Robert II, commonly called "the Dane" (le Danois), was a member of the Rollonid dynasty who combined high ecclesiastical office with secular lordship in early 11th-century Normandy. Born in the late tenth century as a son of Duke Richard I of Normandy and his wife Gunnora, Robert rose to prominence as Archbishop of Rouen in 989 and later became Count of Évreux in 996. His career illustrates the close entanglement of church and aristocracy in the period before the Gregorian reforms and shows how clerical rank could be used to bolster dynastic influence.

Early life and appointment to Rouen

As a younger son of the ducal house, Robert was placed in the senior Norman see at Rouen while still young. Contemporary chroniclers note that his appointment met resistance from some members of the clergy. That opposition was linked, in part, to the personal circumstances of his parents: his father Duke Richard had taken Gunnora as his partner before formal marriage, and ecclesiastical acceptance of Robert's promotion was tied to the later legitimization of that union. The episode reflects the negotiation between secular power and ecclesiastical protocol in Normandy at the end of the tenth century.

Secular power, marriage and family

In 996 Robert received the county of Évreux, placing a ducal kinsman in direct control of a strategic Norman territory. Unusually for a bishop by later medieval standards, Robert contracted a marriage and had children. His wife is named in surviving sources as Herleve, possibly of the local landholding elite, and their sons included Richard, who succeeded as Count of Évreux, and Raoul of Gacé. While clerical marriage became a central concern of later reformers, in Robert's time married or domestically settled clerics were not exceptional in parts of northern Europe. Modern historians have observed that Robert's behavior and duties often appear more secular than spiritual.

Patronage, building and cultural influence

Robert was an active patron of architecture and letters. Around the late 1020s he initiated enlargement works at Rouen Cathedral, contributing to the material and liturgical prominence of the archiepiscopal see. Archaeological evidence and written notices also record his investment in his country residence at Gravenchon, where he transformed a fortress into a princely dwelling. He gathered a literary circle and attracted writers and clerics such as Dudo of Saint-Quentin, whose histories of the Normans were dedicated to members of the ducal family, and the satirist Garnier of Rouen. These connections underline Robert's role as a cultural as well as political actor.

Conflict with Duke Robert I and later political role

When his nephew Robert I (called the Magnificent) assumed ducal authority in 1027, a quarrel between uncle and nephew emerged for reasons not fully explained in surviving sources. The dispute forced Archbishop Robert to withdraw from Rouen to Évreux, where he endured a siege before fleeing to the French royal court. There he used the ecclesiastical sanction of excommunication against his nephew, a powerful weapon in the medieval political toolkit that often forced negotiated settlements. Reconciliation followed and Robert returned to the ducal court, becoming a senior counselor. When Duke Robert I died in 1035 and left his infant son (the future William the Conqueror) as heir, Archbishop Robert acted as one of the principal magnates stabilizing Normandy until his death in 1037.

Legacy and historical significance

Robert II's life exemplifies the blurred boundary between clerical and lay authority in early medieval Normandy. As both archbishop and count he wielded spiritual sanctions and territorial power, shaped ecclesiastical architecture, and patronized learning. His interventions in ducal politics—most notably his use of excommunication and his later role as a powerbroker during a minority—had immediate consequences for Norman government and succession. Modern scholars view him as an important, if distinctly secular-minded, representative of Norman aristocratic clericalism in the decades before reform movements redefined the obligations and comportment expected of bishops.

  • Also known as: Robert le Danois
  • Principal offices: Archbishop of Rouen (from 989), Count of Évreux (from 996)
  • Notable acts: Cathedral building, patronage of writers, use of excommunication in politics
  • Died: 1037