Robert II of France

Robert II distinguished himself with an extraordinarily long reign for the time. His 35-year-long reign was marked by his attempts to expand the royal domain by any means, especially by his struggle to gain the Duchy of Burgundy (which ended in 1005 with his victory) after the death in 1002 without male descendants of his paternal uncle Duke Henry I, and after a war against Otto-William of Ivrea, Henry I's stepson adopted by him as his heir. His policies earned him many enemies, including three of his sons.

The marital setbacks of Robert II (he married three times, having two of these annulled and attempting to have the third annulled, prevented only by the pope's refusal to agree to a third annulment), strangely contrasted with the pious aura, bordering on holiness, which his biographer Helgaud of Fleury was willing to lend him in his work "Life of King Robert the Pious" (Epitoma vitæ regis Roberti pii). His life was then presented as a model to follow, made of innumerable pious donations to various religious establishments, of charity towards the poor and, above all, of gestures considered sacred, such as the healing of certain lepers. Robert II was the first sovereign considered to be a "miracle worker". The end of his reign revealed the relative weakness of the sovereign, who had to face the revolt of his third wife Constance and then of his own sons (Henry and Robert) between 1025 and 1031.

Life

Youth and political formation

The only heir of the Duke of the Franks

Robert II's exact date and birthplace are unknown, although historians have advocated for the year 972 and the city of Orléans (the capital of the Robertians from the 9th century onward). The only son of Hugh Capet and Adelaide of Aquitaine, he was named after his heroic ancestor Robert the Strong, who had died fighting the Vikings in 866. His parents' marriage produced at least two other daughters: Hedwig (wife of Reginar IV, Count of Hainaut) and Gisela (wife of Hugh I, Count of Ponthieu).

In the 10th century, the Robertians were the most powerful aristocratic family in the Kingdom of France. In previous decades, two of its members, Odo (888) and Robert I (922), had ascended to the throne, displacing the ruling Carolingian dynasty. The principality of Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks and Robert II's paternal grandfather, marked the apogee of the Robertians until his death in 956. In the middle of the 10th century, Hugh Capet succeeded as the head of the family.

Robert II's youth was especially marked by the incessant fights of King Lothair of France to recover Lorraine, the "cradle of the Carolingian family", at the expense of Emperor Otto II:

"As Otto possessed Belgium (Lorraine) and that Lothair sought to seize it, the two kings attempted against each other very treacherous machinations and coups de force, because both claimed that their fathers had possessed."

— Richer of Reims, ca. 991–998.

In August 978, King Lothair unexpectedly launched a general assault on Aix-la-Chapelle where the imperial family resided, which narrowly escaped capture. After having looted the imperial palace and the surroundings, he returned to France carrying the insignia of the Empire. In the following October, to take revenge, Otto II assembled an army of 60,000 men and invaded Lothair's domains. The latter, with only a few troops around him, was forced to take refuge with Hugh Capet, who was then said to be the savior of the Carolingian kingship. The Robertian dynasty then took a turn that changed the fate of young Robert II. Bishop Adalbero of Reims, originally a man of King Lothair, turns more and more towards the Ottonian court for which he feels a great sympathy.

An exemplary education

Hugh Capet quickly understood that his ascent could not be attained without the support of Archbishop Adalbero of Reims. Illiterate himself, not mastering Latin, he decided around 984 to send his son, not with the scholar Abbo of Fleury, near Orléans, but to Archbishop Adalbero so he could train him in the basics of knowledge. Indeed, at the end of the 10th century, Reims had a reputation as the most prestigious school of all of West Christianity. The prelate willingly welcomed Robert, who was confided to his secretary, the famous Gerbert of Aurillac, one of the most educated men of his time.

It is assumed that to follow Gerbert's teaching, the young Robert II had to acquire the basics of Latin. He thus enriched his knowledge by studying the trivium (grammar, rhetoric and dialectic) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy). Robert II is one of the few laypeople of his time to enjoy the same worldview as contemporary clergy. After about two years of study in Reims, he returned to Orléans. His intellectual level had also developed in the musical field, as recognized by another great scholar of his time, Richer de Reims. According to Helgaud de Fleury, at an age unknown in his adolescence, the young Robert II fell seriously ill, to such an extent that his parents feared for his life. It was then when they went to pray at the Sainte-Croix church in Orleans and offered a golden crucifix and a sumptuous 60-pound (30 kg) vase as a votive offering. Robert II miraculously recovered.

"His pious mother sent him to the schools of Reims and entrusted him to master Gerbert, to be brought up by him and sufficiently instructed in liberal doctrines."

— Helgaud of Fleury, Epitoma vitæ regis Roberti pii, ca 1033.

Robert II's ascension to the throne (987)

Immediately after his own coronation, Hugh Capet began to push for the coronation of his son. "The essential means by which the early Capetians were seen to have kept the throne in their family was through the association of the eldest surviving son in the royalty during the father's lifetime," Andrew W. Lewis has observed, in tracing the phenomenon in this line of kings who lacked dynastic legitimacy. Hugh Capet's claimed reason was that he was planning an expedition against the Moorish armies harassing Count Borrell II of Barcelona, an invasion which never occurred, and that the stability of the country necessitated a Junior King, should he die while on expedition. Rodulfus Glaber, however, attributes Hugh Capet's request to his old age and inability to control the nobility. Modern scholarship has largely imputed to Hugh Capet the motive of establishing a dynasty against the claims of electoral power on the part of the aristocracy, but this is not the typical view of contemporaries and even some modern scholars have been less sceptical of his "plan" to campaign in Spain.

Once Hugh Capet proposed the association of Robert to the throne, Archbishop Adalbero of Reims was reportedly hostile to this and, according to Richer of Reims, he replied to the king: "we do not have the right to create two kings in the same year" (on n'a pas le droit de créer deux rois la même année). It is believed that Gerbert of Aurillac (who was himself close to Borrell II, for a time his protector), would then have come to the aid of Hugh Capet to convince the Archbishop that the co-kingship was needed due to the purposed expedition to assist the Count of Barcelona, and to secure a stable transition of power. Under duress, Archbishop Adalbero finally consented.

Unlike that of Hugh Capet, the coronation of Robert was precisely detailed by Richer of Reims—even the day and place were clearly identified. Dressed in purple woven with gold threads, as tradition dictated, the 15-year-old boy was acclaimed, crowned and then consecrated by the Archbishop of Reims on 25 December 987 at the Sainte-Croix Cathedral in Orléans.

"The princes of the kingdom were gathered on the day of the Lord's nativity to celebrate the royal coronation ceremony, the Archbishop, taking the purple, solemnly crowned Robert II, son of Hugh, in the basilica of the Holy Cross, to the acclamations of the French, then did so and crowned king of the western peoples from the Meuse river to the Ocean."

Richer of Reims also underlines that Robert II is only "King of the peoples of the West, from the Meuse to the Ocean" and not "King of the Gauls, Aquitaine, Danes, Goths, Spaniards and Gascons" as his father.

The episcopal hierarchy, the King's first support

Robert II directs the religious affairs

Crowned as Junior King, Robert II had begun to take on active royal duties with his father, as evidenced by his signum at the bottom of certain acts of Hugh Capet. From 990, all the acts have its inscription. In the written acts: "Robert, very glorious king" as underlined by a charter for Corbie (April 988) or even "filii nostri Rotberti regis ac consortis regni nostri" in a charter for Saint-Maur-des-Fossés (June 989). On the strength of his instruction received from Gerbert of Aurillac, his task, initially, was to preside over episcopal synods:

"He [Robert II] attended synods of bishops to discuss ecclesiastical affairs with them."

— Richer of Reims, ca. 990.

Unlike the last Carolingians, the first Capetians attached a clan of bishops to the north-east of Paris (Amiens, Laon, Soissons, Châlons, etc.) whose support was decisive in the course of events. In one of their diplomas, the two kings appear as intermediaries between the clerics and the people (mediatores et plebis) and, under the pen of Gerbert of Aurillac, the bishops insisted on this need for consilium: "...not wanting anything abuse the royal power, we decide all the affairs of the res publica by resorting to the advice and sentences of our faithful". Hugh Capet and Robert II needed the support of the Church to further consolidate their legitimacy, and also because the contingents of horsemen who made up the royal army came largely from the bishoprics. Robert II already appeared in the eyes of his contemporaries as a pious sovereign (hence his nickname) and close to the Church for several reasons: he devoted himself to the liberal arts; he was present at the synods of bishops; Abbo of Fleury specially dedicated his canonical collection to him; he easily forgave his enemies; and the abbeys received many royal gifts. He sent Ulric, bishop of Orleans, on an embassy to Emperor Constantine VIII and received the gift of a piece of the true cross along with silken hangings.

Charles de Lorraine seizes Laon (988–991)

Precisely, Hugh Capet and Robert II relied on the contingents sent by the bishoprics since the city of Laon had just been stormed by Charles of Lorraine, the last Carolingian pretender to the throne. The sovereigns besieged the city twice, without result. Concerned about his failure in Laon, Hugh Capet contacted several sovereigns to obtain their help (Pope John XV, Empress Theophanu, mother and Regent on behalf of Emperor Otto III), in vain. After the death of Archbishop Adalbero of Reims (24 January 989), Hugh Capet decided to elect, as new archbishop, the Carolingian Arnoul, an illegitimate son of King Lothair, rather than Gerbert of Aurillac. It is believed that this was to appease the supporters of the Carolingians, but the situation turned against the Capetians when Arnoul surrendered Reims to his uncle Charles.

The situation was unblocked thanks to the betrayal of Ascelin, Bishop of Laon, who seized Charles and Arnoul during their sleep and delivered them to the King (991): the Bishop thus saved the Capetian royalty in extremis. In the Council of Saint-Basle de Verzy, Arnoul was judged as a traitor by an assembly chaired by Robert II (June 991). Despite the protests of Abbon of Fleury, Arnoul was deposed. A few days later, Gerbert of Aurillac was appointed Archbishop of Reims with the support of his former pupil Robert II. Pope John XV did not accept this procedure and wanted to convene a new council in Aix-la-Chapelle, but the bishops confirmed their decision in Chelles (winter 993–994).

Gerbert and Ascelin: two figures of disloyalty

When his master Adalbero of Reims died, Gerbert of Aurillac was obliged to follow the intrigues of the new archbishop Arnoul, determined to deliver Reims to Charles of Lorraine. Although the documentation is very incomplete on this subject, it seems that the scholar subsequently changed his positions to become Charles's supporter:

"Lothair Augustus's brother, heir to the throne, was expelled from it. His competitors, [Hugh Capet and Robert II], many people think, received the interim of the reign. By what right has the legitimate heir been disinherited?."

— Gerbert of Aurillac, Letters, 990.

A doubt in legitimacy was thus settled on the reign of both Hugh Capet and Robert II. However Gerbert, seeing the situation change to the detriment of Charles of Lorraine, changed sides during the year 991. Having become Archbishop of Reims by the grace of Robert II, he testified:

"With the consent of the two princes, Lord Hugh Augustus and the excellent King Robert [Hugh Capet and Robert II]."

— Gerbert of Aurillac, Letters, 991.

As for Ascelin, Bishop of Laon, after having served the crown by betraying Charles and Arnoul, he soon turned against the Capetians. In the spring of 993, he allied with Count Odo I of Blois to plan the capture of Hugh Capet and Robert II, in agreement with Emperor Otto III. If they succeeded, Louis (the son of Charles of Lorraine) would become King of the Franks, Odo I Duke of the Franks, and Ascelin Bishop of Reims. However, the plot was denounced and Ascelin was placed under house arrest.

Marital problems

First marriage: Rozala of Italy

Immediately after associating his son with the throne, Hugh Capet wanted Robert II to marry a royal princess, but the prohibition against marriage within the third degree of consanguinity obliged him to seek a bride in the East. He had a letter written by Gerbert of Aurillac asking the Byzantine Emperor Basil II for the hand of one of his nieces for Robert II; however, no Byzantine response is recorded. After this rebuff, and under pressure from his father (who apparently wanted to reward the Flemish for their help when he seized power in 987), Robert II had to marry Rozala, daughter of Berengar II of Ivrea, King of Italy and widow of Arnulf II, Count of Flanders. The wedding, celebrated before 1 April 988, brought Robert II possession of the cities of Montreuil and Ponthieu and a possible guardianship over the County of Flanders, given the young age of Rozala's son Baldwin IV, for whom she had been acting as regent ever since her first husband's death.

Upon her marriage, Rozala became junior Queen consort of the Franks and took the name of Susanna; however, after about three or four years of marriage (c. 991–992), the young Robert II repudiated her, due to the excessive age difference between them (Rozala was almost 22 years older than him and probably too old to have more children). In fact, the breakup was justified by the absence of a child from their union and, for this reason, Hugh Capet and his advisers did not oppose the annulment proceedings.

"King Robert, having arrived at his 19th year, in the prime of his youth, repudiated, because she was too old, his wife Susanna, Italian by nation."

— Richer of Reims, History, 996–998.

Separated from her husband, Rozala returned to Flanders at the side of her son Baldwin IV and became one of his principal advisers. Robert II managed to keep the port of Montreuil (part of his former wife's dowry), a strategic point on the Channel. Historians believe that from this period, Robert II wished to challenge his father and finally reign alone.

The marriage was formally annulled in late 996, following Hugh Capet's death and Robert II's ascension as sole King of the French.

Second marriage: Bertha of Burgundy

Now Robert II was determined to find a bride who would give him the much hoped-for male offspring. In early 996, probably during the military campaign against Count Odo I of Blois, he met Countess Bertha of Burgundy, wife of the latter. She was a daughter of King Conrad of Burgundy and his wife Matilda (in turn daughter of King Louis IV of France and Gerberga of Saxony, sister of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor), so was from an undisputed royal lineage. Robert II and Bertha quickly became attracted to each other despite the complete resistance of Hugh Capet (the House of Blois was the great enemy of the Capetian dynasty). However, Robert II saw, in addition to his personal feelings, that Bertha would also bring all the Blois territories under Capetian control. The deaths in 996 of Odo I of Blois (12 March) and Hugh Capet (24 October) eliminated the main obstacles for a union between Robert II and Bertha.

According to French historian Michel Rouche, this alliance was purely political: to loosen the grip threatening the Capetian dynasty and its stronghold of Île-de-France, and probably according to the will of Robert II's mother, Queen Adelaide of Aquitaine; indeed, the territories of Odo I were Blois, Chartres, Melun and Meaux. In addition, the couple were just waiting for the statutory nine months set by law after Odo I's death. It was, therefore, obvious that another objective was to have legitimate children.

However, two important details obstructed this union: firstly, Robert II and Bertha were second cousins (their respective grandmothers, Hedwig and Gerberga, were sisters) and secondly, Robert II was the godfather of Theobald, one of the sons of Bertha. According to canon law, marriage was then impossible. Despite this, the two lovers began a sexual relationship and Robert II put part of the County of Blois under his direct rule. He took over the city of Tours and Langeais from Count Fulk III of Anjou, thus breaking the alliance with the House of Ingelger, faithful support of the late Hugh Capet. At the start of Robert II's reign, the alliance relations were thus changed.

"Bertha, the wife of Odo, took King Robert as her protector and defender of her cause."

— Richer of Reims, History, 996–998.

Robert II and Bertha quickly found a complaisant bishop to marry them off, which Archambaud de Sully, Archbishop of Tours, finally did in November/December 996, much to the chagrin of the new Pope Gregory V. To please the Holy See, Robert II annulled the sentence of the Council of Saint-Basle, freed Archbishop Arnoul and restored him to the episcopal see of Reims. Gerbert of Aurillac then had to take refuge with Emperor Otto III in 997. Despite this, the Pope ordered Robert II and Bertha to put an end to their "incestuous union". Finally, the two councils which met first in Pavia (February 997), then in Rome (summer 998), condemned them to do penance for seven years and, in the event of non-separation, they would be struck with excommunication. Moreover, at the end of three years of union, there were no living descendants: Bertha gave birth only to one stillborn son, in 999. That year, the accession of Gerbert of Aurillac to the Papacy under the name of Sylvester II did not change anything. Following a synod, the new Pope accepted the condemnation of the King of the Franks whose "perfidy" he had suffered. Finally, the seven years of penance were completed around 1003.

"They came to the Apostolic See and after having received satisfaction for their penance, they returned home (Postea ad sedem apostolicam venientes, cum satisfactione suscepta penitentia, redierunt ad propria)."

— Ivo of Chartres, IX, 8, letter to King Henry I.

Despite the threat of excommunication, Robert II and Bertha refused to submit until September 1001, when they finally became separated. The inability of Bertha to produce further offspring after her stillbirth was probably the main reason for this. Robert II, in need of male heirs, decided to remarry one more time.

Third marriage: Constance of Arles

After October 1002 and before August 1004, Robert II contracted his third and last marriage with the 17-year-old Constance (a distant princess, to avoid any close relationship), daughter of Count William I of Arles and Provence and his wife Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou. The new Queen's parents were prestigious in their own right: Count William I was nicknamed "the Liberator" (le Libérateur) thanks to his victories against the Saracens, and Countess Adelaide-Blanche's blood relations with the House of Ingelger allowed Robert II to restore his alliance with them. Six children born from Constance's marriage to Robert II are recorded:

• Hedwig [Advisa], Countess of Auxerre (ca. 1003 – aft. 1063), married Renauld I, Count of Nevers on 25 January 1016 and had issue.
• Hugh, Junior King (1007 – 17 September 1025).
• Henry I, successor (bef. 17 April/4 May 1008 – 4 August 1060).
• Adela, Countess of Contenance (ca. 1009 – 8 January 1079), married (1) Richard III of Normandy and (2) Count Baldwin V of Flanders.
• Robert (1011–12 – 21 March 1076), named by his father heir to the Duchy of Burgundy in 1030, installed as such in 1032 by his brother.
• Odo [Eudes] (1013 – 15 May 1057–59), who may have been intellectually disabled according to the chronicle (ended in 1138) of Pierre, son of Béchin, canon of Saint-Martin-de-Tours. He died after his brother's failed invasion of Normandy.

Since early in her marriage, Constance often placed herself at the center of many intrigues to preserve a preponderant place in the Frankish court. Rodolfus Glaber rightly emphasized that the Queen was "in control of her husband". For contemporaries, a woman who led her husband implied an abnormal situation. It all started at the beginning of the year 1008, a day when the King and his faithful Count palatine Hugh of Beauvais were hunting in the forest of Orléans. Suddenly, twelve armed men appeared and threw themselves on Hugh before killing him under the eyes of the king. The crime was ordered by Count Fulk III of Anjou, and with all probability supported by the Queen. Robert II, exasperated by his wife after six or seven years of marriage (c. 1009–1010), went personally to Rome accompanied by Angilramme (a monk from Saint-Riquier) and Bertha de Burgundy. His plan was to obtain from Pope Sergius IV an annulment from his marriage with Constance and to remarry Bertha, whom Robert II still loved deeply, under the grounds of Constance's participation in the murder of Hugh of Beauvais. Odorannus, a Benedictine monk from the Abbey of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif in Sens, explains in his writings that during her husband's journey to Rome, Constance withdrew in distress to her dominions at Theil. According to him, Saint Savinian would have appeared to him and secured that the royal marriage would be preserved; three days later, Robert II was back, definitively abandoning Bertha. The problems did not end, however. The rivalry between Bertha and Constance only enhanced the hatred between the Houses of Blois and Anjou. In the midst of this dispute, after the military victory of Odo II of Blois over Fulk III of Anjou in Pontlevoy (1016), the Queen sought to strengthen her family's position at court. For this, she and her Angevin relatives pressured the King to associate her eldest son Hugh to the throne, to ensure the regency of Constance over the Kingdom in the event of Robert II's death. Against the opinion of the royal councilors and the territorial princes, Robert II relented and thus, according to Rodulfus Glaber, 10-years-old Hugh was consecrated Junior King on Pentecost Day (9 June) 1017 in the church of the Abbey of Saint-Corneille in Compiègne. Although the association markedly favored the House of Anjou (and could put the sovereign's own life at risk), Robert II considered that this was the best way to consolidate the new Capetian dynasty and prevent another of the noble families from disputing the throne. However, he did not give any royal power to his son and, for this, Hugh was constantly humiliated by his mother. When he came of age, the junior King rebelled against his father, but eventually was restored in the royal favor.

Territorial conquests

The King led a clear policy: to recover the count palatine's function for his own benefit, either by appropriating it or by ceding it to a friendly bishop, as did the Ottonian dynasty, the most powerful rulers in the West at that time. Robert II's most brilliant victory, however, would be the acquisition of the Duchy of Burgundy.

Henry I, Duke of Burgundy died on 15 October 1002 without a legitimate heir. According to the Chronique de Saint-Bénigne, he designated his stepson Otto-William of Ivrea, Count of Burgundy and Count of Mâcon (son of Henry I's first wife Gerberga and her first husband Adalbert of Ivrea, sometime King of Italy) as the heir of his domains; however, and despite counting on the support of many Burgundian lords to his rights, Otto-William cared more about his lands in overseas Saône and towards Italy from which he came. The Duchy of Burgundy, acquired in 943 by Hugh the Great, Henry I's father, was part of the Robertian family possessions. Moreover, Burgundy was a major stake since it abounded in rich cities (Dijon, Auxerre, Langres, Sens). With the death of his uncle, Robert II claimed the succession over the Duchy of Burgundy as his closest male blood relative and also as a complete fief.

The rivalry between Hugh of Chalon, Bishop of Auxerre (supporter of Robert II) and Landry, Count of Nevers (son-in-law and ally of Otto-William) over the possession of Auxerre, triggered the armed intervention of the Frankish King who, with the help of troops lent by Richard II, Duke of Normandy, gathered his army in spring 1003 and engaged them in Burgundy, but they failed in front of Auxerre and Saint-Germain d'Auxerre. In 1004, Robert II besieged Beaune. Autun and Beaune were under control of the king, which forced Otto-William to initiate a diplomatic settlement. In 1005, Robert II, his men and the Normans were back in the north of the duchy. They took Avallon after a few days of fighting, then Auxerre. An arrangement had already been made between the King and Otto-William, who was with him during the siege of Avallon. Under the mediation of Bishop Hugh of Chalon, Count Landry was reconciled with the King by renouncing the Counties of Avallon and Auxerre. At the end of the agreements of 1005–1006, Otto-William had renounced the ducal title of Burgundy and all the possessions of his late stepfather, which reverted to the Crown, except the city of Dijon, still in the possession of Brunon of Roucy, the irreducible Bishop of Langres, who did not want Robert II to settle there at any cost.

In Sens, a fight arose between Count Fromond II and Archbishop Léotheric for the control of the city. The Archbishop, who was close to the King, was furious at the behavior of the Count, who had built a powerful defense tower. In 1012, Renard II succeeded his father Fromond II and the situation worsened in as much as the Bishop of Langres, Brunon de Roucy, enemy of Robert II, was Renard II's maternal uncle. Léotheric, isolated, appealed to the King. The latter wished to intervene for several reasons: Sens was one of the main archiepiscopal cities of the Kingdom, it was also an obligatory passage to go to Burgundy and, finally, the possession of the County of Sens would allow Robert II to fragment the possessions of Odo II de Blois in two parts. Renard II was excommunicated and underwent the attack of the King, who seized Sens on 22 April 1015. Renard II, in the meantime, had allied himself with Odo II de Blois, and offered Robert II a compromise: he would continue to exercise his rule as Count as vassal and, upon his death, the territory would revert to the Crown. Renard II died 40 years later (1055) and with his death, the County of Sens reverted to the crown.

As soon as the fight against the County of Sens ended, Robert II left for Dijon to complete the conquest of the Duchy of Burgundy. According to the Chronique de Saint-Bénigne, Abbot Odilo of Cluny intervened and the King, moved by his pleas, decided not to attack Dijon. Brunon of Roucy died on 30 January 1016, and a few days later, the royal troops returned to Dijon and Robert II installed Lambert de Vignory as the new bishop of Langres; in exchange, the new bishop ceded Dijon and his county to the King. After fifteen years of military and diplomatic campaigns, Robert II finally entered into full possession of the Duchy of Burgundy.

The King's second son, Henry, received the ducal title but, given his young age, Robert II kept the government and went there regularly. The death in 1027 of Hugh, the elder brother of Henry, made the latter the heir to the throne; the duchy then passed to the King's third son Robert, whose descendants would rule until the middle of the 14th century. The overseas lands of the old Kingdom of Burgundy, called Franche-Comté, would follow the destiny of the Holy Roman Empire.

When, on 9 January 1007, Bouchard I of Vendôme (the former faithful of Hugh Capet) died, the County of Paris he held was not inherited by his son, Renaud but instead reverted to the crown, and when Renaud died in 1017, the King appropriated his Counties of Melun and Dreux, which also joined the royal demesne. Dagobert, Archbishop of Bourges died in 1012, and Robert II himself appointed his replacement, Gauzlin, former Abbot of Fleury; however, the viscount of the same city, Geoffrey, tried to intervene personally in the choice of Dagobert's successor and prevented the new archbishop from entering the city, and only through the intercession of Pope Benedict VIII, Odilo of Cluny and Robert II himself could Gauzlin finally take possession of his seat.

The heretics of Orléans (1022)

The year 1000 constituted the "awakening of heresy". Before the High Middle Ages, there was no such persecution. The 11th century inaugurated a series of bonfire heretics in the West: Orléans (1022), Milan (1027), and Cambrai (1078). As for Robert II, the case of the heretics of Orléans was a fundamental part of his reign and, at the time, of an unprecedented impact. The nature of the events is told to us by exclusively ecclesiastical sources: Rodulfus Glaber, Adémar de Chabannes, Andrew of Fleury, Jean de Ripoll and Paul de Chartres. The year 1000 extended the idea of a corrupt century where the wealth of the clergy contrasted terribly with the humility advocated by Jesus Christ. Some clerics questioned this system and wished to purify Christian society. This debate was not new: already in the 9th century, there was controversy among scholars about the Eucharist and the cult of saints, but in 1022, it was of a different nature.

Rodulfus Glaber told the story of the peasant Leutard of Vertus from Champagne who, around 994, decided to dismiss his wife, to destroy the crucifix of his local church and to preach to the villagers the refusal to pay tithes with the pretext of reading the Holy Scriptures. The Bishop of his diocese, Gibuin I of Châlons, then summoned him, and debated with him before the people and convinced them of the peasant's heretical madness. Abandoned by all, Leutard committed suicide. This situation was repeated throughout the eleventh century with various people who disagreed with Catholic orthodoxy: they were put to debate with highly educated clergymen in public, so that they and their message were ridiculed and discredited in the eyes of the common people. As for Adémar de Chabannes, he reported, around 1015–1020, the appearance of Manicheans in Aquitaine, especially in the cities of Toulouse and Limoges.

The common themes of heretics were the renunciation of carnal copulation, the destruction of images, the uselessness of the Church and the repudiation of the sacraments (especially baptism and marriage). Astonished by this wave of disputes, Rodulfus Glaber evoked in his writings that Satan was freed "after a thousand years" according to the Apocalypse and that he must have inspired all these heretics from Leutard to the Orleanais. Another contemporary of the time is expressed:

"They [the heretics] claimed that they had faith in the Trinity, in divine unity and in the Incarnation of the Son of God, but that was a lie because they were saying that the baptized cannot receive the Holy Spirit in the baptism and that after mortal sin no one can be forgiven in any way."

— Andrew of Fleury, ca. 1025.

For the chroniclers, the Orléans heresy came sometimes from a Périgord peasant (Adémar de Chabannes) and sometimes from a woman from Ravennes (Rodulfus Glaber). But above all, the most inadmissible was that the evil affected Orléans, the royal city and seat of the Sainte-Croix Cathedral where Robert II was baptized, which was sacred only a few decades earlier. Some canons of the cathedral, close to the court, were supporters of those doctrines considered heretical: Théodat, Herbert (master of the collegiate church of Saint-Pierre-le-Puellier), Foucher and, especially, Étienne (confessor of Queen Constance) and Lisoie (cantor of Sainte-Croix), among others. The King was warned by Richard II of Normandy, and on Christmas Day 1022, the heretics were arrested and interrogated for long hours. Rodulfus Glaber reported that they recognized belonging to the "sect" for a long time and that their purpose was to convince the royal court of their beliefs (refusal of the sacraments, food prohibitions, on the virginity of the Virgin Mary and on the Trinity). These details are surely true; on the other hand, it is abusively obvious that Rodulfus Glaber and the other chroniclers demonized at will the meetings of the "circle of Orléans": they suspected them of practicing sexual orgies and of worshiping the Devil, among others ritual crimes. These reproaches were those made to the first Christians during Late antiquity.

"At that time, ten of the canons of Sainte-Croix of Orléans, who seemed more pious than the others, were convinced to be Manicheans. King Robert, faced with their refusal to return to the faith, had them first stripped of their priestly dignity, then expelled from the Church, and finally delivered to the flames."

— Adémar de Chabannes, ca. 1025.

According to legend, Étienne, Constance's confessor, received a blow from her cane which perforated his eye. Robert II had an immense pyre erected outside the city on 28 December 1022, hoping to frighten them, but he was surprised by their reaction:

"Sure of themselves, they feared nothing from the fire; they announced that they would emerge unscathed from the flames, and laughing they let themselves be tied in the middle of the pyre. Soon they were completely reduced to ashes and no debris of their bones was even found."

— Adémar de Chabannes, ca. 1025.

This relentlessness surprised contemporaries and even modern historians. The various chroniclers, although they are horrified by the practices of the heretics, did not comment at any time about this event, and Helgaud of Fleury even ignored the episode. It was believed that the history of the heretics of Orleans would tarnish Robert II's saintly reputation and for this, the event was barely mentioned in the contemporary sources. In any case, the event was causing so much noise in the Kingdom that it would have been perceived as far away as Catalonia, according to a letter from the monk John to his Abbot Oliba of Ripoll: "If you have heard of it, it was quite true", he said. For historians, this episode would refer to a settling of scores. In 1016, Robert II had imposed on the episcopal seat of Orléans one of his subordinates, Thierry II, at the expense of Oudry de Broyes, the candidate of Odo II of Blois. However, the whole affair of the Orléans heresy, in which he was perhaps involved, broke out under his episcopate. To rid himself of all responsibility, the King would have liked to violently liquidate the impostors.

The persecution of the Jews

In 1007, the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah launched a wave of persecution of Christians, which led to the destruction of several places of worship, notably in Jerusalem and Alexandria. Robert II accused the Jews of complicity with Muslims (although they themselves were victims of Muslim persecution). A series of atrocities against the Jews followed, reported by Rodulfus Glaber and Adémar de Chabannes: Spoliations, massacres and forced conversions were the tragic fate of Jewish communities in the Kingdom of France. These abuses are corroborated by an anonymous Jewish chronicler, who further reports that a notable Jew from Rouen, Ya'aqov ben Iéqoutiel, made a trip to Rome to appeal for the help of Pope John XVIII, who was already ill-disposed towards Robert II because of his marital history. He indeed obtained the support of the Pope, then of his successor Pope Sergius IV, who demanded that Robert II bring back the anti-Jewish decrees and put an end to the persecutions.

Later years, death, and burial

The last great event of the reign of Robert II was the association with the throne of his second son, Henry. After the premature death in 1025 of Hugh, the eldest son and first Junior King, Constance opposed the association of her second son Henry, and wanted the new co-ruler to be her third son Robert. In the royal court, Henry was considered too effeminate, which was contrary to the masculine principle of virtus. Favorable to the election of the best candidate, the episcopate and many territorial princes showed their refusal; however, the King, supported by a few personalities (Odo II of Blois, Odilo of Cluny, Guglielmo da Volpiano), imposed his will and Henry was finally consecrated as Junior King on 14 May 1027 at Reims Cathedral by Archbishop Ebles I of Roucy. With this event, Robert II definitively endorsed the association established to the throne of the heir by the sovereign in force. The greatest of the Kingdom attended the consecration: Odo II of Blois, William V of Aquitaine, Richard III of Normandy. According to the chronicler Hildegaire of Poitiers, once the ceremony was over, Constance fled on horseback mad with rage.

After forty years of Robert II's reign, political turmoil was emerging in the Kingdom of France during 1027–1029: in Normandy, the new Duke Robert the Magnificent expelled his uncle Robert, Archbishop of Rouen. The sovereign had to arbitrate the conflict until everything was in order. The same type of scenario erupted in Flanders where the King's young son-in-law Baldwin (husband of Robert II's second daughter Adela), eager for power and at the instigation of his own wife, rose up against his father, Baldwin IV in vain. For his part, Odo II of Blois enlisted for his benefit the new Junior King Henry in his fight against Fulk III of Anjou. Over 55 years old, an age at which in the tradition of the time one must step aside from power, Robert II was still on his throne. He endured several revolts from his sons, Henry and Robert, who most likely intrigued with their mother, Constance (1030). Robert II and Constance escaped to Burgundy, where they joined forces with their son-in-law, Renauld I of Nevers (husband of their eldest daughter Advisa). Back in their domain, peace was restored between the members of the royal family.

Robert II finally died on 20 July 1031 at his residence in Melun of an overwhelming fever. Alberic of Trois-Fontaines records the death of "rex Francorum Robertus", while Rodulfus Glaber also mentions the death of the King at Melun and his place of burial. The necrology of Chartres Cathedral records the death "XII Kal Aug" of "Rotbertus rex", and the necrology of the Abbey of Saint-Denis records the death "XIII Kal Aug" of "Rotbertus...Francorum rex".

A few days earlier, on 29 June, according to Helgaud of Fleury, a solar eclipse had come to announce a bad omen:

"Some time before his most holy death, which happened on 20 July, on the day of the death of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, the sun, like the last quarter of the moon, veiled its rays to everyone, and appeared at the sixth hour of the day, turning pale above the heads of men, the sight of which was so obscured, that they remained without recognizing each other until the moment to see was returned."

— Helgaud of Fleury, Epitoma vitæ regis Roberti pii, ca. 1033.

Much appreciated by the monks of Saint-Denis, the deceased King was hastily transported from Melun to the Abbey where his father was already resting, in front of the altar of the Holy Trinity. The benefits that the sovereign offered to the abbey were enormous. When writing their chronicle, the monks claimed that by the time of his death, rivers overflowed (toppling houses and carrying children), a comet passed in the sky and a famine plagued the kingdom for nearly two years. When he finished his biography around 1033, Helgaud of Fleury was surprised that the tomb of the pious Robert II was still only covered with a simple slab and no ornament. Not until the middle of the 13th century did his descendant, Louis IX of France (commonly known as Saint Louis), have new gisants carved for all members of the royal family.