Army of Robert Curthose on the First Crusade
The army of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, left for the Holy Land on the First Crusade. Robert was the eldest son of William the Conqueror and brother to William Rufus, king of England. He was reportedly so poor that he often had to stay in bed for lack of clothes. In order to raise money for the crusade he mortgaged his duchy to his brother William II of England. His army joined the contingent of Robert II, Count of Flanders, and Stephen, Count of Blois. The known members of the army , mostly from Normandy and England, included the ones listed below, as reported in histories of the First Crusade. Unless otherwise noted, references are to the on-line database of Riley-Smith, et al., and the hyperlinks therein provide details including original sources. The names below are also referenced in the Riley-Smith tome, Appendix I: Preliminary List of Crusaders. Those references are not shown unless they appear elsewhere in the text of the book. Articles that are hyperlinked to a more detailed article in this encyclopædia rely on the latter for references. Household and clergy. According to Runciman, the number  of non-combatants in a Crusader army was less than 25%. Those who are known include: Nobles, knights and other soldiers. Among the nobles, knights and other combatants in the army of Robert were: The relationship with other armies. It is believed that Robert’s army was the same size as the Army of Godfrey of Bouillon. In addition, after Hugh the Great abandoned the Holy Land, approximately 100 knights under his command joined Robert’s army.