died, forbidding the construction of fortifications without his
authorization. He extended the local governmental organizations based on the castellanies
introduced by Baudouin V.
Robert III de Béthune (r. 1305–22), the son of Gui de Dampierre, had to implement
the Peace of Athis, which provided a huge indemnity to France in return for the
restoration of the Dampierres to governance in Flanders. Realizing that the financial
terms were impossible, Philip IV agreed to take the towns and castellanies of Lille,
Douai, and Orchies from Flanders in exchange for part of the indemnity. This caused
resentment, as did the demand that the Flemings indemnify Francophile patricians who
had fled in 1302 and demolish their fortifications. The issue of further concessions to the
French divided Robert’s sons Louis I de Nevers and Robert de Cassel. To secure his
position in Flanders, Robert III became more independent of the crown and was
condemned by the court of peers in 1315. Rains that autumn prevented an invasion by the
French and their Avesnes allies in Hainaut and Holland. Robert de Béthune was
succeeded by his grandson Louis I (II de Nevers) in late 1322.
David M.Nicholas
[See also: DAMPIERRE; FLANDERS]
de Hemptinne, T. “Vlaanderen en Henegouwen onder de erfgenamen van de Boudewijns, 1070–
1244,” and Vandermaesen, M. “Vlaanderen en Henegouwen onder het Huis van Dampierre,
1244–1384.” In Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden. 2nd ed. Haarlem: Fibula-Van
Dishoeck, 1982, Vol. 2, pp. 372–440.
Ganshof, François L. La Flandre sous les premiers comtes. Brussels: Renaissance du Livre, 1943.
Pirenne, Henri. Histoire de Belgique. Brussels: Lamertin, 1922–1929, Vols. 1–2.
Verlinden, Charles. Robert Ier le Frison, comte de Flandre: étude d’histoire politique. Antwerp:
De Sikkel, 1935.
ROBERT (DUKES OF NORMANDY)
. The Viking war leader Rollo, founder of the Norman ducal dynasty, assumed the name
Robert when he accepted baptism ca. 911. Although he was technically no more than the
first Norman count of Rouen, later writers often referred to “Duke Rollo” or,
occasionally, “Robert.”
Rollo’s great-great-grandson, Robert the Magnificent, was the father of William the
Conqueror. He became duke in 1027, suspected of having poisoned his brother, Richard
111, and in conflict with his powerful kinsmen Robert, archbishop of Rouen, and Hugh,
bishop of Bayeux. William of Bellême soon threatened Robert’s authority along the
southern border, and later, in the 1030s, Alain of Brittany struck in the west. Robert the
Magnificent met these challenges successfully and gained the southern part of the French
Vexin from King Henry I in 1033. In his mid-twenties, Robert resolved to journey on a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He died during his return in 1035, leaving the duchy in the
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