Introduction

Biography

Robert, called Ro­bert the Sage and Ro­bert the Devout, suc­ceed­ed his father, Hugh Ca­pet, on the throne of France around 997.

He has been called the gentl­est mon­arch that ev­er sat up­on a throne, and his am­ia­bi­li­ty of char­ac­ter poor­ly prepared him to cope with his dan­ger­ous and wi­ly ad­ver­sar­ies.

His last years were em­bit­tered by the op­po­si­tion of his own sons, and the po­li­ti­cal agi­ta­tions of the times…

Robert pos­sess­ed a re­flect­ive mind, and was fond of learn­ing and mu­sic­al art. He was both a po­et and a mu­si­cian.

He was deep­ly re­li­gious, and, from un­self­ish mo­tives, was much de­vot­ed to the church…He him­self was a cho­ris­ter; and there was no king­ly ser­vice that he seemed to love so well.

We are told that it was his cus­tom to go to the church of St. De­nis, and in his roy­al robes, with his crown up­on his head, to di­rect the choir at ma­tins and ves­pers, and join in the sing­ing.

Few kings have left a bet­ter le­ga­cy to the Chris­tian church.

Brown, p. 57–58