One of the more famous monuments in Gloucester Cathedral is that of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy. He was the eldest son of William the Conqueror, his brothers William (surnamed Rufus) and the youngest, Henry. On William's death in 1087 he envisioned that two brothers would each rule either England or Normandy and Henry preside over his own estates. As it turned out, William became King of England and was killed while out hunting in the New Forest, and Robert Curthose was challenged and imprisoned by the underdog Henry. Henry I assumed the throne, and on capturing Curthose, kept him imprisoned for around thirty years, while he took over affairs of both Normandy and England. Robert Curthose died at Cardiff Castle in 1134 and it was said that he specially chose Gloucester Cathedral as the place of his burial.
The effigy of the unfortunate duke was installed shortly after his death, made out of wood. He is represented in armour with crossed legs and wears a coronet. The effigy is also painted in primary colours. During the 1600s, during the English Civil War, it was taken apart, but rescued, and carefully replaced in its position in the later part of the century. The spurs on the figure are not thought to be original, but added in the seventeenth century, the earlier Norman spurs having been stolen or lost by then.
Robert Curthose's nickname means 'short trousers' and probably refers to the fashions he wore. He married a wealthy heiress named Sybil, and took part in the Crusades in the Holy Land. On Sybil's death he became a widower, and he was then captured by his younger brother. The writer Henry Spence-Jones related the belief in the nineteenth century that Henry had actually blinded his brother, a claim that can't now be verified. Charles Wendell David suggested that it may have been Henry's punishment for Robert's repeated conspiracies to escape captivity and make his own bid for the crown. Despite all this drama and his status, Robert is quite an overlooked figure of history, although Charles Wendell David did manage to publish a book about him, with almost 300 pages - 201 of them of Robert's story..
If you stand and look at Robert's effigy today, remember his dramatic story. He had a dazzling start to life, as eldest son of the Conqueror king, but ended it with family fighting, grief and decades of imprisonment. One writer believed that he died on hunger strike, so tired of his long years alone. Robert Curthose today is a symbol of the chaotic struggle for power, and brutal treatment of those who wielded it, in the early medieval and Norman periods.
I've also written Power Couples of the Renaissance. It features relationship dynamics that went against accepted norms of the period and power-hungry couples who ruled, fought and spread the patronage of art, science and culture across the globe during one of the most tumultuous periods of history. Find it on the Pen and Sword Books website.
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Sources
Charles Wendell David, Robert Curthose Duke of Normandy. Havard University Press, 1920.
Henry Spence-Jones, The Dean's Handbook to Gloucester Cathedral, 1913.
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