Robert II of France
Robert II, called the Pious, ruled France from 996 to 1031 and spent much of his reign in conflict with the papacy over his own marriages. Born around 972, the son of Hugh Capet, he was crowned co-king at fifteen in 987, months after his father's own election — the device by which the Capetians made an elective throne hereditary. He was educated at Reims under Gerbert of Aurillac, later Pope Sylvester II, and was unusually learned for a layman, composing hymns and taking a serious interest in liturgy. His piety earned his epithet, and it was in visible tension with his marital career. He married three times. His first marriage, to Rozala of Italy, a woman considerably older than him, he repudiated within a few years. He then married Bertha of Burgundy, who was his cousin within the prohibited degrees and to whose child he was godfather, creating a spiritual as well as a blood impediment. Pope Gregory V ordered him to separate and excommunicated him in 998 when he refused. He held out for several years before giving way, and married Constance of Arles. The reign was otherwise a matter of holding on. Royal power extended little beyond the Île-de-France, and he spent years attempting to make good a claim to the duchy of Burgundy, which he eventually secured around 1016 and granted to his son. He supported the Peace of God movement, which used church councils and oaths to restrain private warfare and protect clergy, peasants and church property — one of the few effective checks on violence in a period when royal justice could not reach. His last years were consumed by revolts led by his own sons. He died in 1031.
- Lived: 972 CE – 1031 CE
- Nationality: French
- Roles: king, head_of_state
