| County of Anjou Conté d'Anjou | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 861–1360 | |||||||||
_type_3.svg) Flag | |||||||||
 Map of France in 1154 with the County of Anjou one of three in bright red | |||||||||
| Capital | Angers | ||||||||
| Demonym | Angevin, Angevins, Angevine, Angevines | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| • Type | County | ||||||||
| Count of Anjou | |||||||||
• 861–866 | Robert the Strong | ||||||||
• 1332–1360 | John de Valois[a] | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• First Count of Anjou appointed | 861 | ||||||||
• Raised to Duchy | 1360 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | France | ||||||||
TheCounty of Anjou (UK:/ˈɒ̃ʒuː,ˈæ̃ʒuː/,US:/ɒ̃ˈʒuː,ˈæn(d)ʒuː,ˈɑːnʒuː/;[1][2][3]French:[ɑ̃ʒu];Latin:Andegavia) was a French county that was the predecessor to theDuchy of Anjou. Its capital wasAngers, and its area was roughly co-extensive with thediocese of Angers. Anjou was bordered byBrittany to the west,Maine to the north,Touraine to the east andPoitou to the south. Its 12th-century CountGeoffrey created the nucleus of what became theAngevin Empire. The adjectival form isAngevin, and inhabitants of Anjou are known as Angevins. In 1360, the county was raised into theDuchy of Anjou within theKingdom of France. This duchy was later absorbed into theFrench royal domain in 1482, and remained a province of the kingdom until 1790.
Anjou's political origin is traced to the ancientGallic state of theAndes. After theconquest byJulius Caesar, the area was organized around the Romancivitas of theAndecavi.[4]
The Roman civitas was afterward preserved as an administrative district under theFranks with the name first ofpagus—then ofcomitatus or countship—of Anjou.[4]
At the beginning of the reign ofCharles the Bald in 843 AD, the integrity of Anjou was seriously menaced by a twofold danger: fromBrittany to the west and fromNormandy to the north.Lambert, a formercount of Nantes, devastated Anjou in concert withNominoé, duke of Brittany. By the end of the year 851, he had succeeded in occupying all the western part as far as theMayenne. The principality which he thus carved out for himself was occupied on his death byErispoé, duke of Brittany. By him, it was handed down to his successors, in whose hands it remained until the beginning of the 10th century. The Normans raided the country continuously as well.[4]
A brave man was needed to defend it. The chroniclers of Anjou named a "Tertullus" as the first count, elevated from obscurity byCharles the Bald.[5] A figure by that name seems to have been the father of the later countIngelger but his dynasty seems to have been preceded byRobert the Strong, who was given Anjou by Charles the Bald around 861. Robert met his death in 866 in abattle at Brissarthe against the Normans.Hugh the Abbot succeeded him in the countship of Anjou as in most of his other duties; on his death in 886, it passed toOdo, Robert's eldest son.[4]
Odo acceded to the throne of France in 888, but he seems to have already delegated the country between the Maine and the Mayenne toIngelger as a viscount or count around 870.
[5] Possibly owing to the connections of his wifeAdelais of Amboise.[6] Their sonFulk the Red succeeded to his father's holdings in 888,[5] is mentioned as a viscount after 898, and seems to have been granted or usurped the title of count by the second quarter of the 10th century. His descendants continued to bear that rank for three centuries. He was succeeded by his sonFulk the Good, author of the proverb that an unlettered king is a wise ass, in 938.[5] He was succeeded in turn by his sonGeoffrey IGrisegonelle ("Greytunic") around 958.[5]
Geoffrey inaugurated a policy of expansion, having as its objects the extension of the boundaries of the ancient countship and the reconquest of those parts of it which had been annexed by other states; for, though western Anjou had been recovered from the dukes ofBrittany since the beginning of the 10th century, in the east all the district ofSaumur had already by that time fallen into the hands of the counts ofBlois andTours.Geoffrey Greytunic succeeded in making theCount of Nantes his vassal and in obtaining from theDuke of Aquitaine the concession in fief of the district ofLoudun. Moreover, in the wars ofKing Lothaire against theNormans and against the emperorOtto II, he distinguished himself by feats of arms which the epic poets were quick to celebrate.[4]
Geoffrey's sonFulk the Black (21 July 987 – 21 June 1040) gained fame both as a warrior and for the pilgrimages he undertook to theHoly Sepulchre inJerusalem to atone for his deeds.[5] He found himself confronted on his accession with a coalition of CountsOdo I of Blois andConan I of Rennes. The latter having seized uponNantes, of which the counts of Anjou held themselves to besuzerains, Fulk came and laid siege to it, routing Conan's army at thebattle of Conquereuil (27 June 992) and re-establishing Nantes under his ownsuzerainty. Then turning his attention to the count of Blois, he proceeded to establish a fortress atLangeais, a few miles from Tours, from which, thanks to the intervention of KingHugh Capet, Odo failed to oust him.
On the death of Odo I, Fulk seized Tours (996); but KingRobert the Pious turned against him and took the town again (997). In 997 Fulk took the fortress ofMontsoreau. In 1016 a fresh struggle arose between Fulk andOdo II, the new count of Blois. Odo II was utterly defeated atPontlevoy (6 July 1016), and a few years later, while Odo was besiegingMontboyau, Fulk surprised and took Saumur (1026).[4]
Finally, the victory gained byGeoffrey Martel (21 June 1040 – 14 November 1060), the son and successor of Fulk, overTheobald III of Blois atNouy (21 August 1044), assured to theAngevins the possession of the countship ofTouraine. At the same time, continuing in this quarter also the work of his father (who in 1025 took prisonerHerbert Wakedog and only set him free on condition of his doing him homage), Geoffrey succeeded in reducing the countship of Maine to complete dependence on himself. During his father's life-time he had been beaten byGervais de Château-du-Loir,bishop of Le Mans (1038), but later (1047 or 1048) succeeded in taking the latter prisoner, for which he was excommunicated byPope Leo IX at thecouncil of Reims (October 1049). He was a vigorous opponent ofWilliam the Bastard when the latter was still merely theduke of Normandy.[5] Despite concerted attacks from William and William's sonHenry Beauclerc, he was able to force Maine to recognize his authority in 1051. He failed, however, in his attempts to revenge himself on William.[4]
On the death of Geoffrey Martel (14 November 1060), there was a dispute as to the succession. Geoffrey Martel, having no children, had bequeathed the countship to his eldest nephew,Geoffrey the Bearded. ButFulk, brother of Geoffrey the Bearded, who had at first been contented with an appanage consisting of Saintonge and thechâtellenie of Vihiers, having allowed Saintonge to be taken in 1062 by the duke of Aquitaine, took advantage of the general discontent aroused in the countship by the unskilful policy of Geoffrey to make himself master of Saumur (25 February 1067) and Angers (4 April), and cast Geoffrey into prison at Sablé. Compelled by the papal authority to release him after a short interval and to restore the countship to him, he soon renewed the struggle, beat Geoffrey near Brissac and shut him up in the castle of Chinon (1068). In order, however, to obtain his recognition as count, Fulk (1068 – 14 April 1109) had to carry on a long struggle with his barons, to cedeGâtinais to KingPhilip I, and to do homage to the count of Blois for Touraine. On the other hand, he was successful on the whole in pursuing the policy of Geoffrey Martel in Maine: after destroying La Flèche, by the peace of Blanchelande (1081), he received the homage ofRobert Curthose ("Courteheuse"), son of William the Conqueror, for Maine. Later, he upheld Elias, lord of La Flèche, againstWilliam Rufus, king of England, and on the recognition of Elias as count of Maine in 1100, obtained forFulk V the Young, his son by Bertrade de Montfort, the hand ofErmengarde, Elias's daughter and sole heiress.[4] In 1101,Gautier I de Montsoreau [fr] gave the land toRobert of Arbrissel andHersende of Champagne his mother-in-law to found theAbbey of Fontevraud.
Fulk V the Young (14 April 1109 – 1129) succeeded to the countship of Maine on the death of Elias (11 July 1110); but this increase of Angevin territory came into such direct collision with the interests ofHenry I of England, who was also duke of Normandy, that a struggle between the two powers became inevitable. In 1112 war broke out, and Fulk, being unable to prevent Henry I from taking Alençon and makingRobert, lord of Bellême, prisoner, was forced, at the treaty of Pierre Pecoulée, near Alençon (23 February 1113), to do homage to Henry for Maine. In revenge for this, whileLouis VI was overrunning theVexin in 1118, he routed Henry's army at Alençon (November), and in May 1119 Henry demanded a peace, which was sealed in June by the marriage of his eldest son,William Adelin, with Matilda, Fulk's daughter. William the Aetheling having perished in the wreck of theWhite Ship (25 November 1120), Fulk, on his return from a pilgrimage to theHoly Land (1120–1121), married his second daughter Sibyl, at the instigation of Louis VI, toWilliam Clito, son of Robert Curthose, and a claimant to the duchy of Normandy, giving her Maine for a dowry (1122 or 1123). Henry I managed to have the marriage annulled, on the plea of kinship between the parties (1123 or 1124). But in 1127 a new alliance was made, and on 22 May at Rouen, Henry I betrothed his daughterMatilda toGeoffrey the Handsome, son of Fulk, the marriage being celebrated at Le Mans on 2 June 1129. Shortly after, on the invitation ofBaldwin II of Jerusalem, Fulk departed to the Holy Land for good, marriedMelisende, Baldwin's daughter and heiress, and succeeded to the throne of Jerusalem (14 September 1131). His eldest son, Geoffrey V the Handsome or "Plantagenet", succeeded him as count of Anjou (1129 – 7 September 1151).[4]
From the outset,Geoffrey Plantagenet tried to profit by his marriage and, after the death of his father-in-lawHenry I (1 December 1135), laid the foundation of the conquest ofNormandy by a series of campaigns: about the end of 1135 or the beginning of 1136, he entered that country and rejoined his wife, theEmpress Matilda, who had received the submission ofArgentan,Domfront andExmes. Having been abruptly recalled into Anjou by a revolt of his barons, he returned to the charge in September 1136 with a strong army, including in its ranksWilliam, duke of Aquitaine,Geoffrey, count of Vendome [fr], andWilliam Talvas, count of Ponthieu. After a few successes he was wounded in the foot at the Siege of Le Sap (1 October) and had to fall back.[4]
May 1137 began a fresh campaign in which he devastated the district ofHiémois (nearExmes) and burntBazoches. In June 1138, with the aid ofRobert of Gloucester, Geoffrey obtained the submission ofBayeux andCaen; in October he devastated the neighbourhood ofFalaise; and finally, in March 1141, on hearing of his wife's success in England, he again enteredNormandy, when he made a triumphal procession through the country. Town after town surrendered: in 1141,Verneuil,Nonancourt,Lisieux,Falaise; in 1142,Mortain,Saint-Hilaire,Pontorson; in 1143,Avranches,Saint-Lô,Cérences,Coutances,Cherbourg; in the beginning of 1144 he enteredRouen, and on 19 January received the ducal crown in its cathedral. Finally, in 1149, after crushing a last attempt at revolt, he handed over the duchy to his sonHenry Curtmantle, who received the investiture at the hands of the king of France.[4]
All the while thatFulk the Younger andGeoffrey the Handsome were carrying on the work of extending the countship of Anjou, they did not neglect to strengthen their authority at home, to which the unruliness of the barons was a menace. As regards Fulk the Young, we know only a few isolated facts and dates: about 1109Doué andL'Île Bouchard were taken; in 1112Brissac was besieged, and about the same time Eschivard of Preuilly was subdued. In 1114 there was a general war against the barons who were in revolt; and in 1118 a fresh rising, which was put down after the siege ofMontbazon: in 1123 the lord of Doué revolted, and in 1124Montreuil-Bellay was taken after a siege of nine weeks. Geoffrey the Handsome, with his indefatigable energy, was eminently fitted to suppress the coalitions of his vassals, the most formidable of which was formed in 1129. Among those who revolted wereGuy IV of Laval [fr],Giraud II of Montreuil-Bellay, theviscount of Thouars, the lords ofMirebeau,Amboise,Parthenay andSablé. Geoffrey succeeded in beating them one after another, razed the keep ofThouars and occupied Mirebeau.[4]
Another rising was crushed in 1134 by the destruction ofCand and the taking ofL'Île Bouchard. In 1136, while the count was in Normandy,Robert III of Sablé [fr] put himself at the head of the movement, to which Geoffrey responded by destroyingBriollay and occupyingLa Suze; and Robert of Sablé himself was forced to beg humbly for pardon through the intercession of thebishop of Angers. In 1139 Geoffrey took Mirebeau, and in 1142Champtoceaux, but in 1145 a new revolt broke out, this time under the leadership ofElias, the count's own brother, who, again with the assistance of Robert of Sablé, laid claim to thecountship of Maine. Geoffrey took Elias prisoner, forced Robert of Sablé to beat a retreat, and reduced the other barons to reason. In 1147 he destroyed Doué and Blaison. Finally in 1150 he was checked by the revolt of Giraud, Lord of Montreuil-Bellay; for a year he besieged the place until it had to surrender, and he then took Giraud prisoner and only released him on the mediation of the king of France.[4]
Thus, on the death ofGeoffrey the Handsome (7 September 1151), his sonHenry found himself heir to a greatempire, strong and consolidated, and to which his marriage withEleanor of Aquitaine (May 1152) further addedAquitaine.[4]
At length on the death ofKing Stephen, Henry was recognised asKing of England (19 December 1154), as agreed in theTreaty of Wallingford. But then his brotherGeoffrey, Count of Nantes, who had received as appanage the three fortresses ofChinon,Loudun andMirebeau, tried to seize upon Anjou, on the pretext that, by the will of their father, Geoffrey the Handsome, all the paternal inheritance ought to descend to him, if Henry succeeded in obtaining possession of the maternal inheritance. On hearing of this, Henry, although he had sworn to observe this will, had himself released from his oath by the pope, and hurriedly marched against his brother, from whom in the beginning of 1156 he succeeded in taking Chinon and Mirebeau; and in July he forced Geoffrey to give up even his three fortresses in return for an annual pension. Henceforward Henry succeeded in keeping the countship of Anjou all his life; for though he granted it in 1168 to his sonHenry the Young King when the latter became old enough to govern it, he absolutely refused to allow him to enjoy his power. AfterHenry II's death in 1189 the countship, together with the rest of his dominions, passed to his sonRichard I of England, but on the death of the latter in 1199,Arthur of Brittany (born in 1187) laid claim to the inheritance, which ought, according to him, to have fallen to his father Geoffrey, fourth son of Henry II, in accordance with the custom by which "the son of the eldest brother should succeed to his father's patrimony." He therefore set himself up in rivalry withJohn Lackland, youngest son of Henry II, and supported byPhilip Augustus of France, and aided byWilliam des Roches, seneschal of Anjou, he managed to enterAngers (18 April 1199) and there have himself recognized as count of the three countships of Anjou, Maine andTouraine, for which he did homage to theKing of France.King John soon regained the upper hand, forPhilip Augustus, had deserted Arthur by theTreaty of Le Goulet (22 May 1200), and John made his way into Anjou; and on 18 June 1200 was recognized as count at Angers. In 1202 he refused to do homage to Philip Augustus, who, in consequence, confiscated all his continental possessions, including Anjou, which was allotted by the king of France to Arthur. The defeat of the latter, who was taken prisoner atMirebeau on 1 August 1202, seemed to ensure John's success, but he was abandoned byWilliam des Roches, who in 1203 assistedPhilip Augustus in subduing the whole of Anjou. A last effort on the part of John to possess it himself in 1214, led to the taking ofAngers (17 June), but broke down lamentably at theBattle of La Roche-aux-Moines (2 July), and the countship was attached to the crown of France.
Shortly afterwards the county was again separated from the crown, when in August 1246King Louis IX gave it as an appanage to his brother Charles, Count of Provence, soon to become king ofNaples andSicily.Charles I of Anjou, engrossed with his other dominions, gave little thought to Anjou, nor did his sonCharles II, the Lame, who succeeded him on 7 January 1285. On 16 August 1290, the latter married his daughterMargaret, Countess of Anjou toCharles of Valois, son ofPhilip III the Bold, giving her Anjou and Maine for dowry, in exchange for Charles of Valois's claims to the kingdoms ofAragon andValentia and thecountship of Barcelona. Charles of Valois at once entered into possession of the countship of Anjou, to whichPhilip IV, the Fair, in September 1297, attached apeerage of France. On 16 December 1325, Charles died, leaving Anjou to his eldest sonPhilip of Valois, on whose recognition as King of France (Philip VI) on 1 April 1328, the countship of Anjou was again united to the crown.[4]
At first Anjou was included in thegouvernement (or military command) of Orléanais, but in the 17th century was made into a separate one. Saumur, however, and the Saumurois, for whichKing Henry IV had in 1589 created an independent military governor-generalship in favour of Duplessis-Mornay, continued till the Revolution to form a separategouvernement, which included, besides Anjou, portions of Poitou and Mirebalais. Attached to thegénéralité (administrative circumscription) of Tours, Anjou on the eve of the Revolution comprised fiveêlections (judicial districts):--Angers,Baugé,Saumur,Château-Gontier,Montreuil-Bellay and part of theêlections ofLa Flèche andRichelieu. Financially it formed part of the so-calledpays de grandegabelle, and comprised sixteen special tribunals, orgreniers à sel (salt warehouses):--Angers,Baugé,Beaufort,Bourgueil,Candé, Château-Gontier,Cholet,Craon, La Flèche,Saint-Florent-le-Vieil,Ingrandes,Le Lude,Pouancé,Saint-Rémy-la-Varenne, Richelieu, Saumur. From the point of view of purely judicial administration, Anjou was subject to the parlement of Paris; Angers was the seat of a presidial court, of which the jurisdiction comprised thesénéchaussées of Angers, Saumur, Beaugé, Beaufort and the duchy of Richelieu; there were besides presidial courts at Château-Gontier and La Flèche. When the Constituent Assembly, on 26 February 1790, decreed the division of France into departments, Anjou and the Saumurois, with the exception of certain territories, formed the department of Maine-et-Loire, as at present constituted.[4]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Halphen, Louis (1911), "Anjou", inChisholm, Hugh (ed.),Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 55–58
