General Notes

Geoffrey's father, Fulk V, had married the daughter and heir of the Count of Maine and so the two counties were united. The year 1127 was an important year for the fourteen-year-old Geoffrey "the Fair" as he was married to the widowed Empress Matilda, heir to the King of England. In 1128 a deputation from the Holy Land came to Paris to ask King Louis VII for a nobleman to marry Melisende, daughter and heir of King Baldwin II. Fulk V, a widower, was chosen and left Anjou and Maine to Geoffrey while he married Melisende in 1129, then became King of Jerusalem in 1131.  Although Geoffrey and the much older Matilda disliked each other, he nevertheless fathered three sons. He was confronted by unruly vassals which included his own younger brother Helie, who was eventually captured and imprisoned at Tours. When released, Helie died of a disease contracted in prison.  In 1135 King Henry I of England died and his wife's cousin, Stephen de Blois, seized the crown. Geoffrey campaigned in Normandy on Matilda's behalf but even his fourth campaign in 1138 was no success. In 1139 Matilda invaded England and in 1141 imprisoned Stephen, after which many castles in Normandy surrendered to Geoffrey. In 1144, after the fall of Rouen, Geoffrey was invested as Duke of Normandy.  From 1147 until 1149 he went on crusade with King Louis VII of France. In 1150 he passed the Duchy of Normandy to his eldest son, Henry. Geoffrey died on 7 September 1151 and was buried in the Cathedral of Le Mans.  Source: Leo van de Pas