Geoffroy II Martel, comte d'Anjou

Geoffrey II, Count of Anjou

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Geoffrey II of Anjou, called Martel ("the Hammer"), was Count of Anjou from 1040 to 1060. He was the son of Fulk the Black. He was bellicose and fought against the Duke of Aquitaine, the Count of Blois, and the Duke of Normandy. During his twenty-year reign he especially had to face the ambitions of the Bishop of Le Mans, Gervais de Château-du-Loir, but he was able to maintain his authority over the County of Maine. Even before the death of his father in 1040, he had extended his power up to Saintonge, where he founded the Abbey aux Dames.

"Geoffrey, count of the Angevins, nicknamed Martel, a treacherous man in every respect, frequently inflicted assaults and intolerable pressure on his neighbors." So reads the first mention of this man in the Gesta Normannorum Ducum.

"In alliance with King Henry I of France, Count Geoffrey laid siege to Tours in the winter of 1042-3. After the battle of Nouy on 21 August 1044 Count Theobald I of Blois-Chartres (1039-89) was taken prisoner by [Count Geoffrey], to whom he surrendered Tours with Chinon and Langeais, excluding, however, the monastery of Marmoutier." (ibid)

Henry and Geoffrey became estranged after this, and were not reconciled again until c. 1052, when their names appear together in a charter of August of that year. This is in conjunction with the rebellion of William of Talou against the duke of Normandy, and Count Geoffrey's taking possession of the city of Mans (shortly after 26 March 1051).

Allied once again with King Henry, Count Geoffrey assaulted Normandy and seized the towns of Domfront and Alençon, evidently with the help of treachery within. Duke William laid siege to Domfront, which resisted his efforts to retake it throughout the winter of 1052. And it was at this point that Talou withdrew from the siege and started his rebellion. Duke William's subsequently rapid retaking of first Alençon and then Domfront drove Count Geoffrey back across the Norman border into Maine.

While Count Geoffrey was off-balance, Duke William laid siege to Talou's castle at Arques. King Henry failed to relieve Arques, and Talou's rebellion had failed and he was exiled by late 1053. In late January, early February of 1054, Count Geoffrey and King Henry together invaded Normandy and marched down the Seine toward Rouen. The King had divided his army and sent the other wing through eastern Normandy under the command of his brother Eudes, supported by Count Reginald of Clermont, Count Ralph of Montdidier, and Count Guy I of Ponthieu. This army was defeated in a battle near Mortemer. Upon learning of this reverse, King Henry insisted upon beating a hasty retreat out of Normandy, and perforce Count Geoffrey accompanied him.

For the next several years, the war was centered in the County of Maine, with Duke William on the offensive. But King Henry in 1057, "burning to avenge the insult inflicted on him by the duke, summoned Geoffrey, count of Anjou, to prepare a large army for another expedition into Normandy." (GND) This combined effort placed Duke William temporarily on the defensive. He retreated before the invaders as they moved deeper into Normandy. After pentrating to the Bessin, the Franco-Angevin army began to ford the River Dives near the estuary which is tidal. After the king and Count Geoffrey had crossed over, the remainder of their army got stuck on the opposite bank by the incoming tide. Duke William launched a sudden attack and defeated them. King Henry and Count Geoffrey withdrew again from Normandy and never returned. Count Geoffrey continued to offer resistance in Maine against the Norman expansion until his death on 14 November 1060.

An unusual entry in the cartulary of Ronceray describes a dispute over a vineyard seized by Geoffrey Martel and granted to his "wives, or rather concubines, Agnes, Grécie, Adele, and Adelaide. The first wife, Agnes of Burgundy, was the widow of William V of Aquitaine; she and Geoffrey married in 1032, but had divorced by 1050. He then married Grécie of Langeais, but dismissed her to marry Adele, the daughter of a "Count Odo", perhaps Odo II of Blois. Later he divorced Adele, and took Grécie back as his wife. His last wife was a German woman named Adelaide.

Despite these marital escapades, Geoffrey died childless, after being made a monk in Saint-Nicolas d'Angers in 1060. He was succeeded by his nephew

Sources

   * Duby, Georges. The Knight, the Lady, and the Priest: the making of modern marriage in medieval France, 1983.

* The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumièges, Orderic Vitalis, and Robert of Torigni, edited and translated by Elisabeth M. C. Van Houts, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1995.
* William the Conqueror, by David C. Douglas, University of California Press, Berkley and Los Angeles, 1964.
Medieval Lands Database (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy):

GEOFFROY d'Anjou (14 Oct 1006-14 Nov 1060). The Chronicon Vindocinense records the birth "II Id Oct" in 1006 of "Gosfridus comes"[156]. A charter dated 1037 confirms the birth in 1007 of "Gaufridus Martellus…pater eius Fulcho…comes Andecavorum filius Gaufridi Fortissimi comitis qui cognominatus est Grisia Gonella" and records donations to Saint-Aubin d'Angers[157]. The Chronicle of Alberic de Trois-Fontaines names "Gaufridum cognomento Martellam" as son of "Fulco comes Andegavonium Gaufridi Grisagonelli filius"[158]. The Gesta Consulum Andegavorum names "Gosfridum Martellum et filiam Adelam" as the children of "Fulco Nerra"[159]. The Chronico Andegavensi records that "Gosfredus Martellus comes" was born "pridie Id Oct"[160]. He succeeded his father in 1040 as GEOFFROY II "Martel" Comte d'Anjou. Guillaume II Duke of Normandy helped Henri I King of France to defeat him at Mouliherne [1045/55][161]. "Gaufridi comitis Andegavensium…comitissæ Adelaidis Teutonicæ" subscribed the charter dated 1060 under which "Hugonis…et Arsendis uxoris suæ et filiorum suorum Hugonis…atque Teobaldi" founded the priory of Laudun, under the direction of Tournus abbey[162]. The Chronicon Turonensi records that "Gaufridus de Pruliaco" rebelled in Anjou in 1062 and was killed, commenting that he invented tournaments[163]. "Gaufridus comes filius Fulconis" died "XVIII Kal Dec"[164]. The Chronicon Vindocinense records the death "XVIII Kal Dec" in 1060 of "Gaufredus comes, Fulconis filius" after having been invested as a monk by "domno Adraldo, abate S. Nicolai"[165]. The Chronicæ Sancti Albini records the death "1061 XVIII Kal Dec" of "Gaufridus Martellus …ciu successit Fulgo…Rechin"[166]. The necrology of Vendôme La Trinité records the death "XVIII Kal Dec" of "Godefridus comes huius monasterii fundator"[167]. The Gesta Consulum Andegavorum records that "Gosfridus Martellus filius Fulconis", being childless, appointed "nepotibus suis Gosfrido Barbato et Fulconi Rechin" as his heirs[168].

m firstly (1 Jan 1032, divorced [1049/52]%29 as her second husband, AGNES de Mâcon, widow of GUILLAUME III "le Grand" Comte de Poitou [GUILLAUME V Duke of Aquitaine], daughter of OTHON GUILLAUME Comte de Mâcon [Bourgogne-Comt%C3%A9] & his first wife Ermentrude de Roucy ([990/95]-10 Nov 1068). Agnes is named as daughter of "Ermentrudis" in the Continuator of Flodoard, which specifies that she was mother of "Wido"[169]. Rodulfus Glaber states that "Willemus…Pictauensis" married one of the daughters of "Willemus, Henrici ducis priuignus, Adalberti Longobardorum ducis filius" & his wife[170]. "Agnes comitissa filia Ottonis cognomento Willelmi comitis Matiscensis, uxor…Wilelmi ducis Aquitanorum" donated property to Cluny by charter dated [1020][171]. The Chronico Sancti Michaelis records that "Gaufredus Martellus Andegavensis comes" married "Agnetem comitissam Pictavensem" incestuously in 1032[172]. The Chronicæ Sancti Albini records the marriage "1032 Kal Jan" of "Gaufridus comes, Agnetem comitissam incesto", indirectly indicating her origin in a later passage which records the marriage "1043 XII Nov" of "Hainricus imperator [et] filiam Agnetis comitissæ"[173]. Her origin is clarified by the Chronicæ Sancti Albini which records the marriage "1043 XII Kal Nov…apud Vesbrianim" of "Henricus imperator…filiam Willelmi comitis Pictavorum et Agnetis"[174]. Geoffroy Comte d'Anjou & his wife founded the abbey of La Trinité de Vendôme by charter dated 31 May 1040, signed by "Goffridi comitis Andegavorum, Agnetis conjugis suæ…"[175]. A powerful personality, she succeeded in defeating her stepson Duke Eudes and installing her own son as Duke of Aquitaine, Comte de Poitou. Regent of Aquitaine for her son 1039-1044. She arranged her daughter's marriage with Emperor Heinrich III in 1043 and lived at the imperial court after this time. "Goffredus…comes atque Agnes…uxor" donated property to the monks of La Trinité, Vendôme by charter dated 6 Jan 1049 subscribed by "Willelmi ducis Aquitanorum, Goffredi pueri fratris illius"[176]. "Gaufredus Andegavorum comes…uxor mea Agnes" made a donation to the priory of Saint-Nicholas de Poitiers by undated charter which also names "eius [Agnetis] filii comites…Pictavenses"[177]. A charter dated to [1060/67] recites a prior donation to Saint-Aubin d'Angers by "Hildegardis comitissa", who retained a life interest in the property which, after the death of the donor, was sold in turn to "Agneti comitissa" (recording her divorce from "comitum Gaufridum"), "comitem Gaufridum…Gaufridi nepotem" and finally "fratre eius Fulconi" who restituted it to the abbey[178]. After her separation from her second husband, in 1047 she founded the abbey of Notre-Dame de Saintes, where she became a nun in 1068[179]. "Agnes" founded the abbey of Saint-Nicolas at Poitou with the consent of "ambobus filiis Guillelmi et Gauffrido" by charter dated [1050][180]. "Aquitanorum…dux Gaufridus" confirmed in his charter dated [1058/68] that "mea mater Agnes…frater meus Guillelmus" were both buried in the priory of Saint-Nicolas de Poitiers[181]. The necrology of Vendôme La Trinité records the death "IV Id Nov" of "Agnes comitissa"[182].

[m secondly] ADELA, daughter of Comte EUDES & his wife ---.  A charter of Ronceray records that Geoffroy "Martel" failed to restore to the abbey property donated by his mother, but rather gave it to "suis eas concubinis…quam uxoribus…Agneti primo, deinde Grecie, postea Adele comitis filie Odonis, item denuo Grecie, postremo Adelaidi Theutonice"[183].  No other reference has been found to Adela.  She may have been the mistress rather than wife of Comte Geoffroy.  The only "count Eudes" identified at this time is Eudes II Comte de Blois, but no other record has been identified of his having a daughter named Adela.  

m [secondly/thirdly] (before 15 Aug 1052, divorced) as her second husband, GRACE, widow of BERLAY Seigneur de Montreuil, daughter of --- (-25 Apr ----). The Historia sancti Florentii Salmurensis records the death of "Bellaius dominus Mosterolii castri", his burial in the abbey, and the donation by "huius coniux…Griscia postea Andegavensis comitissa" with the consent of "filiis suis Giraldo, Andegavis in Can Domini…interfecto, et Rainaldo multo post Remensium archiepiscopo"[184]. Although undated, this follows a passage recording an event in 1051. A charter of Ronceray records that Geoffroy "Martel" failed to restore to the abbey property donated by his mother, but rather gave it to "suis eas concubinis…quam uxoribus…Agneti primo, deinde Grecie, postea Adele comitis filie Odonis, item denuo Grecie, postremo Adelaidi Theutonice"[185], which implies that Grace may have been the mistress of Geoffroy during the lifetime of her first husband. "Geoffroy Comte d'Anjou [et] Grecie sa femme" were among those present at the freeing of a serf under charter dated 1052[186]. The necrology of Angers Cathedral records the death "VII Kal Mai" of "Grecia primus comitissa uxor Gauffridi Martelli postea sanctimonialis"[187].

m [thirdly/fourthly] (before 22 May 1060) ADELHEID "La Teutonne" --- (-after 1062). A charter of Ronceray records that Geoffroy "Martel" failed to restore to the abbey property donated by his mother, but rather gave it to "suis eas concubinis…quam uxoribus…Agneti primo, deinde Grecie, postea Adele comitis filie Odonis, item denuo Grecie, postremo Adelaidi Theutonice"[188]. "Gaufridi comitis Andegavensium…comitissæ Adelaidis Teutonicæ" subscribed the charter dated 1060 under which "Hugonis…et Arsendis uxoris suæ et filiorum suorum Hugonis…atque Teobaldi" founded the priory of Laudun, under the direction of Tournus abbey[189].

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