byname ROBERT THE PIOUS, French ROBERT LE PIEUX, king of France who tookBu
rgundy into the French realm.
The son of Hugh Capet, founder of the Capetian dynasty, and Adelaide of Aq
uitaine, Robert was educated at the episcopal school of Reims under Gerbe
rt of Aurillac, later Pope Sylvester II. Soon after his own coronation (Ju
ly 987), Hugh prudently arranged the election and coronation (December 98
7) of Robert, thus facilitating his son's eventual succession (October 99
6) as sole ruler. His excommunication as a result of his marriage within t
he prohibited degrees of relationship was eventually lifted after the repu
diation of the childless Bertha in 1001. Constance of Arles, whom the Ki
ng married two years later, was the mother of his successor, Henry I.
Robert's domain was not extensive; and, to increase his power, he vigorous
ly and tenaciously pressed his claim to fiefs as they became vacant. Thu
s, when the duke of Burgundy died without an heir (1002), Robert went to w
ar against a rival claimant. Only in 1015, however, did he finally succe
ed in subduing the rich duchy. (The gain was transitory, for in 1032 Hen
ry I granted Burgundy to his brother, Robert, and it thereafter remained f
or centuries outside royal control.)
A patron of the Cluniac monastic movement, Robert apparently ruled firm
ly and judiciously in his own lands.
byname ROBERT THE PIOUS, French ROBERT LE PIEUX, king of France who took B
urgundy into the French realm.
The son of Hugh Capet, founder of the Capetian dynasty, and Adelaide of Aq
uitaine, Robert was educated at the episcopal school of Reims under Gerbe
rt of Aurillac, later Pope Sylvester II. Soon after his own coronation (Ju
ly 987), Hugh prudently arranged the election and coronation (December 98
7) of Robert, thus facilitating his son's eventual succession (October 99
6) as sole ruler. His excommunication as a result of his marriage within t
he prohibited degrees of relationship was eventually lifted after the repu
diation of the childless Bertha in 1001. Constance of Arles, whom the Ki
ng married two years later, was the mother of his successor, Henry I.
Robert's domain was not extensive; and, to increase his power, he vigorous
ly and tenaciously pressed his claim to fiefs as they became vacant. Thu
s, when the duke of Burgundy died without an heir (1002), Robert went to w
ar against a rival claimant. Only in 1015, however, did he finally succe
ed in subduing the rich duchy. (The gain was transitory, for in 1032 Hen
ry I granted Burgundy to his brother, Robert, and it thereafter remained f
or centuries outside royal control.)
A patron of the Cluniac monastic movement, Robert apparently ruled firm
ly and judiciously in his own lands.