Robert I, Duke of Burgundy

Who was Robert I, Duke of Burgundy?

Robert I of Burgundy, known as Robert the Old and "Tete-Hardi" was duke of Burgundy from 1032 to his death. Robert was son of King Robert II of France and brother of Henry I of France.

In 1025, with the death of his eldest brother Hugh Magnus, he and Henry rebelled against their father and defeated him, forcing him back to Paris. In 1031, after the death of his father the king, Robert participated in a rebellion against his brother, in which he was supported by his mother, Constance of Arles. Peace was only achieved when Robert was given Burgundy.

Throughout his reign, he was little more than a robber baron who had no control over his own vassals, whose estates he often plundered, especially those of the Church. He seized the income of the diocese of Autun and the wine of the canons of Dijon. He burgled the abbey of St-Germain at Auxerre. In 1055, he repudiated his wife, Helie of Semur, and assassinated her brother Joceran and murdered her father, his father-in-law, Lord Dalmace I of Semur, with his own hands. In that same year, the bishop of Langres, Harduoin, refused to dedicate the church of Sennecy so as not "to be exposed to the violence of the duke."