Robert II

**Robert II** (born 1323, died 1374) was King of Angelona from 1358 to 1374.

## Early life

Robert II was born in 1323 in Bourgenay, Angelona, the eldest son of James I and Francina de Avindean. Robert was given extensive tuition growing up on a range of areas. James I sought the finest tutors for his sons from around the world, including a four Mongolian warriors, purchased from a Turkish slave trader, to teach him in the art of sword fighting, archery, horse riding and military tactics, a Greek philosopher, a French priest and an Arab physician. By the age of 10, Robert was fluent in English, French, Arabic, Mongolian and Latin.

He grew extremely close to the four Mongolian tutors, Ganbaatar Adya, Barulatai Guchugur, Ile Erke and Daidukul Geugi, who later were made Robert's personal guard and close confidants.

In 1343, Robert was given command of a small fleet of ships and fought in the Smyniote crusades with his father. Robert was tasked with harrying the Turkish coast and hunting down Turkish ships and he was said to have a liking for boarding enemy ships and fighting in hand to hand combat. He had gained a reputation for being a feared warrior and his four Mongolian bodyguards and group of personal Knights were a skilled fighting force.

Robert played an active role in the siege on Smyrna in 1344 and is documented as scaling the castle walls with his men and overcoming a large number of defenders on the south wall. After the Crusaders had secured Smyrna, Robert quickly departed and continued his attacks on Turkish coastal cities, towns and villages. His fleet of ships grew considerably larger and during the raids he seized a large number of Turkish ships, gold and slaves. Robert continued to menace the Turk's for the next 14 years, dividing his time with raiding and returning to Angelona to store his bounty. Robert's raids became so successful that he seized enough gold to pay for the construction of a lavish coastal castle in Angelona which he named Castle Angelus.

## King of Angelona

By around 1356, Robert had taken over the day to day running of the Kingdom and in 1358 his father died and Robert was crowned King.

### Alexandrian Crusade

In 1362 Robert met with Peter I of Cyprus and agreed to conduct the Alexandrian Crusade in a result of a planned Egyptian attack on Angelona and Cyprus. In October 1365, Robert II and Peter I set sail from Rhodes, commanding a sizable expeditionary force and a fleet of 265 ships. Landfall was made in Alexandria around 9 October, and over the next three days, Robert and Peter's army looted the city killing thousands and taking 10,000 people to be enslaved. Mosques, temples, churches and the library also bore the brunt of the raid. Robert demanded that Christian citizens and the churches be left alone, but was unable to completely safeguard the Egyptian Christians. In the end, many of the Egyptian Christians were given safe passage to Damietta.

Facing an untenable position, Robert and Peter's army permanently withdrew on 12 October. Peter had wanted to stay and hold the city and use it as a beachhead for more crusades into Egypt, but the majority of his barons refused, wishing only to leave with their loot. Peter and Robert were amongst the last to leave the city, only getting onto their ships when Mamluk soldiers entered the city. Monarchs and barons in Europe, struck by the abandonment of the city, referred to Peter and Robert as the only good and brave Christians to have crusaded in Alexandria.

## Later reign & death

Robert's later years as King saw a period of relative peace. A treaty with the Egyptian Mamluk's held and no other major military campaigns were fought. Every few years Robert would lead a fleet of ships on attacks on Turkish cities and it was 1374, whilst on route to Turkey that his fleet was hit by a storm and his ship was sunk. Upon his death, his son, Prince Hugh was crowned King.