Ancestral Trails 2016 » Robert de DAMPIERRE III (1249-1322)

Personal data Robert de DAMPIERRE III 

• He was born in the year 1249 in Béthune, Artois, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.
• Title: Count of Flanders
• (Alternative Name) : Robert of Bethune.
• (Nickname) : The Lion of Flanders.
• (Ancestry) : House of Dampierre.
• He died on September 17, 1322 in Flanders, Vlaanderen, Belgium, he was 73 years old.
• He is buried September 1322 in St Martin's Cathedral, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium.
• A child of Guy de DAMPIERRE and Mathilde de BETHUNE

Household of Robert de DAMPIERRE III

(1) He is married to Yolande de BURGUNDY.

They got married March 1271/72 at Auxerre, Yonne, Bourgogne, France, he was 22 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Louis de NEVERS  1272-1322 
2. Jeanne de FLANDERS  ± 1276-1333
3. Yolande de DAMPIERRE  ± 1278-1313
4. Robert de DAMPIERRE  ± 1274-1331 
5. Mathilde de DAMPIERRE  < 1280-????

(2) He is married to Blanche d'ANJOU.

They got married in the year 1265 at Flanders, Vlaanderen, Belgium, he was 16 years old.

Notes about Robert de DAMPIERRE III

Robert III of Flanders (1249 - September 17, 1322), also called Robert of Béthune and nicknamed The Lion of Flanders (De Leeuw van Vlaanderen), was Count of Nevers 1273-1322 and Count of Flanders 1305-1322.

Robert was the oldest son of Guy of Dampierre from his first marriage with Matilda of Béthune. His father essentially transferred the reign of Flanders to him in November 1299, during his war with Philip IV of France. Both father and son were taken into captivity in May 1300, and Robert was not released until 1305.

Robert of Béthune gained military fame in Italy, when he fought at the side of his father-in-law, Charles I of Sicily (1265-1268) against the last Hohenstaufens, Manfred and Conradin. Together with his father he took part in 1270 in the Eighth Crusade, led by Saint Louis. After his return from the Crusade he continued to be a loyal aid for his father, politically and militarily, in the fight against the attempts of the French King Philip IV the Fair to add Flanders to the French crown lands.

Guy of Dampierre broke all feudal bonds with the French king (on January 20, 1297) mainly under his influence. When the resistance seemed hopeless Robert allowed himself to be taken prisoner, together with his father and his brother William of Crèvecoeur, and taken to the French King (May 1300). Shortly before that he had become the de facto ruler of Flanders. He was locked in the castle of Chinon.

In July 1305, after his father had died in captivity, he was allowed to return to his county. The execution of the Treaty of Athis-sur-Orge would mark the rule of Count Robert. Initially he achieved some success in moving the countryside and the cities to fulfill their duties. However, in April 1310 he started to radically resist the French, with support of his subjects and his family. Both diplomatically and militarily he managed to make a stand against the French King. When he marched to Lille in 1319 the militia from Ghent refused to cross the Leie with him. When his grandson Louis I of Nevers pressured him as well, Robert gave up the battle and went to Paris in 1320 to restore feudal bonds with the French King.

But even after that, he would hamper the execution of the Treaty of Athis-sur-Orge. Robert died in 1322 and was succeeded by his grandson, Louis, Count of Nevers and Rethel.

He was buried in Flanders in Saint Martin's Cathedral in Ypres, as was his explicit wish to be buried on Flemish soil. His body was only allowed to be transferred to the abbey of Flines (near Douai) when Lille and Douai were again part of the County of Flanders. His first wife and his father were also buried in this abbey.

Robert married twice. His first wife was Blanche (d. 1269), daughter of Charles I of Sicily and Beatrice of Provence, in 1265. They had one son, Charles, who died young.

His second wife was Yolande II, Countess of Nevers (d. June 11, 1280), daughter of Odo, Count of Nevers, in c. 1271. They had five children:

Louis I (b. 1272, d. July 24, 1322, Paris), Count of Nevers, married December 1290 Joan, Countess of Rethel (d. aft. March 12, 1328). Their son was Louis I of Flanders.
Robert (d. 1331), Count of Marle, married c. 1323 Joan of Brittany (1296-March 24, 1363), Lady of Nogent-le-Rotrou, daughter of Arthur II, Duke of Brittany. Their children were: John, Seigneur of Cassel (d. 1332) and Yolande (1331-1395), married Henry IV of Bar.
Jeanne (d. October 15, 1333), married 1288 Enguerrand IV, Lord of Coucy (d. 1310), Viscount of Meaux.
Yolande (d. 1313), married c. 1287 Walter II of Enghien (d. 1309).
Matilda, married c. 1314 Matthias of Lorraine (d. c. 1330), Lord of Warsberg.
SOURCE: Wikipedia

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Timeline Robert de DAMPIERRE III

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