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ROBERT III OF ARTOIS

ROBERT III OF ARTOIS

1287 - 1342

LES ROIS MAUDITS

            Robert III of Artois was a French nobleman from the House of Artois. He was a male descendant of the Capetian dynasty, his father died early from wounds during a battle in 1297 against the Flemish. After the death of his grandfather in 1302, his aunty, Mahaut (Mathilde) inherited the County of Artois by custom as she was his oldest child. At the time Robert was too young to challenge this, but as he got older he became more competitive.

            Robert became an important figure during the succession of his brother-in-law Philip VI of France as his advisor. In 1309, he received as appanage the county of Beaumont-le-Roger in the County of Artois. When Mahaut died in 1329, the title to Artois went to her daughter Joan II.

            In 1329, Robert was found guilty of forging his dead fathers will, which lost his hope of gaining Artois and he failed to appear before the king. To avoid arrest and execution he left France and lived with his nephew John II. He left behind his wife and two sons, who were both imprisoned in Normandy in 1334.

            The king compelled the duke to give Robert up; Robert fled France to England to the court of Edward III of England. Robert urged the English king to go to war with France, and became part of the English council. Robert spilled France’s secrets to the English, which influenced the Hundred Years’ War.

            He succumbed to dysentery after being wounded in 1342 and died, aged 54 and is buried at Blackfriars Church, London, today his tomb is now at St Paul’s Cathedral.

            Robert is a major character in the book series Les Rois Maudits (The Accursed Kings), historical novels by Maurice Druon. He was also portrayed in the French miniseries in 1972 and 2005.

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