Geoffrey VI (1 June 1134 – 27 July 1158) was
Count of Nantes from 1156 to 1158. He was also known as Geoffrey of Anjou and Geoffrey FitzEmpress. He was the son of
Geoffrey Plantagenet and
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...
. His brothers were
Henry II of England and
William FitzEmpress.
Family
Born in
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
in 1134, he was the second of the three sons of
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...
, a claimant to the English throne during
the Anarchy
The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legiti ...
, and Count
Geoffrey V of Anjou. His birth was difficult and his mother was close to dying.
Conflict
It was said that in his will, Geoffrey V had stipulated that his second son, Geoffrey, would become
count of Anjou and
Maine if the eldest,
Henry Curtmantle
Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...
, managed to become
king of England
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...
. In the meantime, he granted Geoffrey the castles at
Chinon,
Loudun,
Mirebeau and
Montsoreau
Montsoreau () is a commune of the Loire Valley in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast and from Paris. The village is listed among '' The Most Beautiful Villages of France'' (french: Les Plus ...
. 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
Wilfred Lewis Warren (24 August 1929 – 19 July 1994) was an historian of medieval England. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford, he worked as a professor of modern (post-Classical antiquity, classical) Post-classical history, history and dean of th ...
makes the case that the story was invented by Geoffrey. Thomas K. Keefe, however, finds serious fault with Warren's argument, arguing that there are no reliable grounds to believe that the story of Geoffrey V's will is untrue, and considers it likely that Henry usurped the
County of Anjou
The County of Anjou (, ; ; la, Andegavia) was a small French county that was the predecessor to the better-known Duchy of Anjou. Its capital was Angers, and its area was roughly co-extensive with the diocese of Angers. Anjou was bordered by Brit ...
.
In March 1152, Geoffrey attempted to abduct Duchess
Eleanor of Aquitaine as she traveled from
Beaugency
Beaugency () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, north-central France. It is located on the Loire river, upriver (northeast) from Blois and downriver from Orléans.
History
11 March 1152 the council of Beaugency annulled ...
to
Poitiers
Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...
after the annulment of her marriage to King
Louis VII of France
Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger, or the Young (french: link=no, le Jeune), was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI (hence the epithet "the Young") and married Duchess ...
; 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 and the brothers Counts
Henry I of Champagne and
Theobald V of Blois when Louis attacked Normandy as a response to the marriage of Geoffrey's brother Henry Curtmantle to 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 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, Loudun and Montsoreau. Geoffrey was forced to yield them, but, 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
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
deposed their count and asked King Henry whom they should invite to fill the vacancy. He suggested Geoffrey; the offer was made and accepted. After Geoffrey's death his county was seized by
Conan IV of Brittany, who subsequently ceded it to Henry.
[Warren, ''Henry II'', pgs. 76-77]
Death
Geoffrey died suddenly at
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
in 1158.
Fictional portrayals
Geoffrey was portrayed by actor
Paul Greenwood in the 1978
BBC TV series ''
The Devil's Crown'', which dramatised the reigns of his brother and nephews in England.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geoffrey, Count Of Nantes
1134 births
1158 deaths
Counts of Maine
House of Plantagenet
People from Rouen
Children of Empress Matilda
Anglo-Normans