Robert II, Count of Flanders

Robert II (c. 1065 – October 5, 1111) was Count of Flanders from 1093 to 1111. He became known as Robert of Jerusalem (Robertus Hierosolimitanus) or Robert the Crusader after his exploits in the First Crusade.

He was the eldest son of Robert I of Flanders and Gertrude of Saxony. His father, hoping to place the cadet branch (or "Baldwinite" branch) of Flanders over the county, began to associate him with his rule around 1086. From 1085 to 1091 he was regent of the county while his father was away on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

After becoming count in 1093, he joined the First Crusade, launched by Pope Urban II in 1095. Robert made his wife Clementia of Burgundy regent in Flanders. He formed a small army that followed the retinue of his kinsman Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine. After reaching Constantinople, the crusaders were obliged to swear an oath of fealty to Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus and promise to return to the Byzantine Empire any land they might capture. Robert, whose father had already served Alexius during his pilgrimage in the 1080s, had no problem swearing this oath, but some of the other leaders did and there was some delay in leaving the city.

Robert then participated in the Siege of Nicaea, after which the army was split into two groups. Robert marched with Stephen of Blois, Bohemund of Taranto, Robert Curthose, and the Byzantine guides, one day ahead of the rest of the crusaders. This army was surrounded by the Seljuk sultan Kilij Arslan I at the Battle of Dorylaeum on June 30, 1097. The next day, the second army, led by Raymond IV of Toulouse, Godfrey of Bouillon, and Hugh of Vermandois, arrived and broke the encirclement; the two armies joined together, with Robert and Raymond forming the centre. The Turks were defeated and the crusaders continued their march.

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