Editing Robert II of France (section)

====Justice of Robert II====
[[File:St Benoit Sur Loire 2007 03.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Crypt of [[Fleury Abbey]] at [[Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire]], first third of the 11th century.]]
Since the end of the 10th century, the formulation of royal ideology is the work of monastic world, especially in the highly dynamic [[Fleury Abbey]], located in [[Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire]]. In the theory of [[Abbo of Fleury]] (ca. 993–994), the concern of the sovereign of the year 1000 is to make equity and justice reign, to guarantee peace and harmony in the Kingdom. Its purpose is to safeguard Capetian memory for centuries.{{sfn|Sassier|2000|pp=201–203}} For their part, the territorial princes of the 11th century know what founds and legitimizes their power even in their royal aspects. The presence of a royal authority in the Kingdom of the Franks remains essential for contemporaries. However, Abbo also emphasizes in his writings the need of a local ruler who could exercise his office for the common good, deciding matters with the consent of the advisers (bishops and princes). However, Robert II did not always follow, to his great fault, this theory, in particular in the case of the succession of the [[Count of Champagne|Counties of Meaux and Troyes]] (1021–1024).<ref name="Guillot"/>{{sfn|Sassier|2000|p=199}}

Since the beginning of the reign of Robert II, the Counties of Meaux and Troyes were in the hands of a powerful figure, his second cousin once removed{{efn|Stephen I of Troyes' great-grandmother was Adelais, a sister of [[Hugh the Great]], Robert II's grandfather.}} [[Stephen I, Count of Troyes|Count Stephen I of Troyes]]. In 1019, Stephen I appealed to the Robert II's generosity, asking him to confirm the restitution of property to the Abbey of [[Lagny, Oise|Lagny]]. The king accepted, but Stephen I died ca. 1021–1023; a rare occurrence at the time, he had no clearly named successor or heir. Robert II is responsible for managing the succession, which he cedes without difficulty to [[Odo II, Count of Blois|Count Odo II of Blois]], a lord already well-established in the region (he hold the cities of [[Épernay]], [[Reims]], [[Vaucouleurs]] and [[Commercy]]) and moreover was a second cousin{{efn|Stephen I of Troyes' grandfather [[Robert of Vermandois]] was a brother of [[Luitgarde of Vermandois|Luitgarde]], Odo II of Blois' grandmother.}} of Stephen I.{{sfn|Theis|1999|pp=165–169}} However, a few months later a crisis breaks out. [[Ebles I of Roucy]], [[Archbishop of Reims]] informs the king of the bad actions of Odo II who monopolizes all powers in [[Reims]] to the detriment of the prelate. Robert II, as a defender of the Church, decides, without the consent of anyone, to withdraw the comital title of Reims from Odo II. The latter, furious, imposes himself in Reims by force. In addition, the king is not supported, his justice is undermined: even his faithfuls Fulbert of Chartres and Duke [[Richard II, Duke of Normandy|Richard II of Normandy]] support Odo II by arguing that Robert II should not behave like a "tyrant". Summoned by the king in 1023, Odo II courteously informs that he will not move and Robert II has neither the means to oblige him nor the right to seize his patrimony, because these lands weren't granted by the king but inherited from his ancestors by the will of the Lord.{{sfn|Theis|1999|pp=169–171}}

After this event (which weakened his already unstable authority), Robert II does not repeat the same mistake. In 1024, after a meeting of the greats of the Kingdom in [[Compiègne]] who suggested appeasement to him with Odo II of Blois, the King had to confirm the Count's possessions. A few years later, in May 1027, Dudon, Abbot of [[Montier-en-Der]], publicly complains of the violent usurpation exercised by Stephen of Vaux, [[List of lords and princes of Joinville|Lord of Joinville]]. The latter seized seven churches to the detriment of the monastery of which he is however the ''[[advocatus]]''. Robert II once again takes charge of the affair, and taking advantage of the coronation of his second son Henry at Pentecost of 1027 in [[Reims]], he summons the Lord of Joinville to his court. The latter does not travel for the event. The present assembly, composed among others by [[Ebles I of Roucy]], [[Odilo of Cluny]], Dudon of Montier-en-Der, [[William V, Duke of Aquitaine|William V of Aquitaine]] and Odo II, unanimously decides to launch the [[anathema]] on the Lord of Joinville. In short, Robert II is not the weak king that historiography has always presented. Of course, his decisions in matters of justice must take into account the advice of ecclesiastics and territorial princes, but he remains as the ''Primer inter pares'', that is to say the first among his peers.{{sfn|Barthélemy|1990|p=33}}{{sfn|Theis|1999|pp=173–176}}