Other Events:

• Also Known As: The Handsome, The Fair
• Noteworthy: Founder of the Plantagenet dynasty
• Occupation: Count of Anjou, Touraine, & Maine, Duke of Normandy
• Cause of Death: Fever

Notes:

Geoffrey was the elder s/o 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.
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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 as King Henry II (1154-1189) and was the first of the Plantagenet dynasty to rule England; the name "Plantagenet" was taken from Geoffrey's epithet. His ancestral domain of Anjou gave rise to the name Angevin for three kings of England (Henry II his son and heir, and Henry's sons Richard and John), and what became known as the Angevin Empire in the 12th century.
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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.

Family/Spouse: Holy Roman Empress Matilda Maude MNU. Matilda (daughter of King Henry BEAUCLERC, I and Queen Empress Matilda Edith MNU) was born about 7 Feb 1102; died on 10 Sep 1167 in Rouen, Seine Inferieure, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. King Henry PLANTAGENET, II was born on 5 Mar 1133 in Le Mans, Maine, Normandy [France]; died on 6 Jul 1189 in Chinon, Indre-et-Loire, Centre, France.

Other Events:

• Also Known As: The Younger
• Occupation: Count of Anjou, King of Jerusalem
• Cause of Death: Crushed by his falling horse

Notes:

In 1143, while the king and queen were in Acre, Fulk was killed in a hunting accident. His horse stumbled, fell, and Fulk's skull was crushed by the saddle, "and his brains gushed forth from both ears and nostrils", as William of Tyre describes. He was carried back to Acre, where he lay unconscious for three days before he died. He was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Though their marriage started in conflict, Melisende mourned for him privately as well as publicly. Fulk was survived by his son Geoffrey of Anjou by his first wife, and Baldwin III and Amalric I by Melisende.
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Fulk was "a ruddy man, like David... faithful and gentle, affable and kind... an experienced warrior full of patience and wisdom in military affairs." His chief fault was an inability to remember names and faces.

Fulk married Countess Ermengarde LA FLÈCHE-DE BAUGENCY in 1110. Ermengarde (daughter of Count Elias LA FLÈCHE-DE BAUGENCY, I and Matilda MNU) was born about 1096; died on 12 Oct 1126. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Occupation: Countess of Maine

Other Events:

• Also Known As: le Réchin

Notes:

Fulk IV (in French Foulques IV) (1043–14 April 1109), called le Réchin, was the Count of Anjou from 1068 until his death. The nickname by which he is usually referred has no certain translation. Philologists have made numerous very different suggestions, including "quarreler", "rude", "sullen", "surly" and "heroic".

Foulques married Queen Bertrade DE MONTFORT, I. Bertrade was born in 1070 in Montfort, Aquitaine, France; died on 14 Feb 1117 in Évreux, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Occupation: Queen of France

Other Events:

• Occupation: Count of Maine

Notes:

s/o Jean de la Fleche (s/o Lancelin I de Beaugency and Mathilde de Château-du-Loir) & Paula of Maine (d/o Herbert I, Count of Maine)
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In 1092, his cousin Hugh V sold Maine to him for 10,000 shillings. With the support of Fulk IV of Anjou, he continued the war with Robert II of Normandy. After Robert's departure with the First Crusade, Elias made peace with William Rufus, Robert's regent in Normandy.

Elias married Matilda MNU. Matilda was born about 1070; died in ?. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

d/o Gervais II, Lord of Château-du-Loir

Geoffrey married Ermengarde DE ANJOU. Ermengarde was born about 1018 in Anjou, Normandy, France; died on 21 Mar 1076 in Fleury-sur-Ouche, Orne, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]