Robert Curthose
For this week’s blog, Corey has been researching the life of the founder of the original “New Castle” upon Tyne, son of William the Conqueror and later Duke of Normandy, Robert Curthose. Read on to find out about the turbulent life of this fascinating and unfortunate man!
The Norman Conquest in 1066 brought about years of change and unrest to England. The English, or Anglo-Saxons as we were known then, no longer held power in their country; instead, the new Norman king, William the Conqueror, his family and all of his Norman cronies ruled the land!
In this blog, we will explore the life of Robert Curthose (or Robert Shortypants to you and I!), who was William the Conqueror’s eldest son – and the founder of the castle in Newcastle! Robert was a short and stocky (borderline chubby) man who is described as a brilliant warrior with a charismatic voice.
The House of Normandy was a family full of ambitious, arrogant, aggressive and power hungry people and the drama that occurred between them is enough to shock even the most die-hard soap opera fan. Robert was no different and his life as eldest son of the Conqueror saw him travel the breadth of the known world (at the time) from the windswept lands of North-East England to the barren deserts of the Holy Land in order to make a name for himself and step out from his father’s shadow.
William the Conqueror (top left) and his successors - William II, Henry I and Stephen - no Curthose! Image courtesy of the British Library, Cotton MS Claudius D VI, f.9r
William the Conqueror had a large brood of children, and their personalities and relationships would not be misplaced in a modern reality TV programme! Every family have disagreements and fall out from time to time, but with this family (and many other medieval royal families), their disagreements could bring about war and death! Robert’s life would come to be characterised by his pride, his rivalry with and jealousy of his siblings, and his complex, often negative, relationship with his father.
Robert and William had a fractious relationship and clearly did not always see eye-to-eye. William was known to have made fun of Robert and coined his nickname Curthose (short pants), essentially making fun of Robert’s height! It is of no surprise then that Robert was a bit of a mammy’s boy and preferred his mother, Matilda of Flanders, whilst William preferred his two younger sons, William Rufus and Henry. The Conqueror believed that William Rufus and Henry were more like chips off the old block, whereas he had little faith in Robert conceding that he was a good fighter but poor ruler!
Before his dad nicked the Kingdom of England, Robert had been betrothed to Margaret, the heiress of the County of Maine. Handily, this gave Robert the title of Count of Maine (women were not often allowed to wield power so their husband would have exercised their authority).
Maine itself was not prime real estate and nor was it a very prestigious title because the county was rather empty with few towns, cities and people! Unluckily (more so for Margaret than Robert), Margaret died before they could be married leaving Curthose with a weak hold on the County of Maine. With his fiancé dying, being left with a second tier title and poor family relationships it is of no surprise that shortypants grew up with a serious chip on his shoulder!
Conquest
By 1066, Robert would have been aged between 10 and 15 years old – most likely just shy of fighting age – and was known to have been disappointed that he could not take part in the campaign. This year was hugely important for the family of Normandy mainly because they had won the English crown after the Battle of Hastings, but on a more personal level for Robert, it was his father’s acknowledgement of his importance.
Whilst William was away beating the daylights out of the English, Robert supported his mother Matilda who was left charge of the Duchy of Normandy, and was officially named as heir to the Duchy.
Robert and William, now the King of England, appear to have been on very good terms after the conquest. This is apparent because when unrest in England forced William to return to the country in December 1067, he left Robert in charge of the Duchy of Normandy with lordship and governmental responsibilities as the heir.
A request too far?
By the 1070s, Robert was in his twenties and wanted security from his father in the form of lands and titles in order to have a position in the realm and a source of revenue. Robert, being the first son, wanted the Duchy of Normandy – which was his homeland and his father’s original and primary title (after the Kingdom of England that is!).
So, Robert sought what he thought was rightly his. We can assume that this request did not go diplomatically, especially in a family with all of the patience and aggression of an angry bull. Curthose himself was a forceful character, having a developing sense of self-importance, and viewed himself as an equal to his father.
William rebuffed Robert’s request, provided him with assurances, and told him to be patient (quite a diplomatic thing for a conquering and foul tempered king to do!). Naturally, for a prince with a high sense of self-importance, Robert took offence at his father’s refusal, but it was the aftermath that caused the majority of the problems.
A rather romantic Victorian view of Robert Curthose in battle during the first crusade. Painting by J.J. Dassy, 1850, "Croisades, origines et consequences."
A prank causes a temper tantrum!
Like most modern families, the House of Normandy occasionally had clashes of personality and major disagreements. And, like many families, jokes were occasionally taken too far.
In 1078, at Laigle, in Normandy, tensions between Robert and his younger brother flared up in a manner that would fit any soap opera. Oderic Vitalis, an English chronicler of the time, tells us that Robert was hanging out with his friends playing games with dice when his younger brothers poured a full chamber pot (toilet) over him and his companions. Their reasoning was that Robert was so prideful that he thought that he was equal to their father. This was a serious insult to Robert’s honour and his companions demanded that Robert right the wrong done to them.
So, like many disagreements between brothers, it turned into an all out brawl that could only be stopped by William intervening. William failed to punish the younger siblings which confirmed to Robert that his father favoured them over him.
After the brawl, Robert did what any well reasoned prince would do – he tried to start a rebellion against his father as revenge for his wounded pride and dignity (once again being influenced by his friends). He and his pals travelled from Liagle to Rouen and tried to capture the castle. The siege was ultimately unsuccessful and Robert and his mates fled into exile before they could be arrested. He sought refuge with his uncle Robert I, Count of Flanders, and occasionally raided into his fathers lands causing so much trouble that William had to team up with the King of France to stop this. William and Robert clashed in battle in January 1079, and Robert managed to knock his dad off his horse and beat the daylights out of him before realising that it was his dad. Having been humiliated by his son, William fled.
After the minor family dispute that boiled over into an all out conflict, Queen Matilda managed to reunite her family with no small amount of motherly diplomatic skill to calm her aggressive and humiliated eldest son. This family peace lasted for a few years until Matilda passed away, causing Robert to leave his father’s court and become a wandering knight and had many illegitimate children on what was effectively an extended gap year which lasted for four years up until 1087, when his dad died!
A new castle upon the Tyne
An artist’s impression of the Norman timber castle in Newcastle. By John Nolan
During the brief stint of peace between father and son, Robert was trusted to shore up William’s power in the north and strengthen the defences up here. William had been humiliated on two occasions – the first being an invasion by Malcolm III of Scotland in 1079 and the second being a rebellion of angry Englishman who murdered Bishop Walcher of Durham, who was caught in the crossfire of a local feud in 1080.
Robert proved very effective with this newfound responsibility, he led an army north and crossed into Scotland to confront Malcolm III, who rather wisely chose to chat to Robert, become his friend and name him godfather to his daughter. This was effectively a truce between England and Scotland and prevented Malcolm from acting against Robert, and by extension William.
After sorting out the slight issue with Scotland constantly invading Northumberland, Robert started his trek back south and decided to stop off at a little place on the north bank of the Tyne – most likely called Monkchester (evidence is especially vague for the settlement and its name but we know early Geordies lived here!). Robert must have liked the place and decided to whack up a motte and bailey castle on a hill overlooking the Tyne which he (with imaginative prowess not seen until the birth of Tolkien) named new castle – because it was a new castle (I’m not joking!). Somehow, this very imaginative name stuck and here we are almost 1000 years later!
Duke of Normandy
Robert became the Duke of Normandy after his father’s death in 1087. His younger brother William Rufus became the King of England and, because nobody could be bothered sorting out inheritance for the youngest brother, Henry was given some cash to buy his own place! Robert and William Rufus made an agreement that they would be each other’s heirs – a brilliant idea for two power hungry, rival siblings!
This agreement, naturally, only lasted for one year before Robert decided he wanted to be king and went to war with his brother (he was supported by the barons because he could be manipulated more easily!). Probably for the best, Robert didn’t show up to support the barons and the rebellion faded away, keeping Robert’s nose and hands clean in the process.
Little else is known about Robert’s tenure as Duke of Normandy, but in 1096 he built an army and joined the First Crusade – though to do this he had to mortgage the Duchy of Normandy to his brother the King of England because to put it lightly, Robert was skint!
You could write a whole blog post on Robert’s participation in the First Crusade but to put it in fewer words, Curthose was a participant in a very successful campaign. The crusade did suffer major problems and a lot of destruction and deaths on both sides but Robert was one of the key leaders in a campaign that conquered Jerusalem. He had proven himself to be very good military leader, not only being a good fighter but also a good leader of men and upon the completion of this not-so-peaceful pilgrimage, Robert, and all of the other crusaders, were cleared of their sins – essentially giving them a clean slate and clear path the Heaven. For our old Curthose the temptation of getting embroiled in family politics and power grabs was too great and the absolution of his couldn’t save Robert from himself.
Serving time!
While Robert was away kicking the daylights out of innocents in the Near East, his younger brother Henry had inherited England after William Rufus’ death. You could say Henry was in the right place at the right time! Naturally, Curthose was pretty miffed and that’s being polite! So, when he returned, the crusader Robert claimed the throne as per the agreement with William Rufus to be each others heirs.
The tomb of Robert Curthose in Gloucester Cathedral.
Showing startling similarities with his late father, Robert set sail across the channel and landed in England. Sadly Robert was no conqueror, he made multiple critical mistakes in the invasion plans and when he arrived he found a country united under Henry in opposition to Robert’s claim. So, to put it politely, no one cared about Robert’s claim to the English throne! But, being like a dog with a bone, Robert refused to relent even after agreeing with Henry that he would.
Realistically though, the throne was the least of Robert’s problems! He was deeply unpopular in Normandy for his lack of political leadership and for his personality. It is said that Robert missed the Easter sermon (arguably one of the most important in the church calendar and one where his presence was expected) because he was too hungover to go! To put it in a modern, Geordie perspective, it’s like Curthose had spend all night on the Bigg Market before staggering home at 6am without his wallet, phone and two of his teeth and missed a job interview!
This was the final straw for Henry I and he launched an invasion of Normandy in 1106 and beat Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. Henry took Normandy for himself and took Robert prisoner. He was locked up in Devizes castle and then Cardiff Castle where he would spend the next 28 years until his death in his early eighties!
An unceremonious death for the wayward son of William the Conqueror!