Mathilde married for the second time Geoffrey He was 15 she was 25!
Not only that, but his father was the King of Jerusleum an ancient city, in 1131
Geoffrey (24 August 1113 – 7 September 1151) — called the Handsome (French: le Bel) and — was the Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine by inheritance from 1129 and then Duke of Normandy by conquest from 1144. He was the first .Plantagenet
From Wikipedia
His parents were Fulk who later became King of Jerusulem
Fulk (Lat. Fulco, in French: Foulque or Foulques; 1089/1092 place Unknown – 13 November 1143 Acre), also known as Fulk the Younger, was Count of Anjou (as Fulk V) from 1109 to 1129, and King of Jerusalem from 1131 to his death.
He was also the paternal grandfather of Henry II of England.
After his fist wife's death death,
Fulk the Younger left his lands to their son Geoffrey, and set out for the Holy Land, where he
married Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem and became King of Jerusalem.
In 1127 Fulk V, Count of Anjou received an embassy from King Baldwin II of Jerusalem. Baldwin II had no male heirs but had already designated his daughter Melisende to succeed him. Baldwin II wanted to safeguard his daughter's inheritance by marrying her to a powerful lord. Fulk was a wealthy crusader and experienced military commander, and a widower. His experience in the field would prove invaluable in a frontier state always in the grip of war.
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| Fulk's death |
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| Fulk and Melisende |
Fulk and Melisende became joint rulers of Jerusalem in 1131 with Baldwin II's death. From the start Fulk assumed sole control of the government, excluding Melisende altogether. He favored fellow countrymen from Anjou to the native nobility. The other crusader states to the north feared that Fulk would attempt to impose the suzerainty of Jerusalem over them, as Baldwin II had done; but as Fulk was far less powerful than his deceased father-in-law, the northern states rejected his authority.
and his mother was Ermengarde Countess of Maine
Ermengarde or Erembourg of Maine, also known as Erembourg de la Flèche (died 1126), was Countess of Maine and the Lady of Château-du-Loir from 1110 to 1126. She was the daughter of Elias I, Count of Maine, Count of Maine, and Mathilda of Château-du-Loire.
In 1109 she married the Angevin heir, Fulk V, called "Fulk the Younger", thereby finally bringing Maine under Angevin control. She gave birth to:
- Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou (d. 1151)
- Elias II, Count of Maine (d. 1151)
- Matilda of Anjou (d. 1154), who married William Adelin, the son and heir to Henry I of England
- Sibylla of Anjou (d. 1165), married in 1121 to William Clito, and then (after an annulment in 1124) to Thierry, Count of Flanders
She died in 1126, on either 15 January or 12 October.
These families certainly kept the marriages between their own kind!
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.
Early life
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 (as opposed to being a mere countess). 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 (where he was to become king), 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
Children
Geoffrey and Matilda's children were:Henry II of England (1133–1189) Our lineage follows his line
William X, Count of Poitou (1136–1164) died unmarried
Geoffrey Count of Nantes
Born in Rouen in 1134, he was the second of the three sons of Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou and Empress Matilda. His elder brother was King Henry II of England and his younger brother was William FitzEmpress, Count of Poitou.
Conflict
It was said that in his will, Geoffrey V had stipulated that his second son Geoffrey would become Count of Anjou and of Maine if his elder son Henry managed to become King of England. In the meantime, he granted Geoffrey the castles at Chinon, Loudun, Mirebeau
and one other castle. The body of the count would remain unburied until Henry agreed to the terms of the will. The story was reported in contemporary sources only in a minor chronicle in Tours; W. L. Warren makes the case that the story was invented by Geoffrey.
In March 1152 he attempted to abduct Eleanor of Aquitaine as she traveled from Beaugency to Poitiers after her divorce from Louis VII of France; she avoided his trap when she was forewarned. He lay in wait at Port des Piles, near the River Creuse, and would have married her had the abduction been successful.
In June he allied himself with King Louis, the king's brother Count Robert I of Dreux, the Count of Champagne and the Count of Blois (the Counts of Champagne and Blois were brothers) when Louis attacked Normandy as a response to the marriage of Henry Curtmantle and Eleanor of Aquitaine, which took place without Louis' knowledge. If successful the five of them intended to divide the lands of Henry and Eleanor amongst themselves.
In late 1153 or in 1154 Theobald V, Count of Blois invaded Touraine, which Henry regarded as his. Geoffrey and others were taken captive, and Theobald required Henry to destroy the castle of Chaumount-sur-Loire to obtain their freedom.
Geoffrey accompanied Henry and Eleanor to England when King Stephen died in December 1154.
In the summer of 1156 Geoffrey was again making trouble for Henry and Henry laid siege to the castles of Chinon, Mirebeau and Loudun. Geoffrey was forced to yield them, and according to some sources he was able to keep Loudun. Henry gave Geoffrey an annuity of £1500 for the other two castles.
Shortly after that siege ended the people of Nantes deposed their count and asked King Henry whom they should invite to fill the vacancy. He suggested Geoffrey; the offer was made and accepted. Geoffrey was succeeded by Henry II as Count of Nantes pursuant to a subsequent war, and treaty, between Henry II and the Duke of Brittany.
Death
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| From a French Print William |
William X Viscount of Dieppe and Count of Poitou
William was Viscount of Dieppe. He was also known as William FitzEmpress and as William of Anjou. (William son of the Empress)
In 1156, aged 20, he was with his brother Henry at the siege of Chinon. This siege was occasioned by the rebellion of their brother Geoffrey.
He also conducted the siege at the castle of Mountreuil-Bellay. While doing so he had the writings of the Roman military theorist Vegetius read to him; he then did what Vegetius had done, and the siege ended the next day.
In September 1155, King Henry held a council at Winchester where he enthusiastically considered invading Ireland and giving it to William, making him king. The plans were abandoned when their mother, Empress Matilda, objected: she did not consider Ireland worth conquering.Henry did, however, make William one of the richest men in England, granting him seven manors (Maldon in Essex; Dartford, Hoo, and Shorne in Kent; Aylsham and Cawston in Norfolk; and Hintlesham in Suffolk).
He also had land surrounding Dieppe, Normandy, of which he was made vicomte (viscount).
Obstruction
Because of this relationship a dispensation from affinity was required for the marriage to take place; such dispensations were usually granted without difficulty. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to support the request for a dispensation and it was not granted because of that.
Death
William died suddenly shortly after that, it was said of a broken heart. He was buried in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Rouen. Henry blamed Thomas Becket for his brother's death, and this might well be the beginning of the great conflict between them.When Becket was murdered on 29 December 1170, one of the knights who killed him was Richard le Breton who had been in William's employ. When he delivered his fatal blow he shouted "take that, for the love of my lord William, the king's brother!"
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.
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