Editing Robert Curthose (section)

== First Crusade and return ==
In 1096, [[Army of Robert Curthose on the First Crusade|Robert formed an army]] and left Normandy to join the [[First Crusade]] to aid the [[Byzantine Empire]] against the [[Seljuk Turks]] and travel to [[Jerusalem]]. To raise money for the crusade he mortgaged his duchy to his brother William for the sum of 10,000 [[Mark (currency)|marks]]. 

[[File:Map of First Crusade.png|250px|right|thumb|A map of the routes of the major leaders of the First Crusade|alt=A map of the Mediterranean, with the routes of Hugh I of Vermandois, Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemond of Taranto, Raymond IV of Toulouse, Robert Curthose, and Baldwin of Boulogne highlighted. The major Christian and Muslim empires at the time of the crusade are also highlighted. Major battles in Asia Minor are marked.]]

Robert joined forces with his cousin, Count [[Robert II, Count of Flanders|Robert of Flanders]], brother-in-law, Count [[Stephen, Count of Blois|Stephen of Blois]], and travelled together to Italy where he stayed in [[County of Apulia and Calabria|Norman Apulia]] during the winter of 1096/97. It is then that he most likely met his future wife, [[Sybil of Conversano]], daughter of the wealthy Norman count of [[Conversano]], [[Geoffrey, Count of Conversano|Geoffrey]], and according to Orderic he fell in love with her.{{Sfn|Aird|2008|p=191}}

Crossing from [[Brindisi]] to the city of [[Durrës|Dyrrachium]] in the [[Byzantine Empire]] on 5 April 1097, Robert and his army marched along the [[Via Egnatia]] and past [[Ohrid]], [[Thessaloniki]] and the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] coast of [[Thrace]] on their way to [[Constantinople]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/a-history-of-the-expedition-to-jerusalem-1095-1127-by-fulcher-of-chartres/page/n83/mode/2up?view=theater |title=A History Of The Expedition To Jerusalem, 1095 1127 By Fulcher Of Chartres |pages=76-78}}</ref> Robert and Stephen were the last leading nobles to arrive at the gathering point in Constantinople in May of 1097 but were nonetheless welcomed with great respect by Emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos|Alexios]] and memories of [[Robert I, Duke of Normandy|Robert's grandfather]]'s visit to Constantinople during his own pilgrimage to Jerusalem were reignited.{{Sfn|Aird|2008|p=171}} Both then swore, as had the other crusading leaders except for [[Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse|Raymond of Toulouse]], an oath to restore all cities that had been in Byzantine possession to Alexios and honour his superior status.{{Sfn|Aird|2008|p=172}}

In the first week of June 1097 Robert and Stephen joined the main forces of the crusading army who at this point were [[Siege of Nicaea|besieging Nicaea]] which was successfully conquered on the 19th of June.{{Sfn|Aird|2008|p=173}} At the [[Battle of Dorylaeum (1097)|Battle of Dorylaeum]] on 1 July, the crusader vanguard led by Robert and [[Bohemond I of Antioch|Bohemond of Taranto]] were ambushed and surrounded by the [[Sultanate of Rum|Seljuk Turks]]. After a heavy cavalry charge failed to disperse them, the Normans formed a defensive circle and held the line for hours in the hot summer sun until the rest of the army arrived, surrounding the Turks and forcing them to flee after inflicting heavy casualties.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/a-history-of-the-expedition-to-jerusalem-1095-1127-by-fulcher-of-chartres/page/n93/mode/2up?view=theater |title=A History Of The Expedition To Jerusalem, 1095 1127 By Fulcher Of Chartres |pages=83-87}}</ref> Robert then participated in the brutal [[Siege of Antioch]] and commanded the Normans and English in the first line alongside Robert of Flanders at the subsequent [[Battle of Antioch (1098)|Battle of Antioch]] in which a huge Muslim relief army was defeated.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/a-history-of-the-expedition-to-jerusalem-1095-1127-by-fulcher-of-chartres/page/105/mode/2up?view=theater |title=A History Of The Expedition To Jerusalem, 1095 1127 By Fulcher Of Chartres |pages=105}}</ref> After months spent languishing at Antioch, Robert joined Raymond of Toulouse and [[Tancred, Prince of Galilee|Tancred]] in pressing on to Jerusalem on 13 January 1099 after the former paid Robert to join him.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/a-history-of-the-expedition-to-jerusalem-1095-1127-by-fulcher-of-chartres/page/n119/mode/2up?view=theater |title=A History Of The Expedition To Jerusalem, 1095 1127 By Fulcher Of Chartres |pages=113}}</ref> Together they [[March from Antioch to Jerusalem during the First Crusade|advanced down the Mediterranean coast]] and laid siege to [[Arqa]] in February but were met with failure and left on 13 May 1099 and went to Jerusalem, finally arriving outside its walls on 7 June.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Christopher Tyerman |url=https://archive.org/details/godswarnewhistor00tyer/mode/2up |title=God's war |date=2006 |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-674-02387-1 |pages=73}}</ref> Robert left Raymond's service during the [[Siege of Jerusalem (1099)|siege on Jerusalem]] and instead joined [[Godfrey of Bouillon]]. As the crusaders lacked the necessary materials, Robert was sent out to gather wood to aid in the construction of siege towers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The first crusade : a new history : the roots of conflict between Christianity and Islam {{!}} WorldCat.org |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/1089166882 |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=search.worldcat.org |language=en}}</ref> He was among the crusaders that captured Jerusalem on 15 July 1099. He also took on a prominent role in the final battle of the crusade at [[Battle of Ascalon|Ascalon]] on 12 August 1099 as one of the commanders of the crusader centre, personally killing the Egyptian [[standard-bearer]] and capturing the tent of the Egyptian commander, [[Al-Afdal Shahanshah|Al-Afdal]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=France |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/victoryineast00john |title=Victory in the East : a military history of the First Crusade |date=1994 |publisher=Cambridge [England] ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-521-41969-7 |pages=364}}</ref> The fulfilment of his crusader vows was a personal triumph for Robert: he had shown military skills as well as the ability to mediate between different factions in the crusading forces.{{Sfn|Aird|2008|pp=189-190}}

Robert left the Holy Land around September 1099 and sailed to Constantinople, where Emperor Alexios showered him with gifts, for he was one of the few crusade leaders to have kept the oath he had made back in 1096, and offered him to enter into the service of the Byzantine Empire, but Robert declined.{{Sfn|Aird|2008|p=189}} Instead, he travelled again to Southern Italy where he wintered again and married Sybil which also brought him a big dowry which enabled him to raise the necessary funds to buy back his duchy.{{Sfn|Vaughn|1994|p=268}} When William II died on 2 August 1100, Robert was still on the return journey and absent from Normandy and would not arrive until September, allowing his other brother [[Henry I of England|Henry]] was to seize the crown of England for himself.

Upon his return, Robert—urged by Flambard and several Anglo-Norman barons—claimed the English crown, on the basis of the short-lived agreement of 1087, and in July 1101 led an invasion to oust his brother Henry. He landed near [[Portsmouth]] with his army, but the lack of popular support among the English ([[Anselm of Canterbury|Anselm]], the [[archbishop of Canterbury]], was decidedly against him and the [[Charter of Liberties]] issued at Henry's coronation was well-liked) as well as Robert's own mishandling of the invasion tactics enabled Henry to resist the invasion. Robert was forced by diplomacy to renounce his claim to the English throne in the [[Treaty of Alton]]. Orderic claimed that Robert squandered his wealth and became so poor that he had nothing to wear, but this seems unlikely given that Robert would have been reduced to penury so short after his return and might rather refer to his pre-Crusade persona.{{Sfn|Aird|2008|p=204}}