Robert III of Artois

Robert III of Artois (1287–1342) was the claimant whose lawsuit over the County of Artois helped push France and England into the Hundred Years' War. After his grandfather Robert II fell at Courtrai in 1302, the county went to his aunt Mahaut. In 1328 Philip VI compensated him with Beaumont-le-Roger, but after Mahaut died in 1329 Robert reopened the claim.

In 1331 he was convicted of using his father's forged will, backed by false depositions and a document from Jeanne de Divion, who was burned. Sentenced in absentia in 1332, he fled through Namur and Brabant to Edward III, whose council he joined with his knowledge of the French court.

Philip cited Edward's refusal to expel him when confiscating Guyenne in 1337. Robert commanded an Anglo-Flemish army at Saint-Omer in 1340 and died of dysentery after the retreat from Vannes in 1342.