Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/126

 ROBERT

96

ROBERT

for the admiration of tourists, the vast church, cloister, tomb of Clement VI, and Clementine Tower. The feast -dav of St. Robert is 24 April.

L^BBE.'BiW. nora. II. 6.37. 646, 659; Ada SS., April, III. 318-34; M^BiLLOX, Ada S.O.S. Benedidi, VI. ii, 188-222; Annalts O.S. Benedicti. V, 1-9, 80-110; Branche, Lfs monaslires d'Autergnr. 97-117. 129—14; Mossier, Les Saints d'Aurergne, I (P'arU. 1900). 412-47. A. FoURXET.

Robert Johnson (Richardson), Blessed. See Thomas Ford. Blessed.

Robert Laurence, Blessed. See John HotTGHTON, Blessed.

Robert of Arbrissel, itinerant preacher, founder of Fontevrault, b. c. 1047 at Arbrissel (now Arbressec) near Rhetiers. Brittany; d. at Or.san, probably 1117. Robert studied in Paris during the pontificate of Greg- or>- VII, perhaps under Anselm of Laon and later displayed consitlerable theological knowledge. The date and place of his ordination are unknown. In 10S9 he was recalled to his native Diocese of Rennes by Bishop Sylvester de la Guerche, who desired to reform his flock. As archpriest, Robert devoted himself to the suppression of simony, lay investiture, clerical concubinage, irregular marriages, and to the healing of feuds. This reforming zeal aroused such enmity that upon Sylvester's death in 1093, Robert was "compelled to leave the diocese. He went to Angers and there commenced ascetic practices which he continued throughout his life. In 1095 he became a hermit in the forest of Craon (s. w. of Laval), living a life of severest penance in the com- pany of Bernard, afterwards founder of the Congre- gation of Tiron. Vitalis, founder of Savigny, and others of considerable note. His piety, eloquence, and strong personality attracted many followers, for whom in 1096 he founded the monastery of Canons Regular of La Ro6, becoming him.self the first abbot. In the same year Urljan II summoned him to Angers and appointed him a "preacher {seminiverhus, cf. Acts 17, 18) second only to himself with orders to travel everywhere in the performance of this duty" (Vita Baldrici).

There is no evidence that Robert assisted Urban to preach the Crusade, for his theme was the abandon- ment of the world and especially poverty. Living in the utmo.st destitution, he addressed himself to the poor and would have his followers known only as the "poor of Christ", while the ideal he put for- ward was "In nakedness to follow Christ naked upon the Cross". His eloquence, heightened by his strikingly a,scetic appearance, drew crowds every- where. Those who desired to embrace the monastic state under his leaxlership he sent to La Ro6, but the Canons objected to the number and diversity of the postulants, and between 1097 and 1100 Robert for- mally resigned his aVjbacy, and founded Fontevrault (q. v.). His disciples were of every age and condi- tion, including even lepers and converted prostitutes. Robert e/)ntinued his mi.ssionary journeys over the whole of We.Ktem France till the end of his life, but little is known of this period. At the Council of Poitiers, Nov., llfX), he supported the papal legates in exr/jmmunicating Philip of France on account of his lawless union with Bertrafle de Mont fort; in 1110 he atfentlf^l the Coiincil of Nantes. Knowledge of his approaf;liing deatli cau.sed him to take steps to ensure the permanence of his foundation at Fonte- vrault. He impose/l a vow of stability on his monks and summoned a Chapter (September, 1116) to settle the form of government. Yroxn Ha>itebruy(>re, a priory founded by the |M;nitent Bertraxie, he went to Orsan, another prior>' of Fontevrault, where he died. The "Vita Andrea,'" gives a detailed account of his last year of life.

\\\)cx\ was never canonized. The accusation made against him by Geoffrey of Venclome of exf reme indis- cretion in his choice of exceptional ascetic practices (see

P. L., CLVII, 182) was the source of much controversy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Other evidence of eccentric actions on Robert's part and scandals among his mixed followers may have helped to give rise to these rumors. The Fontcvrists did everything in tlieir power to discredit the attacks on their founder. The accusatory letters of Marbodius of Rennes and Geoffrey of Vendome were without suf- ficient cause declared to be forgeries and the MS. letter of Peter of Saumur was made away with, prob- ably at the instigation of Jeanne Baptiste de Bourbon, Abbess of Fontevrault. This natural daughter of Henry IV applied to Innocent X for the beatification of Robert, her request being supported by Louis XIV and Henrietta of England. Both this attempt and one made about the middle of the nineteenth century failed, but Robert is usually given the title of "Bles- sed". The original recension of tlie Rule of Fonte- vrault no longer exists; the only surviving writing of Robert is his letter of exhortation to Ermengarde of Brittany (ed. Petignv in "Bib. der6cole des Chartes", 1854, V, iii).

Acta SS., Feb., Ill, 593 sqq., contains two ancient lives by Baldric of Dol and the monk Andrew; Petigny, Robert d'Arbissel et Geffroi de Venddme in Bib. de Vfcole des Chartes; Walter, Erslen Wanderprediger Frankreichs, I (Leipzig, 1903), a modern scientific book; Idem, Excurs, II (1906); Boehmkr in Theologische Lileraturzeitung, XXIX, col. 330, 396, a hostile review. RaymUND WebSTER.

Robert of Courgon (De Cursone, De Cursim, CuRsus, etc.), cardinal, b. at Kedleston, England; d. at Damietta, 1218. After having studied at Ox- ford, Paris, and Rome, he became in 1211 Chancellor of the University of Paris; in 1212 he was made Cardinal of St. Stephen on the Ca;lian Hill; in 1213 he was appointed legate a latere to preach the crusade, and in 1215 was placed at the head of a commission to inquire into the errors prevalent at the University of Paris. He took an active part in the campaign again.st heresy in France, and accompanied the army of the Crusaders into Egypt as legate of Honorius III. He died during the siege of Damietta. He is the author of several works, including a "Summa" devoted to questions of canon law and ethics and dealing at length with the question of usury. His interference in the affairs of the University of Paris, in the midst of the confusion arising from the intro- duction of the Arabian translations of Aristotle, resulted in the proscription (1215) of the metaphysical as well as the physical treatises of the Stagyrite, together with the summaries thereof (Summa? de eisdem). At the same time, his rescript (Denifle, "Chartul. Univ. Paris", I, 78) renews the condemna- tion of the Pantheists, David of Dinant, and Amaury of Bene, but permits the u.se, as texts, of Aristotle's " Ethics" and logical treat ises. The rescript also con- tains several enactments relating to academic discipline.

Denifle, Chartul. Univ. Paris. 1 (Paris, 1889), 72, 78; Db WuLF, //v.4. of Medieval Phil., tr. Coffey (New York, 1909), 252.

William Turner.

Robert of Geneva, antipope under the name of Clement VII, b. at (Jeneva, 1342; d. at Avignon, 16 Sept., 1394. He was the son of Count Amadeus III. Appointed prothonotary Apostolic in 1359, he became Bishop of Th<;rouanne in 1361, Archbishop of Cam- brai in 1368, and cardinal 30 May, 1371. As papal legate in Up[)er Italy (1376-78), in order to put down a rebellion in the Pontifical States, he is said to have authorized the m{i,ssacre of 4000 persons at Cesena, and was consequently called "the executioner of Cesena". Elected to the papacy at Fondi, 20 Sept., 1378. by the French cardinals in opposition to Urban VI, he was the first antipope of the (jlnjat Schism. France, Scotland, Castih;, Aragon, Navarre, Portugal. Savoy, some minor German states, Denmark, ana Norway acknowledged his authority. Unable to maintain himself in Italy he took up his residence at Avignon, when; he became completely dependent