GEN-MEDIEVAL-L Archives

Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1999-12 > 0946488683


From: John Carmi Parsons <>
Subject: Re: Father of Mahaut of Artois and etc.
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 12:31:23 -0500


Such family reunions are fictionally reconstructed by Maurice Druon in his
estimable series of historical novels known collectively in English
translation as "The Cursed Kings." The way Druon presents these people,
you wouldn't want to have been there.

The parents of Mahaut of Artois were Count Robert II of Artois (1248?-1302),
paternally a nephew of Louis IX, and Robert's first wife Amice de Courtenay
(d. 1275), a descendant of Louis VI's youngest son Pierre.

Mahaut married Otto IV of Meran, whose family had inherited the so-called
"Free County" (Franche-Comte) of Burgundy, so distinguished from the duchy
of Burgundy because it owed allegiance to the Empire, not France. Otto
died in 1302.

The marriages you show for their daughters are accurate. Louis 'of Nevers'
who married Philip V's daughter was in fact the count of Flanders; 'Nevers'
was a nickname derived, I believe, from the place of his birth.

Authorities differ on the name and even on the number of Philip V's son/s.
Some maintain there were two, Louis and Philip, while others insist there was
only one and that he was known by both names (highly unusual at that time in
history). The only son of whom I have record, Philip, was born about 24 June
1316 and died according to the *Grandes Chroniques de France*, the semi-
official chronicle of the royal house written at Saint-Denis, on 18 February
1317 (NS).

Mahaut's elder brother Philip of Artois, lord of Conches, died v.p. in 1298
leaving by his wife (married after 1281) Blanche of Brittany (died 1327) a son
Robert III (1287-1343) and 4 daughters. Because Artois lay in the region of
Picardy, its inheritance customs barred the youth Robert III from inheriting
the county and allowed it instead to the adult Mahaut, the only surviving adult
child of Robert II of Artois.

In addition to the daughters you name below, Mahaut and Otto IV had two sons.
The existence of one of these was only rediscovered in the present century when
art historians identified the effigy from his tomb and matched it to an entry
in Mahaut's financial records. His name was John; the said entry in Mahaut's
accounts proves that he died some time before 1302 and, to judge from the
quite touching marble effigy, he was a mere infant. The other son, Robert,
died in September 1317, aged about eighteen and unmarried.

John P.


On 29 Dec 1999, DavidBotts wrote:

> Greetings from Texas:
>
> Any of y'all get a closer look at the name tags some of these folks were
> wearing before they left the family reunion?
>
> 1 Father of Mahaut 'of Artois' *
> .+Mother of Mahaut 'of Artois' *
> 2 Mahaut 'of Artois'
> ....+Otto IV 'of Bergundy'
> ...3 Joan 'of Bergundy'
> .......+Philip V 'of France'
> ......4 Joan 'of France'
> ..........+Eudes IV 'of Bergundy'
> ......4 Son of Philip V 'of France' *
> ......4 Isabella 'of France'
> ..........+Guigues VIII 'of Viennois'
> ......4 Margaret 'of France'
> ..........+Louis 'of Nevers'
> ...3 Blanche 'of Bergundy'
> .......+Charles IV 'of France'
> 2 Child of Parent of Mahaut 'of Artois' *
> ....+Parent of Robert III *
> ...3 Robert III
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dave Botts
>
>

This thread: