Page:EB1911 - Volume 23.djvu/418

 contemplated seizing the throne of the Basileus and took up the cause of Michael VII., who had been deposed in 1078 and to whose son his daughter had been betrothed. He sailed with 16,000 men against the empire in May 1081, and by February 1082 had occupied Corfu and Durazzo, defeating the emperor Alexis before the latter (October 1081). He was, however, recalled to the aid of Gregory VII., besieged in San Angelo by Henry IV. (June 1083). Marching north with 36,000 men he entered Rome and forced Henry to retire, but an émeute of the citizens led to a three days' sack of the city (May 1084), after which Guiscard escorted the pope to Rome. His son Bohemund, for a time master of Thessaly, had now lost the Greek conquests. Robert, returning to restore them, occupied Corfu and Kephalonia, but died of fever in the latter on the 15th of July 1085, in his 70th year. He was buried in S. Trinita at Venosa. Guiscard was succeeded by Roger “Borsa,” his son by Sikelgaita; Bohemund, his son by an earlier Norman wife Alberada, being set aside. At his death Robert was duke of Apulia and Calabria, prince of Salerno and suzerain of Sicily. His successes had been due not only to his great qualities but to the “entente” with the Papal See. He created and enforced a strong ducal power which, however, was met by many baronial revolts, one being in 1078, when he demanded from the Apulian vassals an “aid” on the betrothal of his daughter. In conquering such wide territories he had little time to organize them internally. In the history of the Norman kingdom of Italy Guiscard remains essentially the hero and founder, as his nephew Roger II. is the statesman and organizer.

ROBERT OF AUXERRE (c. 1156–1212), French chronicler, was an inmate of the monastery of St Marien at Auxerre. At the request of Milo de Trainel (1155–1202), abbot of this house, he wrote a Chronicon, or universal history, which covers the period between the creation of the world and 1211. For the years previous to 1181 this is merely a compilation from Prosper of Aquitaine, Sigebert of Gembloux and others, but it is an original authority for the period from 1181 to 1211. It is one of the most valuable sources for the history of France during the reign of Philip Augustus, and it also contains information about other European countries, the Crusades and affairs in the East. Molinier, in fact, describes the author as one of the best historians of the middle ages. Robert was evidently a man of great diligence and of sound judgment. Two continuators took the work down to 1228 and it was extensively used by later chroniclers. The original manuscript is now at Auxerre.

ROBERT OF COURTENAY (d. 1228), emperor of Romania, or Constantinople, was a younger son of the emperor Peter of Courtenay, and was descended from the French king, Louis VI., while his mother Yolande was a sister of Baldwin and Henry of Flanders, the first and second emperors of Constantinople. When it became known in France that Peter of Courtenay was dead, his eldest son, Philip, marquess of Namur, renounced the succession to the Latin empire of Constantinople in favour of his brother Robert, who set out to take possession of his distracted inheritance, which wasj hen ruled by Conon of Béthune as regent. Crowned emperor on the 25th of March 1221, Robert, who was surrounded by enemies, appealed for help to the pope and to the king of France; but meanwhile his lands were falling into the hands of the Greeks. Some little aid was sent from western Europe, but soon Robert was compelled to make peace with his chief foe, John Ducas Vataces, emperor of Nicaea, who was confirmed in all his conquests. Robert promised to marry Eudoxia, daughter of the late emperor of Nicaea, Theodore Lascaris I., a lady to whom he had been betrothed on a former occasion; however, he soon repudiated this engagement, and married a French lady, already the fiancée of a Burgundian gentleman. Heading a conspiracy, the Burgundian drove Robert from Constantinople, and early in 1228 the emperor died in Achaia.

ROBERT OF GLOUCESTER, English chronicler, is known only through his connexion with the work which bears his name. This is a vernacular history of England, from the days of the legendary Brut to the year 1270, and is written in rhymed couplets. The lines are of fourteen syllables, with a break after the eighth syllable. The author gives his name as Robert; the dialect which he uses, and his acquaintance with local traditions, justify the supposition that, he was a monk of Gloucester. He describes, from his own recollections, theibad weather which prevailed in the neighbourhood of Evesham on the day of the battle between the Montfortians and Prince Edward (1265). He also alluded to the canonization of Louis IX. of France, which took place in 1297. He probably wrote about the year 1300. The earlier part of his chronicle (up to 1135) may be from another hand, since it occurs in some manuscripts in a shorter form, and with an exceedingly brief continuation by an anonymous versifier. There is no good reason for the theory that this part was translated from a French original; nor does it contain any undoubted borrowings from French sources. The authorities employed for the earlier part were Geoffrey of Monmouth, Henry of Huntingdon, William of Malmesbury, the English Chronicles, and some minor sources; Robert, in making his recension of it, also used the Brut of Layamon. From 1135 to 1256 Robert is still a compiler, although references to oral tradition become more frequent as he approaches his own time. From 1256 to 1270 he has the value of a contemporary authority. But he is more important to the philologist than to the historian. His chronicle is one of the last works written in Old English.

ROBERT OF JUMIEGES (d. c. 1070), archbishop of Canterbury, was a Norman who became prior of St Ouen at Rouen and then abbot of ]umiéges. A close friend of the future king of England, Edward the Confessor, he crossed over to England with Edward in' 1042, and in 1044 became bishop .of London. In English history Robert appears as the most trusted and the most prominent of the kingis foreign friends, and as the leader of the party hostile to the influence of Earl Godwine. In 1051, although the chapter had already made an election, 'Edward appointed him archbishop of Canterbury. He seems to have been sent by the king on an errand to Duke William of Normandy, and on the return of Godwine from exile in 1052 he fled in great haste from England. He was outlawed and deposed, and he died at ]umiéges about 1070. The treatment of Robert by the English was put forward by William the Conqueror as a pretext for invading England.

ROBERT OF TORIGNI (c. 1110–1186), medieval chronicler, was prior of Bec in 1149, and in 1154 became abbot of Mont