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- BIOGRAPHY
Robert II, comte d'Artois, was born in September 1250, the posthumous son and heir of Robert I, comte d'Artois, and Mathilde of Brabant. In 1262 he married Amicie de Courtenay, heiress of Conches, Méhun-sur-Yèvre, daughter of Pierre I de Courtenay, seigneur de Conches, de Méhun-sur-Yèvre, and Pérenelle de Joigny, dame de Châteaurenard et d'Amilly. They had three children of whom Mathilde and Philippe would have progeny.
After Amicie's death in Rome in 1275, Robert married twice more. In 1277 he married Agnès de Dampierre, dame de Bourbon, widow of Jean de Bourgogne, sire de Charolais, and daughter of Archambaud IX de Dampierre, seigneur de Bourbon, and Yolande de Châtillon, heiress of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnerre. She died in 1288, and in October 1298 Robert married Margaretha van Holland en Hainault, daughter of Jan II d'Avesnes, Graaf van Holland en Hainault, and Philippine de Luxembourg. Neither marriage resulted in progeny.
Robert was knighted by his uncle Louis IX, king of France. He took part in the Tunis crusade of 1270, in which he fought with great ferocity to avenge his father, who had been killed in the preceding crusade. His sister Blanche took refuge in France with her young daughter Jeanne following the death in 1274 of her husband Enrique I, king of Navarre. Robert's cousin Philippe III 'le Hardi', king of France, sent him to Navarre to re-establish his sister's authority as regent of Navarre. He did so, capturing Pamplona.
Following the Sicilian Vespers, the rebellion in Sicily in 1282 against the rule of the Angevin king Charles I Etienne, king of Naples, Robert came to Naples to help the king, his paternal uncle. In 1284 he took part in the Aragónese Crusade. On Charles' death in 1285 Robert acted as regent of Naples, as Charles' son Charles II was a prisoner of Pedro III, king of Aragon, having been captured by the admiral of the Sicilian fleet, Ruggiero de Lauria, in a naval battle outside Naples. When Charles II was freed on a promise to give up his claim to Sicily, Robert was incensed and left Italy in September 1289.
In 1296 King Philippe IV 'le Bel', married to Robert's niece Jeanne, sent Robert to Guyenne to fight the English. He defeated the Flemings in 1297 at the Battle of Furnes, but his son Philippe, fighting at his side, was gravely wounded and died a year later. Robert was again sent into Flanders in July 1302, where he began to ravage the countryside and attempted to take the town of Kortrijk. There he met the Flemish army at the Battle of the Golden Spurs (also known as the Battle of Courtrai) on 11 July. His infantry advanced with great success against the Flemish (mostly city militia), but he ordered their recall to allow his cavalry to make the final, victorious charge. However, on the broken, marshy ground, his knights were unable to gain enough momentum to break the Flemish shield wall, 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 he was cut down by the Flemish infantry. He was buried in the abbey of Maubuisson.
Robert's daughter Mathilde inherited Artois, though his grandson Robert III, son of her younger brother Philippe, would unsuccessfully attempt to claim it.
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