| BIRTH | Robert was the fifth son of Louis VI "Le Gros", King of France & Adelaide de Maurienne, Countess of Savoy. He was born about 1123[2,12] |
| DEATH | He died on 11 October 1188; he was 65[2,3]. |
| TITLE | Robert was the first Count of Dreux[2]. In addition to the countship of Dreux, Robert gained many more titles by right of his third wife, Agnes de Vaudemont (or Baudemont), including: Count of Braine-sur-Vesle and seigneur (lord) of the strongholds of Fère-en-Tardenois, Pontarcy, Nesle, Longueville, Quincy-en-Tardenois, Savigny & Baudemont[14]. |
| BIOGRAPHY |
Robert was the fifth son of Louis VI "Le Gros" ("The Fat"), King of France &
Adélaide de Maurienne, Countess of Savoy.
His father granted him the county of
Dreux as an appanage (a small bit of land assigned to a
younger son to give him some subsistence income) and he held the title from 1137 until 1184, when he granted
it to his son
Robert II. In 1146, he answered the call of St. Bernard of Clairvaux,
joined the
Second Crusade and participated at the Siege of Damascus in
1148. He and his brother
Louis VII "Le Jeune" ("The Young"), king of France quarreled in
Palestine over Louis' poor leadership choices during this Crusade. For example, Louis had chosen to go to
Jerusalem for fulfillment of a personal pilgrimage promise instead of following
Raymond,
Prince of Antioch's
plan to retake Edessa and gain momentum against the Moslems. Instead, Louis tarried in Jerusalem,
then led a disastrous campaign against Damascus. After the Damascus debacle, Robert was convinced of his brother's
incompetence and went home to France to depose him. He honestly believed (and was probably correct) that
Louis would be happier and more productive as a monk at the Abbey of Clairvaux. But, Louis' longtime counselor,
Abbot Sugar, suppressed this rebellion until Louis VII finally returned from the Holly Land[12].
Likewise, he fought alongside his brother Louis VII of France against the incursions of Henry II "Curt Mantel" Plantagênet, King of England & Duke of Normandy; participating at the Siege of Séez in 1154[14]. He also served his brother Louis VII as one of the members of the posse Louis put together to pursue Henry II of England to punish him for being a disobedient vassal to Louis when Henry married Eleanor of Aquitaine (Louis' recent ex-wife) without Louis' permission as the king of France & overlord of Henry II. With Louis & Robert were Eustace IV de Boulogne, a pretender to the English crown after his father Stephen of England's death and Geoffrey d'Anjou, Henry II's brother. Their little army, bound together by a common jealousy of Henry's successes on and off the field, marched into Poitou and besieged Neufmarché, but no more. Henry II did homage to Louis VII as Henry's rightful overlord and paid him handsomely for the Aquitaine title he had acquired by marrying Eleanor. Thus, peace was won for the moment[4]. Robert further tweaked Henry II of England by giving sanctuary to Henry's heir, Young Henry. In March 1173, Young Henry escaped from his father when the two were riding a circuit of their lands in France. Young Henry had hoped to make it to England and start the rebellion there, but his father was close on his heels. Instead, Young Henry veered east and found sanctuary in the lands of Robert I de Dreux. After that, Young Henry traveled on to Paris to start the 1173-1174 rebellion of the Angevin sons against Henry II[22,23]. Later, Robert also served as advisor to young king Phillipe (Philip) II "Augustus" of France and his wife Isabella of Hainaut, Countess of Artois[7]. Much to the dismay of his sister-in-law, the Queen Dowager Adèle, Robert I and his sons were part of the young couple's group of supporters[8]. According to Wikipedia, "the Sicilian chancellor Stephen du Perche may also have been a son (legitimate or not) of his"[14]. |
| MARRIAGE #1 | Robert I "THE GREAT" first married Agnes (Agnés) DE GARLANDE[14,15] (see de Garlande), daughter of Anseau (Ansel) DE GARLANDE, Count of Rochefort and Seneschal of France & Béatrix (Beatrice) DE MONTLHÉRY (see de Montlhéry). Agnes was born before 1117 and died in 1143; she was 26[14]. Interestingly, the de Garlande family was out of favor with Robert's parents, most likely because the two families were on opposite sides of the European quarrel over the reform papacy[16,17]. Agnes' uncle Stephen de Garlande arranged her first marriage to Amaury de Montfort as a desperate attempt to improve his own standing at the court of Louis VI and Adelaide[18]. It must have worked, since Agnes made Robert her second husband. |
| CHILD | 2. | i. | Simon DE DREUX[14] | Simon was born in 1141 and died before 1182; he was 41[14]. He was seigneur (lord) of La Noue[14]. |
| MARRIAGE #2 | Robert second married Havise (Hawise) D'ÉVREUX[14] daughter of Walter (FITZ EDWARD) D'ÉVREUX, Sheriff of Wiltshire. Hawise was born in 1118[14] and died in 1152; she was 34[14]. |
| CHILD | 3. | i. | Adèle DE DREUX[14] | Adèle was born in 1145[14] and died after 1210; she was 65[14]. She first married firstly Valéran (Waleran) III, count OF BRETEUIL and secondly married Guy II, lord OF CHÂTILLON-SUR-MARNE, third married Jean (John) I DE THOROTTE, and fourth married Raoul (Ranulph or Ralph) I DE NESLE, count of Soissons[14]. |
| MARRIAGE #3 | Robert third married Agnés (Agnes) DE BAUDEMONT[2], countess of Braine-sur-Vesle[14]. She was daughter of Gui (Guy) DE BAUDEMONT (see de Baudemont). Agnes was born in 1130[19] and died before 1218 (another source says on 11 July 1218); she was 88[2,14,19]. She was her father's heiress and brought many strongholds (see above) to the marriage in addition to the county. She is also referred to as Agnes de Vaudemont[14]. |
| CHILDREN | 4. | i. | Robert II DE DREUX | Please see his own page. |
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5. | ii. | Bishop Henri (Henry) DE DREUX[14,27] | Henri was born in 1155[19] and died in 1199; he was 44[14]. He was Bishop of Orléans[14,27]. |
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6. | iii. | Alix (Alice) DE DREUX |
Alix was born in 1156[19] and died after 1217; she was 61[14].
Alix married Raoul (Ranulph or Ralph) I, seigneur OF COUCY[14]. He was seigneur (lord) of Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique in Picardy, France[14]. (Yes, this marriage made her stepmother-in-law to her older brother Robert II.) Their son Enguerrand III de Coucy was instrumental to and a loyal part of the court of Louis IX "The Saint", King of France and his mother Blanche of Castile, Queen Dowager of France. Enguerrand's seal is one of those affixed to a surviving ordinance that was issued at Louis' 1230 Christmas court in Meulan, France[28]. Raoul was the son of Enguerrand II de Coucy and died in 1191 at the Siege of Acre during the Third Crusade. Raoul was the subject of a fanciful story of "The Dame of Fayel", which was first published in 1829 by George-Adrién Crapelet under the title L'Histoire de Coucy et la dame de Fayel. According to this story, as he lay dying in Acre, he asked a compatriot to take his heart back to his beloved "Dame de Fayel" (believed to be one Gabrielle de Vergy). His friend did so, but was surprised by the lady's husband before he could get the heart to her. The jealous husband took the heart from the messenger and had it prepared into a dish for his wife, who learned too late that the meat was the heart of her beloved. After this, she refused to eat another morsel until she starved to death. This tale is probably apocryphal, but is a compelling tale. In addition, 24 songs under the name of "R. de Coucy" (believed to be his) were published in 1830 by Francisque Michel. |
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7. | iv. | Bishop Philippe (Phillip) DE DREUX[14] |
Philippe was born in 1158[19] and died on 2 November 1217; he was 59[14,31]. He was
Bishop of Beauvais[14].
As the third son (but not the youngest), Philippe integrated the traditional functions of the second and youngest sons of a noble family by becoming a quarrelsome prelate and a true "holy soldier". Even as a bishop, he twice went to fight in the Holy Land; once in 1170 and again during the Third Crusade. During the latter, he was taken prisoner and held in Baghdad. Unlike his pacific brother Henri, Philippe preferred to seek out battles and conflicts in an effort to serve the Christian God. He fought at the Siege of Acre and the Battle of Arsuf (Arsur). When he returned to France, Philippe continued his warrior ways. He fought against the English King Richard I and was taken prisoner in the battle of Milly on 19 May 1197. There he languished in prison until his release in 1202. Not surprisingly, he joined the Albigensian Crusade in 1209 and was by Philippe Augustus' side during the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. Eventually, Philippe refined his interpretation of the canonical laws and understood that priests were not supposed to change the world by shedding blood. At this point he lay down his sword & arms and used the pulpit as a weapon against his enemies[31]. |
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8. | v. | Isabelle (Elizabeth or (Isabella) DE DREUX | Isabelle was born in 1158[14] or 1160[19] and died in 1239; she was 79[14]. She married Hugo (Hughes or Hugh) III OF BROYES[14]. |
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9. | vi. | Pierre (Peter) DE DREUX[14] | Pierre was born in 1161[14,19] and died in 1186; he was 25[14]. |
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10. | vii. | Guillaume (William) DE DREUX[14] | Guillaume was born in 1163[19] and died after 1189; he was 26[14]. He was lord of Braye, Torcy & Chilly[14]. |
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11. | viii. | Jean (John) DE DREUX[14] | Jean was born in 1164[19] and died after 1189; he was 25[14]. |
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12. | ix. | Massile Bratrix or Mamile DE DREUX | He was born in 1166[14] or 1167[19] and died in 1200; he was 34[14]. (This is the only instance of this interesting name in the family.) |
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13. | x. | Marguerite (Margaret) DE DREUX | Marguerite was born in 1167[19] and became a nun[14]. |
| GENERATION | TBD |
| FAMILY NUMBER | TBD |
| SOURCES |
1. Edward Carroll Death Record,
19 October 1899, Lynn, Essex co., MA,
1866, 192, p. 186, #337.
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