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ANJOU

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 58 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ANJOU , the old name of a See also:

French territory, the See also:political origin of which is traced to the See also:ancient Gallic See also:state of the See also:Andes, on the lines of which was organized, after the See also:conquest by See also:Julius See also:Caesar, the See also:Roman civitas of the Andecavi. This was afterwards preserved as an administrative See also:district under the See also:Franks with the name first of pagus, then of comitatus, or See also:count-See also:ship of Anjou. This countship, the extent of which seems to have been practically identical with that of the ecclesiastical See also:diocese of See also:Angers, occupied the greater See also:part of what is now the See also:department of See also:Maine-et-See also:Loire, further embracing, to the See also:north, Craon, Bazouges (See also:Chateau-Gontier), Le Lude, and to the See also:east, Chateau-la-Valliere and Bourgueil, while to the See also:south, on the other See also:hand, it included neither the See also:present See also:town of See also:Montreuil-Bellay, nor Vihiers, See also:Cholet, Beaupreau, nor the whole district lying to the See also:west of the Ironne and Thouet, on the See also:left See also:bank of the Loire, which formed the territory of the Mauges. It was bounded on the north by the countship of Maine, on the east by that of See also:Touraine, on the south by that of See also:Poitiers and by the Mauges, on the west by the countship of See also:Nantes. From the outset of the reign of See also:Charles the Bald, the integrity of Anjou was seriously menaced by a two-See also:fold danger: from See also:Brittany and from See also:Normandy. See also:Lambert, a former count of Nantes, after devastating Anjou in See also:concert with Nominoe, See also:duke of Brittany, had by the end of the See also:year 851 succeeded in occupying all the western part as far as the See also:Mayenne. The principality, which he thus carved out for himself, was occupied, on his See also:death, by Erispoe, duke of Brittany; by him it was handed down to his successors, in whose hands it remained till the beginning of the loth See also:century. All this See also:time the See also:Normans had not ceased ravaging the See also:country; a brave See also:man was needed to defend it, and finally towards 861, Charles the Bald entrusted it to See also:Robert the Strong (q.v.), but he unfortunately met with his death in 866 in a See also:battle against the Normans at Brissarthe. See also:Hugh the See also:Abbot succeeded him in the countship of Anjou as in most of his other duties, and on his death (886) it passed to See also:Odo (q.v.), the eldest son of Robert the Strong, who, on his See also:accession to the See also:throne of See also:France (888), probably handed it over to his See also:brother Robert. In any See also:case, during the last years of the 9th century, in Anjou as elsewhere the See also:power was delegated to a See also:viscount, See also:Fulk the Red (mentioned under this See also:title after 898), son of a certain Ingelgerius. In the second See also:quarter of the loth century Fulk the Red had already usurped the title of count, which his descendants kept for three centuries. He was succeeded first by his son Fulk II. the See also:Good (941 or 942-c.

960), and then by the son of the latter, See also:

Geoffrey I. Grisegonelle (Greytunic) (c. 960-2Ist of See also:July 987), who inaugurated a policy of expansion, having as its See also:objects the See also:extension of the boundaries of the ancient count-ship and the -reconquest of those parts of it which had been annexed by the neighbouring states; for, though western Anjou had been recovered from the See also:dukes of Brittany since the beginning of the loth century, in the east all the district of See also:Saumur had already by that time fallen into the hands of the See also:counts of See also:Blois and See also:Tours. Geoffrey Greytunic succeeded in making the count of Nantes his See also:vassal, and in obtaining from the duke of See also:Aquitaine the concession in See also:fief of the district of See also:Loudun. Moreover, in the See also:wars of See also:king Lothaire against the Normans and against the See also:emperor See also:Otto II. he distinguished himself by feats of arms which the epic poets were See also:quick to celebrate. His son Fulk III. Nerra (q.v.) (21st of July 987-2Ist of See also:June 1040) found himself confronted on his accession with a See also:coalition of Odo I., count of Blois, and Conan I., count of See also:Rennes. The latter having seized upon Nantes, of which the counts of Anjou held themselves to be suzerains, Fulk Nerra came and laid See also:siege to it, routing Conan's See also:army at Conquereuil (27th of June 992) and re-establishing Nantes under his own See also:suzerainty. Then turning his See also:attention to the count of Blois, he proceeded to establish a fortress at See also:Langeais, a few See also:miles from Tours, from which, thanks to the intervention of the king Hugh See also:Capet, Odo failed to oust him. On the death of Odo I., Fulk seized Tours (996) ; but King Robert the Pious turned against him and took the town again (997). In 1o16 a fresh struggle arose between Fulk and Odo II., the new count of Blois. Odo II. was utterly defeated at Pontlevoy (6th of July Io16), and a few years later, while Odo was besieging Montboyau, Fulk surprised and took Saumur (1026).

Finally, the victory gained by Geoffrey Martel (q.v.) (21st of June 1040-14th of See also:

November 1o6o), the son and successor of Fulk, over See also:Theobald III., count of Blois, at Nouy (21st of See also:August 1044), assured to the Angevins the See also:possession of the countship of Touraine. At the same time, continuing in this quarter also the See also:work of his See also:father (who in 1025 • took prisoner See also:Herbert See also:Wake-See also:Dog and only set him See also:free on See also:condition of his doing him See also:homage), Geoffrey succeeded in reducing the countship of Maine to See also:complete dependence on himself. During his father's See also:life-time he had been beaten by See also:Gervais, See also:bishop of Le Mans (1038), but now (1047 or 1048) succeeded in taking the latter prisoner, for which he was excommunicated by See also:Pope See also:Leo IX.at the See also:council of See also:Reims (See also:October 1049). In spite, however, of the concerted attacks of See also:William the See also:Bastard (the Conqueror), duke of Normandy, and See also:Henry I., king of France, he was able in 1051 to force Maine to recognize his authority, though failing to revenge himself on William. On the death of Geoffrey Martel (14th of November io6o) there was a dispute as to the See also:succession. Geoffrey Martel, having no See also:children, had bequeathed the countship to his eldest See also:nephew, Geoffrey III. the Bearded, son of Geoffrey, count of Gatinais, and of Ermengarde, daughter of Fulk Nerra. But Fulk le Rechin (the See also:Cross-looking), brother of Geoffrey the Bearded, who had at first been contented with an See also:appanage consisting of See also:Saintonge and the chdtellenie of Vihiers, having allowed Saintonge to be taken in 1062 by the duke of Aquitaine, took See also:advantage of the See also:general discontent aroused in the countship by the unskilful policy of Geoffrey to make himself See also:master of Saumur (25th of See also:February 1067) and Angers (4th of See also:April), and See also:cast Geoffrey into See also:prison at See also:Sable. Compelled by the papal authority to See also:release him after a See also:short See also:interval and to restore the countship to him, he soon renewed the struggle, See also:beat Geoffrey near See also:Brissac and shut him up in the See also:castle of See also:Chinon (ro68). In See also:order, however, to obtain his recognition as count, Fulk IV. Rechin (1o68-14th of April I1o9) had to carry on a See also:long struggle with his barons, to cede Gatinais to King See also:Philip 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 See also:Fleche, by the See also:peace of Blanchelande (lo8r), he received the homage of Robert " Courteheuse " (" Curthose "), son of William the Conqueror, for Maine. Later, he upheld See also:Elias, See also:lord of La Fleche, against William See also:Rufus, king of See also:England, and on the recognition of Elias as count of Maine in iroo, obtained for Fulk the See also:Young, his son by Bertrade de See also:Montfort, the hand of Eremburge, Elias's daughter and See also:sole heiress.

Fulk V. the Young (14th of April 1109-1129) succeeded to the countship of Maine on the death of Elias (11th of July 11 1o); but this increase of Angevin territory came into such See also:

direct collision with the interests of Henry I., king of England, who was also duke of Normandy, that a struggle between the two See also:powers became inevitable. In 1112 it See also:broke out, and Fulk, being unable to prevent Henry I. from taking See also:Alencon and making Robert, lord of Belleeme, prisoner, was forced, at the treaty of See also:Pierre Pecoulee, near Alencon (23rd of February 1113), to do homage to Henry for Maine. In revenge for this, while See also:Louis VI. was overrunning the Vexin in 1118, he routed Henry's army at Alencon (November), and in May 1119 Henry demanded a peace, which was sealed in June by the See also:marriage of his eldest son, William the Aetheling, with See also:Matilda, Fulk's daughter. William the Aetheling having perished in the See also:wreck of the " See also:White Ship " (25th of November 1120), Fulk, on his return from a See also:pilgrimage to the See also:Holy See also:Land (1120-1121), married his second daughter Sibyl, at the instigation of Louis VI., to William Clito, son of Robert Courteheuse, and a claimant to the duchy of Normandy, giving her Maine for a See also: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 See also:alliance was made, and on the 22nd of May at See also:Rouen, Henry I. betrothed his daughter Matilda, widow of the emperor Henry V., to Geoffrey the Handsome, son of Fulk, the marriage being celebrated at Le Mans on the 2nd of June 1129. Shortly after, on the invitation of See also:Baldwin II., king of See also:Jerusalem, Fulk departed to the Holy Land for good, married Melisinda, Baldwin's daughter and heiress, and succeeded to the throne of Jerusalem (i4th of See also:September 1131). His eldest son, Geoffrey IV. the Handsome or " See also:Plantagenet," succeeded him as count of Anjou (1129-7th of September 1151). From the first he tried to profit by his marriage, and after the death of Henry I. (1st of See also:December 1135), laid the See also:foundation of the conquest of Normandy by a See also:series of See also:campaigns: about the end of 1135 or the beginning of 1136 he entered that country and rejoined his wife, the countess 16Iatilda, who had received the submission of See also:Argentan, See also:Domfront and Exmes. Having been abruptly recalled into Anjou by a revolt of his barons, he returned to the See also:charge in September 1136 with a strong army, including in its ranks William, duke of Aquitaine, Geoffrey, count of See also:Vendome, and William Talvas, count of Ponthieu, but after a few successes was wounded in the See also:foot at the siege of Le See also:Sap (October 1) and had to fall back. In May 1137 began a fresh See also:campaign in which he devastated the district of Hiemois (See also:round Exmes) and burnt Bazoches.

In June 1138, with the aid of Robert of See also:

Gloucester, Geoffrey obtained the submission of See also:Bayeux and See also:Caen; in October he devastated the neighbourhood of See also:Falaise; finally, in See also:March 1141, on See also:hearing of his wife's success in England; he again entered Normandy, when he made a triumphal procession through the country. Town after town surrendered: in 1141, See also:Verneuil, Nonancourt, See also:Lisieux, Falaise; in 1142, See also:Mortain, See also:Saint-Hilaire, Pontorson; in 1143, See also:Avranches, Saint-L6, Cerences, See also:Coutances, See also:Cherbourg; in the beginning of 1144 he entered Rouen, and on the 19th of See also:January received the ducal See also:crown in its See also:cathedral. Finally, in 1149, after crushing a last See also:attempt at revolt, he handed over the duchy to his son Henry " Curtmantel," who received the See also:investiture at the hands of the king of France. All the while that Fulk the Young and Geoffrey the Handsome were carrying on the work of extending the countship of Anjou, they did not neglect to strengthen their authority at See also:home, to which the unruliness of the .barons was a menace. As regards Fulk the Young we know only a few isolated facts and See also:dates: about 11o9 Done and L'Ile Bouchard were taken; in 1112 Brissac was besieged, and about the same time Eschivard of Preuilly subdued; in 1114 there was a general See also:war against the barons who were in revolt, and in 1118 a fresh rising, which was put down after the siege of Montbazon; in 1123 the lord of Done revolted, and in 1124 Montreuil-Bellay was taken after a siege of nine See also:weeks. Geoffrey the Handsome, with his indefatigable See also:energy, was eminently fitted to suppress the coalitions of his vassals, the most formidable of which was formed in 1129. Among those who revolted were See also:Guy of See also:Laval, See also:Giraud of Montreuil-Bellay, the viscount of See also:Thouars, the lords of Mirebeau, See also:Amboise, See also:Parthenay and Sable. Geoffrey succeeded in beating them one after another, razed the keep of Thouars and occupied Mirebeau. Another rising was crushed in 1134 by the destruction of Cantle and the taking of L'Ile Bouchard. In 1136, while the count was in Normandy, Robert of Sable put himself at the See also:head of the See also:movement, to which Geoffrey responded by destroying Briollay and occupying La Suze, and Robert of Sable himself was forced to beg humbly for See also:pardon through the intercession of the bishop of Angers. In 1139.Geoffrey took Mirebeau, and in 1142 Champtoceaux, but in 1145 a new revolt broke out, this time under the leadership of Elias, the count's own brother, who, again with the assistance of Robert of Sable, laid claim to the countship of Maine. Geoffrey took Elias prisoner, forced Robert of Sable to beat a See also:retreat, and reduced the other barons to See also:reason.

In 1147 he destroyed Done and Blaison. Finally in 115o he was checked by the revolt of Giraud, lord of Montreuil-Bellay: for a year he besieged the See also:

place till it had to surrender; he then took Giraud prisoner and only released him on the See also:mediation of the king of France. Thus, on the death of Geoffrey the Handsome (7th of September 1151), his son Henry found himself See also:heir to a See also:great See also:empire, strong and consolidated, to which his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine (May 1152) further added Aquitaine. At length on the death of King See also:Stephen, Henry was recognised as king of England (19th of December 1154). But then his brother Geoffrey, who had received as appanage the three fortresses of Chinon, Loudun and Mirebeau, tried to seize upon Anjou, on the pretext that, by the will of their father, Geoffrey the Handsome, all the paternal See also: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 See also:oath by the pope, and hurriedly marched against his brother, from whom in the beginning of 1156 he succeeded in taking Chinon and Mire-beau; and in July he forced Geoffrey to give up even his three fortresses in return for an See also:annual See also:pension. Henceforward Henry succeeded in keeping the countship of Anjou all his life; forthough he granted it in 1168 to his son Henry, " of the Short See also:Mantle," when the latter became old enough to govern it, he absolutely refused to allow him to enjoy his power. After Henry II.'s death in 1189 the countship, together with the See also:rest of his dominions, passed to his son See also:Richard I. of England, but on the death of the latter in 1199, See also:Arthur of Brittany (See also:born in 1187) laid claim to the inheritance, which ought, according to him, to have fallen to his father Geoffrey, See also:fourth son of Henry II., in accordance with the See also:custom by which " the son of the eldest brother should succeed to his father's patrimony." He therefore set himself up in rivalry with See also:John Lackland, youngest son of Henry II., and supported by Philip See also:Augustus of France, and aided by William See also:des Roches, See also:seneschal of Anjou, he managed to enter Angers (18th of April 1199) and there have himself recognized as count of the three countships of Anjou, Maine and Touraine, for which he did homage to the king of France. King John soon regained the upper hand, for Philip Augustus having deserted Arthur by the treaty of Le Goulet (22nd of May 1200), John made his way into Anjou; and on the 18th of June 1200 was recognized as count at Angers. In 1202 he refused to do homage to Philip Augustus, who, in consequence, confiscated all his See also:continental possessions, including Anjou, which was allotted by the king of France to Arthur. The defeat of the latter, who was taken prisoner at Mirebeau on the 1st of August 1202, seemed to ensure John's success, but he was abandoned by William des Roches, who in 1203 assisted Philip Augustus in subduing the whole of Anjou. A last effort on the part of John to possess himself of it, in 1214, led to the taking of Angers (17th of June), but broke down lamentably at the battle of La Rocheaux-Moines (2nd of July), and the countship was attached to the crown of France.

Shortly afterwards it was separated from it again, when in August 1246 King Louis IX. gave it as an appanage to his son Charles, count of See also:

Provence, soon to become king of See also:Naples and See also:Sicily (see NAPLES). Charles I. of Anjou, engrossed with his other dominions, gave little thought to Anjou, nor did his son Charles IL the Lame, who succeeded him on the 7th of January 1285. On the 16th of August 129o, the latter married his daughter See also:Margaret to Charles of See also:Valois, son of Philip III. the Bold, giving her Anjou and Maine for dowry, in See also:exchange for the kingdoms of See also:Aragon and See also:Valentia and the countship of See also:Barcelona given up by Charles. Charles of Valois at once entered into possession of the countship of Anjou, to which Philip IV. the See also:Fair, in September 1297, attached a See also:peerage of France. On the 16th of December 1325, Charles died, leaving Anjou to his eldest son Philip of Valois, on whose recognition as king of France (Philip VI.) on the 1st of April 1328, the countship of Anjou was again See also:united to the crown. On the 17th of February 1332, Philip VI. bestowed it on his son John the Good, who, when he became king in turn (22nd of August 1350), gave the countship to his second son Louis I., raising it to a duchy in the peerage of France by letters patent of the 25th of October 136o. Louis I., who became in time count of Provence and king of Naples (see Louts I., king of Naples,) died in 1384, and was succeeded by his son Louis II., who devoted most of his energies to his See also:kingdom of Naples, and left the ad ministration of Anjou almost entirely in the hands of his wife, See also:Yolande of Aragon. On his death (29th of April 1417) she took upon herself the guardianship of their young son Louis III., and in her capacity of See also:regent defended the duchy against the See also:English. Louis III., who also succeeded his father as king of Naples, died on the 15th of November 1434, leaving no children. The duchy of Anjou then passed to his See also:cousin Rene, second son of Louis II. and Yolande of Aragon, and king of Naples and Sicily (see NAPLES). Unlike his predecessors, who had rarely stayed long in Anjou, Rene from 1g43 onwards paid long visits to it, and his See also:court at Angers became one of the most brilliant in the kingdom of France. But after the sudden death of his son John in December 1470, Rene, for reasons which are not altogether clear, decided to move his See also:residence to Provence and leave Anjou for good.

After making an See also:

inventory of all his possessions, he left the duchy in October 1471, taking with him the most valuable of his treasures. On.the 22nd of July 1474 he See also:drew up a will by which he divided the succession between his See also:grandson Rene II. of See also:Lorraine and his nephew Charles II., count of Maine. On hearing this, King Louis XI., who was the son of one of King Rene's sisters, seeing that his expectations were thus completely frustrated, seized the duchy of Anjou. He did not keep it very long, but became reconciled to Rene in 1476 and restored it to him, on condition, probably, that Rene should bequeath it to him. However that may be, on the death of the latter (loth of July 1480) he again added Anjou to the royal domain. Later, King See also:Francis I. again gave the duchy as an appanage to his See also:mother, See also:Louise of See also:Savoy, by letters patent of the 4th of February 1515. On her death, in September 1531, the duchy returned into the king's possession. In 1552 it was given as an appanage by Henry II. to his son Henry of Valois, who, on becoming king in 1574, with the title of Henry III., conceded it to his brother Francis, duke of Alen See also:con, at the treaty of See also:Beaulieu near See also:Loches (6th of May 1576). Francis died on the loth of June 1584, and the vacant appanage definitively became part of the royal domain. At first Anjou was included in the gouvernement (or military command) of See also:Orleanais, but in the 17th century was made into a See also:separate one. Saumur, however, and the Sautnurois, for which King Henry IV. had in 1589 created an See also:independent military See also:governor-generalship in favour of Duplessis-See also:Mornay, continued till the Revolution to See also:form a separate gouvernement, which included, besides Anjou, portions of See also:Poitou and Mirebalais. Attached to the generalite (administrative circumscription) of Tours, Anjou on the See also:eve of the Revolution comprised five elections (judicial districts) : Angers, Beauge, Saumur, Chateau-Gontier, Montreuil-Bellay and part of the elections of La Fleche and See also:Richelieu.

Financially it formed part of the so-called pays de grande See also:

gabelle (see GABELLE), and comprised sixteen See also:special tribunals, or greniers a set (See also:salt warehouses) :—Angers, Beauge, See also:Beaufort, Bourgueil, Cantle, Chateau-Gontier, Cholet, Craon, La Fleche, Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, Ingrandes, Le Lude, Pouance, Saint-Remy-la-Varenne, Richelieu, Saumur. From the point of view of purely judicial See also:administration, Anjou was subject to the See also:parlement of See also:Paris; Angers was the seat of a presidial court, of which the See also:jurisdiction comprised the senechaussees of Angers, Saumur, Beauge, Beaufort and the duchy of Richelieu; there were besides presidial courts at Chateau-Gontier and La Fleche. When the Constituent See also:Assembly, on the 26th of February 1790, decreed the See also:division of France into departments, Anjou and the Saumurois,with the exception of certain territories, formed the department of See also:Blaine-et-Loire, as at present constituted. (2) See also:Works: The See also:Art de verifier See also:les dates contains a See also:history of Anjou which is very much out of date, but has. not been treated elsewhere as a whole. The 11th century only has been treated in detail by Louis Haiphen, in Le See also:Comte d'Anjou au XI' siecle (Paris, 1906), which has a See also:preface with bibliography and an introduction dealing with the history of Anjou in the loth century. For the loth, 11th and 12th centuries, a good See also:summary will be found in Kate Norgate. England under the Angevin See also:Kings (2 vols., See also:London, 1887). On Rene of Anjou, there is a See also:book by A. Lecoy de la See also:Marche, Le Roi Rene (2 vols., Paris, 1875). Lastly, the work of Celestin See also:Port, Dictionnaire historique, geographique et biographique de Maine-et-Loire (3 vols.. Paris and Angers, 1874-1878), and its small See also:volume of Preliminaires (including a summary of the history of Anjou), contain, in addition to the See also:biographies of the See also:chief counts of Anjou, a See also:mass of See also:information concerning everything connected with Angevin history. (L.

End of Article: ANJOU

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