- Geoffrey I, Count of Anjou
Geoffrey I of Anjou (died July 21, 987), known as "Grisegonelle" ("Greymantle"), was count of Anjou from 958 to 987. He succeeded his father Fulk II. He cultivated the loyal support of a group of magnates, some of whom he inherited from his father, ["Although the documentation for the later ninth and early tenth centuries in Anjou is not good, enough material does survive to suggest a noteworthy continuity in the entourage of the Angevins counts" concludes Bernard S. Bachrach, "Enforcement of the Forma Fidelitatis: The Techniques Used by Fulk Nerra, Count of the Angevins (987-1040)" "Speculum" 59.4 (October 1984:796-819) p. 801, note 26.] others whom he recruited: men such as Alberic of Vihiers, Cadilo of Blaison, Roger I (le "vieux") of Loudon, Joscelin of Rennes, castellan of Baugé, Suhard I of Craon, Tobert of Buzençais and members of the Bouchard clan, and encouraged them to see their own dynastic interests as tied to the success of the Angevin count. [Bachrach 1984:799f.] He succeeded in establishing a group of "fideles" upon whom his son, Fulk called "Nerra", was able to depend in establishing Anjou as a cohesive regional power in an age of territorial disintegration. [Other exceptions to the disintegration of the "
pagus ", in addition to the example of Anjou, wereNormandy andFlanders . (François Marignier, "Political and monastic structures in France at the end of the tenth and the beginning of the eleventh centuries", in Frederic L. Cheyette, ed. and tr., "Lordship and Community in Medieval Europe" (New York) 1967:106, 125. ] In preparing the way, Geoffrey was the first count in the west of France to associate his son in the comital title. [Bachrach 1984:802.]Geoffrey allied with the Count of Nantes against the Count of Rennes, and allied with
Hugh Capet , fearing an invasion by theCount of Blois . He was one of the men responsible for bringing Hugh to the throne ofFrance .Family and children
He married
Adele of Meaux (934–982), daughter ofRobert of Vermandois and Adelais de Vergy. Their children were:
#Fulk III of Anjou .
# Ermengarde of Anjou (b. 965), marriedConan I of Rennes .
# Gerberga (b. 973), married CountWilliam IV of Angoulême .He married, secondly, to Adelaise de Chalon in Mar 979 and had one child:
# Maurice of Anjou (980 - 1012), married to a daughter of Aimery, Count of Saintes and had one son.Notes
ources
*Mabille, Emile. "Introduction aux chroniques des comtes d'Anjou" (Paris) 1871.
External links
* [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ANJOU,%20MAINE.htm#GeoffroyIdied987A FMG on Geoffrey I, Count of Anjou]
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