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Constance of Arles was born 986 in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France to Guillaume I de Provence (956-993) and Adelaide of Anjou (c947-1026) and died 1034 Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France, France of unspecified causes. She married Robert II of France (972-1031) 1003 JL in Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, France.

Early Years

Born c. 986[1] Constance was the daughter of William I, Count of Provence and Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou, daughter of Fulk II of Anjou.[2] She was the sister of Count William II of Provence.[2]

Queen Consort

Third wife: After the death of Bertha of Burgundy in 1010, Robert II married Constance of Arles, who was the daughter of William I, Count of Provence. They had several children together, including a son, Henry, who would later become King of France.

Constance d'Arles

Constance of Arles, depicted in an engraving of the late 19th century.

After October 1002 and before August 1004, Robert II contracted his third and last marriage (to a distant princess to avoid any close relationship) with the 17 year old Constance, daughter of Count William I of Arles and Provence and his wife Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou.[3] 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 restored his alliance with them.[4] Six[lower-alpha 1]

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.[lower-alpha 2] 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,[8][9] whom Robert II still loved deeply,[10] 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.[lower-alpha 3]

Robert2Franc Constance of Arles

Constance of Arles surrendering to her son Henry I of France. Illumination on parchment from ca. 1375–1380 manuscript. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Fr 2813, folio 177 recto.

Children born from Constance's marriage to Robert II are recorded:

  1. Hedwig of France, Countess of Nevers, Countess of Auxerre , married Renauld I, Count of Nevers[12] on 25 January 1016 and had issue.
  2. Hugh Magnus of France (1007-1025), - was the eldest son of Robert II. He died young, in 1025, and never became king.
  3. Henry I of France (1008-1060), successor to Robert II as King of the Franks.[13] He became King upon his father's death in 1031, but died just four years later without leaving any heirs.
  4. Adèle of France (1009-1079) Countess of Flanders, Countess of Contenance , married (1) Richard III of Normandy (997-1027) and (2) Count Baldwin V of Flanders.[13] She married Richard III, Duke of Normandy, and became the mother of William the Conqueror.
    1. William I of England (1027-1087)
  5. Robert I de Bourgogne (1011-1076) named by his father heir to the Duchy of Burgundy in 1030, installed as such in 1032 by his brother.[13] and played an important role in French politics during his lifetime.
  6. Odo Capet (c1013-1056), 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.
  7. Constance Capet (1014-1042) = She married Manasses de Dammartin and had several children.

Later Years

King Robert died on 20 July 1031.[14] Soon afterwards Constance fell ill; she was also at odds with both her surviving sons. Constance seized her dower lands and refused to surrender them. Henry fled to Normandy, where he received aid, weapons and soldiers from his brother Robert. He returned to besiege his mother at Poissy but Constance escaped to Pontoise. She only surrendered when Henry began the siege of Le Puiset and swore to slaughter all the inhabitants.

Constance died after passing out following a coughing fit on 28 July 1032[2] and was buried beside her husband Robert at Saint-Denis Basilica.[15]




Children


Offspring of Robert II of France (972-1031) and Constance
Name Birth Death Joined with
Hedwig Capet (1003-aft1063) 1003 1063 Renaud I de Nevers (1000-1040)
Hugh Magnus of France (1007-1025) 1007 17 September 1025
Henry I of France (1008-1060) 4 May 1008 Reims, Marne, Grand Est, France 4 August 1060 Vitry-aux-Loges, Loiret, Centre-Val de Loire, France Mathilde von Friesland (c1024-1044)
Anna Yaroslavna of Kiev (c1028-1075)
Adèle of France (1009-1079) 1009 Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, Midi-Pyrénées, France 8 January 1079 Mesen, West Flanders, Flanders, Belgium Richard III of Normandy (997-1027)
Baldwin V of Flanders (1012-1067)
Robert I de Bourgogne (1011-1076) 1011 21 March 1076 Hélie de Semur (1016-aft1055)
Ermengarde of Anjou (c1020-?)
Odo Capet (c1013-1056) 1013 France 15 May 1056 France
Constance Capet (1014-1042) 1014 1042 Dammartin-en-Goële, Île-de-France, France Manasses de Montdidier (c1000-1037)



Siblings


Offspring of Guillaume I de Provence (956-993) and Arsinde de Comminges (951-982)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Odile de Provence (c976-c1032) 976 1032 Miron de Nice (984-1011)
Laugier de Vence (980-1032)
Guillaume II de Provence (987-1019) 987 1019 Gerberga de Bourgogne (c985-c1025)


Offspring of Guillaume I de Provence (956-993) and Adelaide of Anjou (c947-1026)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Constance of Arles (986-1034) 986 Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France 1034 Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France, France Robert II of France (972-1031)
Ermengarde of Arles (975-1033) 975 1033 Robert II d'Auvergne (c965-1032)
Toda of Arles (981-?) 981 Bernard I Taillefer de Besalu (c965-c1020)


See Also

  • Charlemagne Family Ancestry
  • Capetian dynasty
  • wikipedia:en:Constance of Arles
  • Constance d'Arles at thePeerage
  • Capetian Kings - Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
  • Constance d'Arles, queen consort of the Franks - Geni.com
  • Constance d'Arles at Find A Grave
  • Bouchard, Constance B. (1981). "Consanguinity and Noble Marriages in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries". Speculum 56.2 (April) (2): 268–287. DOI:10.2307/2846935. PMID 11610836. 
  • Bouchard, Constance B. (1987). Sword, Miter, and Cloister: Nobility and the Church in Burgundy, 980–1188. Cornell University Press. 
  • Nicholas, David (1992). Medieval Flanders. Longman. 
  • Palmer, James (2014). The Apocalypse in the Early Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. 
  • Theis, Laurent (1990). "Nouvelle histoire de la France médiévale" (in fr). L'Héritage des Charles: De la mort de Charlemagne aux environs de l'an mil – Points. Histoire 2. 
  • Theis, Laurent (1999) (in fr). Robert le Pieux. Paris: Perrin. ISBN 978-2-262-01375-2. 
  • Vasiliev, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich (1951). "Hugh Capet of France and Byzantium". Dumbarton Oaks Papers 6: 227–251. DOI:10.2307/1291087. 
  • Werner, Karl Ferdinand (1990) (in fr). Dieu, les rois et l'Histoires. Paris: Seuil. 
  • Pfister, Charles (1885) (in fr). Etudes sur le règne de Robert le Pieux. Paris. pp. 41–69. 

References

  1. ^ Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 11
  2. ^ a b c Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 187
  3. ^ Theis 1999, p. 131.
  4. ^ Menant 1999, p. 36.
  5. ^ Donald C. Jackman, Extension of Latin Relationship Terms in Medieval France. Archive for Medieval Prosopography n° 15, 2019, 74 p. ISBN 978-1-936466-65-8 online
  6. ^ Philippe Thuillot, Les châtellenies au nord du Bassin parisien, du Xe au XIIIe siècles: étude sur les cadres institutionnels et les lieux de pouvoir, sur la société aristocratique (princes, comtes et chevaliers) (in French). Histoire. Université Paris-Est, 2019, p. 365.
  7. ^ Theis 1999, p. 142.
  8. ^ Adair 2003, p. 13.
  9. ^ Christian Bouyer, Dictionnaire des Reines de France (in French). Academic Library Perrin, 1992. ISBN 2-262-00789-6
  10. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Rouche2
  11. ^ Odorannus, Opera omnia, ed. and trad. by Robert-Henri Bautier, CNRS, Paris, 1972.
  12. ^ Bouchard 1987, p. 343.
  13. ^ a b c Bouchard 2001, p. 112.
  14. ^ Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band I (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1980), Tafel 57
  15. ^ Georgia Sommers Wright, 'A Royal Tomb Program in the Reign of St. Louis', The Art Bulletin, Vol. 56, No. 2 (Jun., 1974), p. 225



Footnotes (including sources)

‡ General


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