ANJOU, the old name of a French territory representing the ancient Gallic State of the Andes, re-organized as the Roman civitas of the Andecavi, and preserved as an administrative dis trict under the Franks with the name first of Pagus, then of comi tatus, or countship of Anjou. This countship, nearly identical with the ecclesiastical diocese of Angers, occupied the greater part of what is now the department of Maine-et-Loire. It was bounded on the north by the countship of Maine, on the east by that of Touraine, on the south by that of Poitiers and by the Mauges and on the west by the countship of Nantes.
From the outset of the reign of Charles the Bald, the integrity of Anjou was seriously menaced by a two-fold danger : from Brit tany and from Normandy. Lambert, a former count of Nantes, after devastating Anjou in concert with Nominoe, duke of Brit tany, had by the end of the year 851 succeeded in occupying all the western part as far as the Mayenne. This principality was occupied, on his death, by Erispoe, duke of Brittany; by him it was handed down to his successors, in whose hands it remained till the beginning of the loth century. Meanwhile the Normans were ravaging the country, and towards 861, Charles the Bald entrusted it to Robert the Strong (q.v.), but he unfortunately met with his death in 866 in a battle against the Normans at Brissarthe. Hugh the Abbot succeeded him in the countship of Anjou as in most of his other duties, and on his death (886) it passed to Odo (q.v.), the eldest son of Robert the Strong, who, on his accession to the throne of France (888), probably handed it over to his brother Robert. In any case, during the last years of the 9th cen tury, in Anjou as elsewhere the power was delegated to a viscount, Fulk the Red (mentioned under this title after 898), son of a certain Ingelgerius.
In the second quarter of the loth century Fulk the Red had already usurped the title of count, which his descendants kept for three centuries. He was succeeded first by his son Fulk II. the Good (941 or 942-c. 960), and then by Fulk's son, Geoffrey I. Grisegonelle (c. 96o-98 7) , who inaugurated a policy of expansion, aiming at the extension of the boundaries of the ancient count ship and the reconquest of those parts of it which had been annexed by the neighbouring states; for, though western Anjou had been recovered from the dukes of Brittany since the beginning of the loth century, in the east all the district of Saumur had fallen into the hands of the counts of Blois and Tours. Geoffrey succeeded in making the count of Nantes his vassal, and in ob taining from the duke of Aquitaine a grant of the district of Loudun. His son Fulk III. Nerra (q.v.) (987-1040) was con fronted on his accession by a coalition of Odo I., count of Blois, and Conan I., count of Rennes. The latter having seized upon Nantes, of which the counts of Anjou held themselves to be suzerains, Fulk Nerra came and laid siege to it, routing Conan's army at Conquereuil (June 27, 992) and re-establishing Nantes under his own suzerainty. Then turning against the count of Blois, he established a fortress at Langeais, a few miles from Tours, from which, thanks to the intervention of the king, Hugh Capet, Odo failed to oust him. On the death of Odo. I., Fulk seized Tours (996) ; but King Robert the Pious turned against him and took the town again (997). In Io16 Odo II. of Blois was utterly defeated at Pontlevoy, and a few years later, while Odo was be sieging Montboyau, Fulk surprised and took Saumur (1026). Finally, the victory gained by Geoffrey Martel (q.v.) (Io4o-60), the son and successor of Fulk, over Theobald III., count of Blois, at Nouy (Aug. 21, assured to the Angevins the possession of the countship of Touraine. At the same time, continuing in this quarter the work of his father, Geoffrey succeeded in reducing the countship of Maine to complete dependence on himself. Dur ing his father's life-time he had been beaten by Gervais, bishop of Le Mans (1038), but now (1047 or Io48) succeeded in taking the latter prisoner, and in spite of the concerted attacks of Wil liam, duke of Normandy, and Henry I., king of France, he was able in 1051 to force Maine to recognize his authority.
On his death (Nov. 14, io6o) there was a dispute as to the succession. Having no children he had bequeathed the countship to his eldest nephew, Geoffrey III. the Bearded, son of Geoffrey, count of Gatinais, and of Ermengarde, daughter of Fulk Nerra. But Fulk le Rechin, brother of Geoffrey the Bearded, who had at first been contented with an appanage consisting of Saintonge and the cliatellenie of Vihiers, having allowed Saintonge to be taken in 1062 by the duke of Aquitaine, took advantage of the general discontent aroused in the countship by the unskilful policy of Geoffrey to make himself master of Saumur (Feb. 25, 1067) and Angers (April 4) and cast Geoffrey into prison at Sable. Com pelled by the papal authority to release and restore him, he soon renewed the struggle, beat Geoffrey near Brissac and shut him up in the castle of Chinon (1 o68) . In order, however, to obtain his recognition as count, Fulk IV. Rechin (I068-1109) had to carry on a long struggle with his barons, to cede Gatinais to King Philip I., and to do homage to the count of Blois for Touraine. On the other hand, he was successful on the whole in pursuing the policy of Geoffrey Martel in Maine : after destroying La Fleche, by the Peace of Blanchelande (Io8i ), he received the homage of Robert, son of William the Conqueror, for Maine. Later, he up held Elias, lord of La Fleche, against William Rufus, king of England, and on the recognition of Elias as count of Maine in 1100, obtained for Fulk the Young, his son by Bertrade de Mont fort, the hand of Eremburge, Elias's daughter and sole heiress.
Fulk V. the Young (I Io9-29) succeeded to the countship of Maine on the death of Elias (July II, III o) ; but this increase of Angevin territory came into such direct collision with the inter ests of Henry I., king of England, who was also duke of Nor mandy, that a struggle between the two powers became inevitable. In II12 it broke out, and Fulk, being unable to prevent Henry I. from taking Alencon and making Robert, lord of Belleme, pris oner, was forced, at the treaty of Pierre Pecoulee, near Alencon (Feb. 23, II13), to do homage to Henry for Maine. In revenge for this, while Louis VI. was overrunning the Vexin in I 1 18, he routed Henry's army at Alencon (Nov.), and in May III() Henry demanded a peace, which was sealed in June by the marriage of his eldest son, William, with Matilda, Fulk's daughter. William having perished in the wreck of the "White Ship" (Nov. 25, Fulk, on his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (1 I 20-21), married his second daughter Sibyl, at the instigation of Louis VI., to William Clito, son of Robert Courteheuse, and a claimant to the duchy of Normandy, giving her Maine for a dowry (1122 or 1123). Henry I. managed to have the marriage annulled, on the plea of kinship between the parties (1123 or I I 24) . But in 112 7 a new alliance was made, and on May 22, at Rouen, Henry I. betrothed his daughter Matilda to Geoffrey the Handsome, son of Fulk, the marriage being celebrated at Le Mans on June 2, 1 I 29. Shortly after, on the invitation of Baldwin II., king of Jerusalem, Fulk departed to the Holy Land, married Melisinda, Baldwin's daughter and heiress, and succeeded to the throne of Jerusalem (Sept. 14, I 131 ). His eldest son, Geoffrey IV. the Handsome or "Plantagenet," succeeded him as count of Anjou (I 1 29-51). From the first he tried to profit by his mar riage, and after the death of Henry I. (Dec. 1, I 13 5) , laid the foundation of the conquest of Normandy by a series of cam paigns : about the end of 1135 or the beginning of 1136 he entered that country and rejoined his wife, the countess Matilda, who had received the submission of Argentan, Domfront and Exmes. Re called into Anjou by a revolt of his barons, he returned to the charge in Sept. 1136 with a strong army, but after a few successes was wounded in the foot at the siege of Le Sap (Oct. I) and had to fall back. In May 1137 began a fresh campaign in which he devastated the district of Hiemois (round Exmes) and burnt Bazoches. In June 1138, with the aid of Robert of Gloucester, Geoffrey obtained the submission of Bayeux and Caen; in Octo ber he devastated the neighbourhood of Falaise ; finally, in March 1141, on hearing of his wife's success in England, he again entered Normandy. Many towns surrendered; in 1144 he entered Rouen, and received the ducal crown in its cathedral. Finally, in 1149, after crushing a last attempt at revolt, he handed over the duchy to his son Henry, who received the investiture at the hands of the king of France.
Meanwhile, the counts were strengthening their authority at home. Of Fulk the Young we know only a few isolated facts and dates. Geoffrey the Handsome was eminently fitted to suppress the coalitions of his vassals, and on his death his son Henry found himself heir to a great empire, strong and consolidated, to which his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine (May 115 2) further added Aquitaine.
On the death of King Stephen, Henry was recognized as king of England (Dec. 19, 11S4). His brother Geoffrey, who had re ceived as appanage the three fortresses of Chinon, Loudun and Mirebeau, tried to seize upon Anjou, on the pretext that, by the will of their father, all the paternal inheritance ought to descend to him, if Henry succeeded in obtaining possession of the maternal inheritance. On hearing of this, Henry marched against his brother, from whom in the beginning of 1156 he succeeded in taking Chinon and Mirebeau ; and in July he forced Geoffrey to give up even his three fortresses in return for an annual pension. Henceforward Henry succeeded in keeping the countship of Anjou all his life ; for though he granted it in 1168 to his son Henry, he absolutely refused to allow him to enjoy his power. After Henry II.'s death in 1189 the countship passed to his son Richard I. of England, but on the death of the latter in 1199, Arthur of Brit tany (born in 1187) laid claim to the inheritance, which ought, according to him, to have fallen to his father Geoffrey, fourth son of Henry II., in accordance with the custom by which "the son of the eldest brother should succeed to his father's patrimony." Supported by Philip Augustus of France, and William des Roches, seneschal of Anjou, he managed to enter Angers (April 18, 1199) and obtain recognition as count of Anjou, Maine and Touraine, for which he did homage to the king of France. Philip Augustus having deserted Arthur by the treaty of Le Goulet (May 22, 1200, John made his way into Anjou; and on June 18, 5200 was recognized as count at Angers. In 1202 he refused to do homage to Philip Augustus, who, in consequence, confiscated all his con tinental possessions, including Anjou, which was allotted by the king of France to Arthur. The defeat of the latter, who was taken prisoner at Mirebeau on Aug. I, 1202, seemed to ensure John's success, but he was abandoned by William des Roches, who in 1203 assisted Philip Augustus in subduing the whole of Anjou. A last effort on the part of John in 1214 led to the taking of Angers (June I7) but broke down lamentably at the battle of La Roche aux-Moines (July 2), and the countship was attached to the crown of France.
In Aug. 1246 King Louis IX. gave it as an appanage to his son Charles, count of Provence, soon to become king of Naples and Sicily (see NAPLES) . On Aug. 16, 1290 his son, Charles II. mar ried his daughter Margaret to Charles of Valois, son of Philip III. of France giving her Anjou and Maine for dowry, in exchange for the kingdoms of Aragon and Valentia and the countship of Barce lona. Charles of Valois at once entered into possession of the countship of Anjou, to which Philip IV., in Sept. 1297, attached a peerage of France. On Dec. 16, 1325, Charles died, leaving Anjou to his eldest son Philip of Valois, on whose recognition as king of France (Philip VI.) on April i, 1328, the countship of Anjou was again united to the crown. On Feb. 17, 1332, Philip VI. bestowed it on his son John the Good, who, when he became king (Aug. 22, 1350), gave the countship to his second son Louis I., raising it to a duchy in the peerage of France by letters patent of Oct. 25, 1360. Louis I., who became in time count of Provence and king of Naples (see Louis I., king of Naples), died in 1384, and was succeeded by his son Louis II., who devoted most of his energies to his kingdom of Naples, and left the administration of Anjou almost entirely in the hands of his wife, Yolande of Ara gon. On his death (April 29, 1417) she took upon herself the guardianship of their young son Louis III., and in her capacity of regent defended the duchy against the English. Louis III., who also succeeded his father as king of Naples, died on Nov. i5, leaving no children. The duchy of Anjou then passed to his cousin Rene, second son of Louis II. and Yolande of Aragon, and king of Naples and Sicily (see NAPLES).
Unlike his predecessors, who had rarely stayed long in Anjou, Rene from 1443 onwards, paid long visits to it, and his court at Angers became one of the most brilliant in the kingdom of France. But after the sudden death of his son John in Dec. 147o, Rene, for reasons which are not altogether clear, decided to move his residence to Provence and leave Anjou for good (Oct. 1471). On July 22, 1474, he drew up a will by which he divided the succession between his grandson Rene II. of Lorraine and his nephew Charles II., count of Maine, but on his death (July io, 1480) King Louis XI. annexed Anjou to the royal domain. King Francis I. again gave the duchy as an appanage to his mother, Louise of Savoy, by letters patent of Feb. 4, 1515. On her death, in Sept. 1531, it reverted to the king. In 1552 it was given by Henry II. to his son Henry who, on becoming king in 1574, conceded it to his brother Francis, duke of Alencon, at the treaty of Beaulieu near Loches (May 6, 1576). Francis died on June io, 1584, and the vacant appanage definitively became part of the royal domain.
At first Anjou was included in the gouvernement of Orleanais, but in the 17th century it was made into a separate one. Saumur, however, and the Saumurois, for which King Henry IV. had in 1589 created an independent military governor-generalship in favour of Duplessis-Mornay, continued till the Revolution to form a separate gouvernement, which included, besides Anjou, portions of Poitou and Mirebalais. Attached to the generalite (administrative circumscription) of Tours, Anjou on the eve of the Revolution comprised five elections (judicial districts) : An gers, Beauge, Saumur, Chateau-Gontier, Montreuil-Bellay and part of the elections of La Fleche and Richelieu. Financially it formed part of the so-called pays de grande gabelle (see GA BELLE), and comprised 16 special tribunals, or greniers a sel (salt warehouses) : Angers, Beauge, Beaufort, Bourgueil, Cande, Châ teau-Gontier, Cholet, Craon, La Fleche, Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, In grandes, Le Lude, Pouance, Saint-Remy-la-Varenne, Richelieu, Saumur. As regards purely judicial administration, Anjou was subject to the parlement of Paris; Angers was the seat of a presidial court, of which the jurisdiction comprised the sene chaussees of Angers, Saumur, Beauge, Beaufort and the duchy of Richelieu ; there were besides presidial courts at Chateau-Gontier and La Fleche. When the Constituent Assembly, on Feb. 26, 1790, decreed the division of France into departments, Anjou and the Saumurois, with the exception of certain territories, formed the department of Maine-et-Loire.
(2) Works: The Art de verifier les dates contains a history of Anjou which is very much out of date. The nth century only has been treated in detail by Louis Halphen, in Le Comte d'Anyou au XIe siecle (1906), which has a preface with bibliography and an introduc tion dealing with the history of Anjou in the loth century. For the Toth, TIth and 12th centuries, a good summary will be found in Kate Norgate, England under the Angevin Kings (1887). On Rene of Anjou, there is a book by A. Lecoy de la Marche, Le Roi Rene (1875). Lastly, the work of Celestin Port, Dictionnaire historique, geograph ique et biographique de Maine-et-Loire (1874-78), and its volume of Preliminaires (including a summary of the history of Anjou), contain comprehensive information on Angevin history. (L. HA.)