44 Anjou
population growth necessitated an expansion of culti-
vated land at the expense of pasture or the cultivation of
food stocks for animals. After the demographic changes
of the 14th century, much more land became available for
pasturing and probably for more domestic animals.
Cattle were kept in the largest quantities at all times
in the Middle Ages, followed by sheep and goats, espe-
cially in southern Europe. Pigs were of greater significance
in the earlier and later Middle Ages than during the
“high” period. Other animals were bred domestically,
including dogs and cats kept for hunting and scavenging.
Oxen, valued for their pulling force, frequently mentioned
in texts and iconography, are widely attested by archaeol-
ogy. More efficient horses were used to pull plows and
harrows much more commonly after 1000 and are linked
with an agricultural revolution in the high Middle Ages.
More than objects of agricultural practice and sci-
ence, animals were symbols. Medieval image makers and
preachers often resorted for allegorical and other refer-
ence to the animal kingdom for the edification of congre-
gants and other audiences. The majority of animals were
stereotyped either positively or negatively, according to
circumstances, but sometimes embodied both traits at
once. Used as nicknames for people, they communicated
human traits that corresponded to those of animals.
See also AGRICULTURE; BEAST EPICS AND FABLES;
BESTIARIES; FOOD, DRINK, AND NUTRITION; FURS AND THE
FUR TRADE.
Further reading:W. B. Clarke and M. T. McMunn,
eds. Beasts and Birds of the Middle Ages (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989); Carola Hicks,
Animals in Early Medieval Art(Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 1993); Nona C. Flores, ed., Animals in
the Middle Ages: A Book of Essays(New York: Garland,
1996); Joyce E. Salisbury, The Beast Within: Animals in the
Middle Ages(New York: Routledge, 1994).
Anjou Anjou is a county in western FRANCEalong the
banks of the Loire River. A buffer state, it was created in
the ninth century, during the NORMANinvasions. In 861
CHARLESthe Bald gave it to Robert the Strong (d. 866),
count of Tours, to halt Scandinavian penetration into
the Loire valley. Robert placed Anjou under the control
of one of his vassals, Fulk (d. 942), the founder of
the first Angevin dynasty. The Angevins preserved the
integrity of the county, making it in the 11th century
one of the most powerful feudal states in France. In
1054 the counts of Anjou controlled Tours and thus a
main, revenue-producing pilgrimage route between
northern France and SPAIN.
THE ASCENT TO POWERAt the beginning of the 12th century, serious conflict broke
out with the dukes of NORMANDYover the count of Maine,
between the two principalities. As part of this war Count
FULKV (1109–29) had to build numerous castles and
improve the effectiveness of his fiscal administration and
control of his vassals. In 1125 Fulk concluded an alliance
with HENRY I, king of England and effective ruler of
Normandy, ending their rivalry over Maine. Fulk’s son,
Geoffrey IV PLANTAGENET, married Henry’s daughter,
Matilda (1102–67), the widow of Emperor Henry V
(1086–1125) and the legitimate descendant of HENRYI, the
king of England. Fulk gave the rule of Anjou to his son
Geoffrey as part of the treaty and left for the Latin kingdom
of JERUSALEM, where he married Melisend (d. 1161), the
daughter of Baldwin II (r. 1118–31) and heiress of
Jerusalem. He became king of Jerusalem in 1131.
In the meantime Geoffrey Plantagenet became
involved in the struggle for succession to Henry I. In
1151 he conquered Normandy for Matilda and their son,
HENRYII PLANTAGENET. Anjou remained a core region of
an “Angevin Empire” created by Henry II, who, in 1152,
married ELEANORof Aquitaine and in 1154 became king
of England; consequently absent, he nevertheless contin-
ued to benefit from the financial, social, and administra-
tive structure of Anjou.
In 1206 Anjou was conquered by PHILIPII Augustus,
king of France, who annexed it from King JOHNLackland.
In 1246 King LOUISIX gave it to his brother CHARLESI
who founded the second dynasty of Anjou. In 1268 this
Charles became king of SICILY. The county itself was given
as a dowry to Charles’s granddaughter Margaret, when she
married Charles, count of Valois (1240–1325). In 1328
Anjou returned to the control of the French crown. In
1360 John II the Good (r. 1350–64) made Anjou a duchy
and gave it to his second son. However, the prosperity of
the county in the 13th century did not survive the HUN-
DREDYEARS’ WARbetween France and England in the sec-
ond half of the 14th century. René of Anjou (1409–80),
known for the luxury and display of his court, was the last
effective duke. King LOUISXI took the county back into
the royal domain at the death of René in 1480.
Further reading:Bernard S. Bachrach, Fulk Nerra,
the Neo-Roman Consul, 987–1040: A Political Biography of
the Angevin Count (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1993); W. Scott Jessee, Robert the Burgundian and
the Counts of Anjou, ca. 1025–1098(Washington, D.C.:
Catholic University Press of America, 2000); Jean-Michel
Matz, “Anjou, Angers,” EMA,1.64–66; W. L. Warren, The
Governance of Norman and Angevin England, 1086–1272
(Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1987).Annunciation The Annunciation is the archangel
Gabriel’s announcement to MARY, the Blessed Virgin,
telling her of the Incarnation of Christ, the first act of the
work of REDEMPTION.
There were to be many representations of this scene,
fundamental to Christianity, in medieval and Renaissance
art. The details chosen comprise the archangel transmitting