Descendants
Robert married Sybilla of Conversano, daughter of Geoffrey of Brindisi, Count of Conversano (and a grandniece of Robert Guiscard, another Norman duke) on the way back from Crusade, one child:
- William Clito, was born 25 October 1102 and became heir to the Duchy of Normandy. William Clito was unlucky all his life; his attempts to invade Normandy failed twice (1119) and (1125), his first marriage to a daughter of the Count of Anjou was annulled by his uncle's machinations, and even his late inheritance of the county of Flanders was mishandled. William Clito died in 1128 leaving no issue, thus leaving the field clear in the Norman succession (at least until the death of Henry I).
Sybilla, who was admired and often praised by chroniclers of the time, died shortly after the birth. William of Malmesbury claims she died as a result of binding her breasts too tightly; both Robert of Torigny and Orderic Vitalis suggest she was murdered by a cabal of noblewomen led by her husband's mistress, Agnes Giffard.
Robert also had at least three illegitimate children – Richard, who died hunting in the New Forest in May 1100, a son William, a full brother of Richard, and a daughter who married Helias of Saint-Saens. William went to Palestine after 1106 and was named lord of Tortosa, but disappears from the historical record after 1110.
Read more about this topic: Robert Curthose
Famous quotes containing the word descendants:
“Your descendants shall gather your fruits.”
—Virgil [Publius Vergilius Maro] (70–19 B.C.)
“Not only does democracy make every man forget his ancestors, but also clouds their view of their descendants and isolates them from their contemporaries. Each man is for ever thrown back on himself alone, and there is danger that he may be shut up in the solitude of his own heart.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)
“The descendants of Holy Roman Empire monarchies became feeble-minded in the twentieth century, and after World War I had been done in by the democracies; some were kept on to entertain the tourists, like the one they have in England.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)