Count Geoffrey Plantagenet ANJOU

   Other names for Geoffrey were "The Handsome", ANJOU Count, II, "The Fair", "Le Bon", V and Geoffroi.

   Ancestral File Number: 8WKK-1D. User ID: 37819488.

   General Notes:

"Le Bon", "The Handsome", "The Fair", Count of ANJOU.

Not Married Concubine I Geoffrey Plantagenet V Count of Anjou, Not Married Concubine II Geoffrey Plantagenet V Count of Anjou.

BOOKS
Barber Grandparents: 125 Kings, 143 Generations, Ted Butler Bernard and Gertrude Barber Bernard, 1978, McKinney TX, p93: "419T Geoffrey, `The Fair', Count of Anjou, (S of 403, F of 428)."

Kings and Queens of Great Britain, Genealogical Chart, Anne Taute and Romilly Squire, Taute, 1990: "The Empress, Mar =2 Geoffrey Count of Anjou, Died 1151"

The Political History of England, Vol II, George Burton Adams, Longmans Green and Co, 1905, Ch VIII, p178:
[1127] "...The situation demanded measures of direct defence, and Henry was led to take the decisive step, so eventful for all the future history of Eng- land, of marrying Matilda a second time. Immediately after Whitsuntide of 1127, Matilda was sent over to Normandy, attended by Robert of Gloucester and Brian Fitz Count, and at Rouen was formally betrothed by the archbishop of that city to Geoffrey, son of Fulk of Anjou. The marriage did not take place till two years later.
"For this marriage no consent of English or Norman barons was asked, andnone was granted. Indeed, we are led to suspect that Henry considered it unlikely that he could obtain consent, and deemed it wiser not to let his plans be known until they were so far accomplished as to make opposition useless. The Natural rivalry and hostility between Normandy and Anjou had been so many times passed onfrom father to son that such a marriage as this could seem to the Norman barons nothing but a humiliation, and to the Angevins hardly less than a triumph. The opposition, however, spent itself in murmurs. The king was too strong. Probably alsothe political advantages were too obvious to warrant any attempt to defeat the scheme. Matilda herself is said to have been much opposed to the marriage, and this we can easily believe. Geoffrey was more than ten years her junior, and still amere boy. She had but recently occupied the position of highest rank in the world to which a woman could attain. She was naturally of a proud and haughty spirit. We are told nothing of the arguments which induced her to consent; but in this case again the political advantage, the necessity of the marriage to the security of her succession, must have been the controlling motive.
"...With William Clito likey to be in possession of the resources of a strong feudal state, heartily supported by the king of France, felt by the great mass of Norman barons to be the rightful heir, and himself of considerable energy of character, the odds would be decidedly in favour of his succession. The balance could be restored only by bringing forward in support of Matilda's claim a power equal to William's and certain not to abandon her cause. Henry could feel that he had accomplished this by the marriage with Geoffrey, and he had every reason to believe that he had convertedat the same time one of the probable enemies of his policy into its most interested defender. Could he have foreseen the early death of William, he might have had reason to hesitate and to question whether some other marriage might not lead toa more sure success. That this plan failed in the end is only a proof of Henry's foresight in providing, against an almost inevitable failure, the best defence which ingenuity could devise."
p188: "...The medieval heir was usually in a hurry to enter into his inheritance, and Geoffrey of Anjou, who probably felt his position greatly strengthened by the birth of his son, was no exception to the rule. He demanded possessions in Normandy. He made little wars on his own account. Matilda, who seems now to have identified herself with her husband's interests, upheld his demands..."
p191: "Earls and barons, whom the rumour of his illness had drawn together, surrounded the death-bed of Henry I and awaited the result. Among them was his natural son Robert of Gloucester; but his legal heiress, the daughter for whom he had done so much and risked so much, was not there. The recent attempt of her husband, Geoffrey of Anjou, to gain by force the footing in Normandy which Henry had denied him, had drawn her away from her father, and she was still in Anjou. It was afterward declared that Henry on his death-bed disinherited her and made Stephen of Boulogne heir in her place; but this is not probable, andit is met by the statement which we may believe was derived directly from Robert of Gloucester, that the dying king declared his will to be still in her favour..."
Ch IX, p210:
"In September, 1136, central Normandy was the scene of another useless and savage raid of Geoffrey of Anjou, accompanied by William, the last duke of Aquitaine, William Talvas, and others. They penetrated the country as far as Lisieux, treating the churches and servants of God, says Orderic Vitalis,after the manner of the heathen, but were obliged to retreat; and finally, though he had been joined by Matilda, Geoffrey, badly wounded, abandoned this attempt also and returned to Anjou."
Ch XI, p245: [1150] "...Soon after Henry's return from England, his father had handed over to him the only portion of his mother's inheritance which had yet been recovered, the duchy of Normandy, and retired himself to his hereditary dominions. Geoffrey had never shown, so far as we know, any interest in his wife's campaigns in England, and had confined his attention to Normandy, in which one who was still primarily a count of Anjou would naturally have themost concern; and of all the efforts of the family this was the only one which was successful. Now while still a young man, with rare disregard of self, he gave up his conquest to his son, who had been brought up to consider himself as belonging rather to England than to Anjou..."
p246: [1151] "...Louis recognized Henry as Duke of Normandy and accepted his homage. Henry at once ordered an assembly of the Norman barons, on September 14, to consider the invasion of England; but his plans wereinterrupted by the sudden death of his father a week before this date. Geoffrey was then in his thirty-ninth year. The course of his life had been marked out for him by the plans of others, and it is obscured for us by the deeper interest of the sturggle in England, and by the greater brilliancy of his son's history; but in the conquest of Normandy he had accomplished a work which was the highest value to his house, and of the greatest assistance to the rapid success of his son on a wider field. "Events were now steadily moving in favour of Henry. At the close of 1151, the death of his father added the county of Anjou to his duchy of Normandy..."

A History of the Plantagenets, Vol I, The Conquering Family, Thomas B Costain, Doubleday & Co, Garden City, 1949, p1:
"...Here [in the Angevin country] in the spring and early summer the hedges and fields were yellow with a species of gorse (it still grows in profusion) called the `planta genesta.' It was in an early year of the twelfth century that a handsome young mannamed Geoffrey, son of the Count of Anjou, fell into the habit of wearing a sprig in the history of the yellow bloom in his helmet. This may be called the first stage in the history of the conquering family who came to govern England, and whoare called the Plantagenets."
p21: [Was Henry II the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet or Stephen Blois?] "...There is still, however, another bit of evidence, and this time it is both more important and credible, being based at least on fact. When Geoffrey of Anjou died, he left instructions that he was not to be buried until his son Henry had agreed to accept the terms of his will. Now the will had not been opened and could not be immediately, and Henry found himself in a most uncomfortable dilemma. What unacceptable terms might the will contain? What sacrifices might it demand of him? Henry was not the kind of man to enter into blind conpacts. And yet there was the body of his father awaiting burial and, it may be assumed, losing something in preservation with each hour. Finally, and most unbraciously, Henry gave in. He would accept the conditions. Without a doubt the body of the dead earl was then lowered at once into the grave.
"When the will was read,it was found that the earldoms of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine, which Geoffrey had held in his own right, were left as a matter of course to the eldest son. Geoffrey, the second son, received three castles, Mirabeau, Chinon, and Loudon. It was added, however, that sould Henry become King of England the three earldoms were then to go to Geoffrey. Such wily precautions to trap Henry into acceptance would not have been resorted to if the father had not felt strongly that his own possessions should go the second son...
"It is still barely beyond the limits of surmise, but it cannot be passed over. There has always been a pride displayed in certain qualities of the English kings who are grouped under the heading of Plantagenet. They were tall, golden men, with piercing blue eyes and immense physical strength; cruel and possessive and revengeful, but nonetheless rulers of ability and of considerable character. How ironic it would be if not a drop of Plantagenet blood had ever flowed in the veins of an English king!"
p59: "For the time being, however, [King Louis VII] was too busy with a feudal dispute to worry about his marriage. He found himself at war with one of the most formidable of French bassals-Geoffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou. The quarrel was over Geoffrey's treatment of Rigaud Berlai, the lord of Montreuil-Bellay near Saumur. Rigaud was the count's most turbulent vassal, who constantly ravaged his lands. Unfortunately he was also Louis's senexchal in Poitou. When the king left France on crusade the count began siege of Montreuil-Bellay that was to last for three years. As soon as Louis returned, Rigaud appealed to him for help, but only when Geoffrey finally stormedand burned Montreuil-Bellay, shackling Rigaud like a common felon, did the king intervene. He beseiged Arques in Normandy- where the count's son was duke- and sacked Seez. He was soon made to realize that he was facing dangerous and resourcefulopponents. Bernard of Clairvaux stepped in and Geoffrey and Louis agreed to let him arbitrate. Accordingly the count and his son, Henry FitzEmpress, rode to Paris bringing the miserable Rigaud with them, still in chains.
"They reached Paris in August 1151. Henry paid homage for his new duchy ofNormandy and Louis received it, recognizing him as duke; but there was an unedifying wrangle over Rigaud. Bernard had had the count excommunicated for attacking Rigaud while the king wasaway on crusade and breaking `the truce of God'. He graciously offered to absolve Geoffrey if he would release Rigaud at once. To the saint's angry astonishment the count refused, saying that he hoped God would not forgive him if imprisoning Rigaud had been a sin. Bernard prophesied an early and evil end for a man who could utter such blasphemy. Eventually Geoffrey became more reasonable and after his son had agreed to hand over most of the Vexin (on the Norman border) the two sidesagreed on a peace settlement.
"Eleanor seems to have been very impressed by these two visitors. Geoffrey was a fine-looking man (his other nickname besides Plantagenet was `the Handsome') and territorially he was almost as powerful as Louis. He had married the lady Matilda, widow of the emperor Henry V and daughter and heiress of Henry I of England: her cousin Stephen of Blois had usurped the throne, but her supporters were many and there was a good chance that her son by Geoffrey would one day become king..."
"The catalyst that ended [Eleanor's] marriage was St Bernard. Sure enough, his curse struck Geoffrey down within a matter of days. The hourney back to Anjou was a hot one and on the way the count went fora swim in a little stream that ran into the Loire; the same night he was stricken by a fever and three days later, on 7 September, he died. Everyone must have remembered the saint's prophecy..."

The Oxford Book of Royal Anecdotes, Elizabeth Longford, 1991, Oxford Univ Press, pxix: "Normans and Plantagenets Genealogy: Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou and Maine, who won the Duchy from Stephen, mar Matilda (2), died 1151."

The Story of Civilization, Will Durant, Vol IV, The Age ofFaith, Bk V, The Climax of Christianity, Ch XXV, The Recovery of Europe, Sec VIII, England, p670: "Geoffrey of Anjou, father of Henry II, had worn a sprig (planta) of the broom plant (Fr. genet) in his hat...thus began the Plantagenet dynasty."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Micropaedia, Vol VIII, p 26, Plantagent: "A surname commonly applied to members of the royal house of England between 1154 and 1485, the members of which were descended from the union between Geoffrey, Count of Anjou (died 1151), and the Empress Matilda, daughter of the English King Henry I. Although well-established, the practice has little historical justification. The name Plantagenet seems to have originated as a nickname for Count Geoffrey, andit has been variously explained as referring to his practice of wearing a sprig of broom (Latin `genista') in his hat or, more probably, to his habit of planting brooms to improve his hunting covers. It was not, however, a hereditary surname,and Geoffrey's descendants in England remained without one for more than 250 years, although surnames became universal outside the royal family. Henry II and his sons, Richard I and John, are now generally styled by historians as the Angevin kings, but, for want of a better name, their successors, notably Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III, are still described as Plantagenets..."

The New Columbia Encyclopedia, 1975, p103, Angevin: "Fr=`of Anjou', name of two medieval dynasties originating in France. The first ruled over parts of France and over Jerusalem and England...The older house issued from one Fulk, who became Count of Anjou in the 10th century. Fulk V of Anjou, one of his descendants, became (1131) King of Jerusalem...Fulk V's elder son, Geoffrey IV (Geoffrey Plantagenet), inherited Anjou. He married Matilda of England, daughter of King Henry I of England, and conquered Normandy. Their son became (1154) the first Angevin (or Plantagenet) King of Englandas Henry II. His successors were Richard I, John, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, and Richard II, after whom the English branch split into the houses of Lancaster and of York..."

The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England, Antonia Fraser, 1975, Alfred Knopf, p25: "Geoffrey Plantagenet Count of Anjou died 1150..."

INTERNET
Draper Gedcom
http://www.my-ged.com/db/page/draper/01287
Geoffrey (Geoffroi) IV the Fair, Plantaganet, 10th Count of Anjou, 1129-1151, Duke of Normandy, 1144-1150, married about 1127 Matilda (Maud the English Empress), daughter of King Henry I. of England and his wife, Matilda of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III, King of Scotland. Geoffrey was the original Plantaganet, so named by his companions for the broom corn he wore on his person. ("The Genealogy of Homer Beers James", V1, JANDA Consultants, © 1993 Homer James)

ANCESTRY.COM
World Ancestral Chart No. 17779 James Carl Romans: Geoffrey II Plantagenet.
World Ancestral Chart No. 31759 Ancestors of Warren Cash 1760.
World Ancestral Chart No. 124053 Ancestors of George Philips Ballard.
World Ancestral Chart No. 125360 Ancestors of Patricia Ann Kieffer.

ANCESTRAL FILE
Ancestral File Ver 4.10 8WKK-1D.

   Marriage Information:

Geoffrey married Empress Matilda England GERMANY, daughter of King Henry ENGLAND, I and Queen Matilda Edith Scotland ENGLAND, on 22 May 1127 in Le Mans, Sarthe, Maine, France. (Empress Matilda England GERMANY was born before 5 Aug 1102 in London, Middlesex, England, died about 10 Sep 1167-1169 in Notre Dame, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France and was buried in Bec Abbey, Le Bec-Hellouin, Eure, France.)

   Marriage Information:

Geoffrey also married Concubine Anjou Geoffrey Plantagenet V , I. (Concubine Anjou Geoffrey Plantagenet V , I was born about 1112 in , Normandy, France.)

   Marriage Information:

Geoffrey also married Concubine Anjou Geoffrey Plantagenet V , II.