Geoffrey V — called the Handsome and Plantagenet — was the Count of Anjou, Touraine, and
Maine by inheritance from 1129 and then Duke of Normandy by conquest from 1144. By his
marriage to the Empress Matilda, daughter and heiress of Henry I of England, Geoffrey
had a son, Henry Curtmantle, who succeeded to the English throne and founded the Plantagenet
dynasty to which Geoffrey gave his nickname.
Biography Early life
Geoffrey was the elder son of Foulques V d'Anjou and Eremburga de La Flèche, daughter of Elias
I of Maine. He was named after his great-grandfather Geoffrey II, Count of Gâtinais. Geoffrey
received his nickname from the yellow sprig of broom blossom he wore in his hat. King
Henry I of England, having heard good reports on Geoffrey's talents and prowess, sent his
royal legates to Anjou to negotiate a marriage between Geoffrey and his own daughter, Empress
Matilda. Consent was obtained from both parties, and on 10 June 1128 the fifteen-year-old Geoffrey
was knighted in Rouen by King Henry in preparation for the wedding.
Marriage Geoffrey and Matilda's marriage took place
in 1128. The marriage was meant to seal a peace between England/Normandy and Anjou.
She was eleven years older than Geoffrey, and very proud of her status as empress dowager.
Their marriage was a stormy one with frequent long separations, but she bore him three sons
and survived him. Count of Anjou
The year after the marriage Geoffrey's father left for Jerusalem, leaving Geoffrey behind
as count of Anjou. John of Marmoutier describes Geoffrey as handsome, red-headed, jovial,
and a great warrior; however, Ralph of Diceto alleges that his charm camouflaged a cold
and selfish character. When King Henry I died in 1135, Matilda at
once entered Normandy to claim her inheritance. The border districts submitted to her, but
England chose her cousin Stephen of Blois for its king, and Normandy soon followed suit.
The following year, Geoffrey gave Ambrieres, Gorron, and Chatilon-sur-Colmont to Juhel
de Mayenne, on condition that he help obtain the inheritance of Geoffrey's wife.
In 1139 Matilda landed in England with 140 knights, where she was besieged at Arundel
Castle by King Stephen. In the "Anarchy" which ensued, Stephen was captured at Lincoln in
February 1141, and imprisoned at Bristol. A legatine council of the English church held
at Winchester in April 1141 declared Stephen deposed and proclaimed Matilda "Lady of the
English". Stephen was subsequently released from prison and had himself recrowned on the
anniversary of his first coronation. During 1142 and 1143, Geoffrey secured all
of Normandy west and south of the Seine, and, on 14 January 1144, he crossed the Seine and
entered Rouen. He assumed the title of Duke of Normandy in the summer of 1144. In 1144,
he founded an Augustine priory at Chateau-l'Ermitage in Anjou. Geoffrey held the duchy until 1149,
when he and Matilda conjointly ceded it to their son, Henry, which cession was formally
ratified by King Louis VII of France the following year.
Geoffrey also put down three baronial rebellions in Anjou, in 1129, 1135, and 1145–1151.
He was often at odds with his younger brother, Elias, whom he had imprisoned until 1151.
The threat of rebellion slowed his progress in Normandy, and is one reason he could not
intervene in England. In 1153, the Treaty of Wallingford allowed Stephen should remain
King of England for life and that Henry, the son of Geoffrey and Matilda should succeed
him. Death
Geoffrey died suddenly on 7 September 1151. According to John of Marmoutier, Geoffrey
was returning from a royal council when he was stricken with fever. He arrived at Château-du-Loir,
collapsed on a couch, made bequests of gifts and charities, and died. He was buried at
St. Julien's Cathedral in Le Mans France. Legacy
Children Geoffrey and Matilda's children were:
Henry II of England Geoffrey, Count of Nantes died unmarried and
was buried in Nantes William X, Count of Poitou died unmarried
Geoffrey also had illegitimate children by an unknown mistress: Hamelin; Emme, who married
Dafydd Ab Owain Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales; and Mary, who became a nun and Abbess of Shaftesbury
and who may be the poetess Marie de France. Adelaide of Angers is sometimes sourced as
being the mother of Hamelin. Earliest heraldry?
It has long been thought that the earliest documented instance of heraldry was that in
a report by Jean de Marmentier, a late-12th-century chronicler, that in 1128 Henry I of England
knighted his son-in-law Geoffrey and granted him a badge of gold lions. A gold lion may
already have been Henry's own badge, and different lion motifs would later be used by many of
his descendants. An enamel effigy created at the direction of his widow shows Geoffrey
with a shield with gold lions on a blue background. Thus, this may be evidence of one of the first
authentic representations of a coat of arms and, according to British historian Jim Bradbury,
"suggests possible evidence for the early use of what became the English royal arms".
Bradbury also concedes, however, that "this is often discredited as written later". According
to French medievalist Michel Pastoureau, "for a long time heraldists believed that the earliest
documented arms were those of Geoffrey Plantagenet…unfortunately [the] text was written after the death of
Geoffrey…and the funerary plaque was created around 1155–60, at the request of his widow….
So Geoffrey Plantagenet probably never bore arms." Pastoureau adds that "Moreover, it
has yet to be established which are the oldest extant arms, although that is a rather futile
exercise". Fictional portrayals
Geoffrey was portrayed by actor Bruce Purchase in the 1978 BBC TV series The Devil's Crown,
which dramatised the reigns of his son and grandsons in England.
Geoffrey is an important character in Sharon Penman's novel When Christ and His Saints
Slept, which deals with the war between his wife and King Stephen. The novel dramatises
their stormy marriage and Geoffrey's invasion of Normandy on his wife's behalf.
Ancestors
References
External links Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou At Find A Grave