Geoffrey Plantagenet ( August 1113- September 1151) who is also known as “Geoffrey, The Handsome” was Count of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine from 1129. He was also the Duke of Normandy from 1144.
Family of Geoffrey Plantagenet
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Geoffrey was born on 24th August 1113 as the eldest son to his parents Fulk V of Anjou and Eremburga de la Fleche, the Lady of Chateau-du-Loir and Countess of Maine. He lived with his family in Angers.
Geoffrey obtained his name from his great grandfather Geoffrey II, Count of Gatinais. However, he received his nickname from the Sprig of bloom or say Planta Genista because of the fact that he loved to sport wearing his helmet. He was an avid hunter and he ordered to plant acres of a broom to advance his chase. Hence he was named after one of the great dynasties of England that ruled the country in the medieval era “The Plantagenets”
Geoffrey also had three siblings younger to him
- Sibylla of Anjou
- Matilda of Anjou and
- Elias II, Count of Maine.
He also had two half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Queen of Jerusalem, Melisende
- Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem
- Amalric I, King of Jerusalem
Geoffrey Plantagenet Marriage To Matilda
In the year 1120, King Henry I and his only male heir William Etheling were returning from Normandy by a boat. On their voyage, their boat rowed onto a rock and along with other crew members, his only son had drowned by the ship disaster. After his son’ death, Henry I married Adeliza of Louvain who was 18 years older to him to obtain another male heir.
Unfortunately, no children were born and then King Henry gathered all his leading barons to the court and forced them to accept his daughter Matilda as their ruler in case of death of the King. After this King decided to find an appropriate husband for his daughter to help her to rule over England by producing male heirs.
During this course, he heard good reports about Geoffrey of Anjou. In June 1128, 15-year-old Geoffrey was married to 11 years older Matilda at the Cathedral of St. Julian in Le Mans. However, the couple disliked each other and were unhappy about the marriage.
The couple had three sons together.
- King Henry II of England who married Eleanor of Aquitaine
- Geoffrey, Count of Nantes who remained unmarried
- William, Viscount of Dieppe who remained unmarried
Geoffrey also had other three illegitimate children’s from an unknown mistress.
- Hamelin of Anjou
- Emme of Anjou
- Mary of Anjou
The Beginning of the Civil War
King Henry, I died in the year 1135 and as per the oaths were taken by the barons, Matilda should be now the Queen of England. But Normans never had a woman as their leader. It clearly meant that all property and rights should be handed over to men, in this case, it would be Geoffrey of Anjou. Hence Geoffrey Plantagenet was their next ruler.
Anjou’s were considered to be Barbarians from the point of view of Norman and so they were not ready to accept an Anjou as their ruler. They thought to make Matilda’s cousin Stephen a king and so he was given the title of Duke of Normandy.
As a result of this Matilda settled herself at Argentan Castle. Afterward, Geoffrey raided on Normandy but was not completely successful to gain control of the area. Situation than favored Matilda when her half brother Robert took back his alliance with Stephen. He attacked Stephen’s forced in England and then joined Geoffrey to take his control back. But this time also they failed in their attempt.
In 1141 Stephen was captured at the Battle of Lincoln and then Matilda tried to crown herself as a queen but people of London strongly rebelled against her and she was then forced to flee away. Still, Matilda did not give up her claim to Normandy and England which resulted in a long civil war that came to be known as The Anarchy between 1135 and 1153.
The Anarchy and Geoffrey’s Control over Normandy
During the period of The Anarchy, Geoffrey tried to conquer the Duchy of Normandy in the northwest of France. His first attempt was unsuccessful in the year 1135. After this, within a year Geoffrey began to conquest Normandy in a systematic manner. By the end of 1143, Geoffrey became successful to conquer Normandy West and South of the Seine. He was fortunate to assume the title of Duke of Normandy in 1144.
Later in the year 1149, Geoffrey while holding Duchy decided to surrender it to their son Henry. Geoffrey and Matilda also decided to abandon her campaign to have control over England. They both returned to Normandy to live a peaceful life.
After Life of Geoffrey Plantagenet
For a few years, the couple got involved themselves in the business with Duchy in a semi-religious treat. Matilda even helped to finance the new stone bridge building over the Seine.
Geoffrey Plantagenet died on the 7th September 1151 because of fever. He was grounded at St. Julien Cathedral in Le Mans.
