enormous territory, including all of England and most of western France, ruled by one
man and sometimes called the “Angevin empire.” Following a flexible Angevin model,
rather than the more tightly controlled Anglo-Norman model, monarchs made little
attempt to integrate Anjou into a unified Plantagenêt state. Anjou was ruled by the
Plantagenêt kings of England until 1202, when Philip Augustus (r. 1180–1223) captured
Angers from John of England. From that point on, the history of Anjou is part of the
history of France.
Scott Jessee
[See also: ANGERS; COUNT/COUNTY; FOULQUES; GEOFFROI; HENRY II;
JOHN I LACKLAND]
Bachrach, Bernard S. “The Idea of the Angevin Empire.” Albion 10(1978):293–99.
Dunbabin, Jean. France in the Making: 843–1180. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.
Gillingham, John. The Angevin Empire. New York: Holmes and Meier, 1984.
Guillot Olivier. Le comte d’Anjou et son entourage au XIe siècle. 2 vols. Paris: Picard, 1972.
Hallam, Elizabeth, ed. The Plantagenet Chronicles. New York: Weidenfield and Nicolson, 1986.
Halphen, Louis. Le comté d’Anjou au XIe siècle. Paris: Picard, 1906.
ANJOU, HOUSES OF
. After acquiring the county of Anjou from the Plantagenêt kings of England in the early
13th century, French kings twice assigned the county as an apanage to a younger son.
The first house of Anjou was established by Charles I (1227–1285), the youngest brother
of Louis IX, who also acquired Provence by marrying Beatrice, the youngest daughter of
the count.
With papal backing, Charles I in 1266 invaded the Regno, as the kingdom of Sicily
and its mainland province were called. With his victories at Benevento (1266) and
Tagliacozzo (1268), Charles carried out Innocent IV’s de-
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