Robert, Duke of Normandy, nicknamed Curthose for the
shortness of his legs and hence his leggings, was the oldest, nicest
and least effective of William the Conqueror’s three sons. Brave,
generous, good-natured and trusting, he was easily outmatched in
statecraft, ruthlessness and cunning by his younger brothers –
William Rufus and
Henry.
Their father had no confidence in Robert as a ruler and arranged for
Rufus to succeed him on the throne of England. Then, when Rufus died in
1100, Henry was on the scene. He seized the royal treasury instantly and
had himself crowned within three days.
Robert was on his way back from crusade. Insisting that the crown was
rightfully his, he won support from prominent figures in Normandy and
England, including
Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham
and a favourite of Rufus. Henry had incarcerated the bishop in the Tower
of London, but in February 1101 he got his guards drunk, shinned down a
rope and got away to Normandy. Duke Robert gathered an army, with which
he crossed the Channel to Portsmouth in July. Henry meanwhile had
expected him at Pevensey where he had assembled his English troops, whom
he personally instructed in the art of resisting Norman cavalry.