Notes
Anjou (province, France), former province of France, now included in the departments of
Maine-et-Loire, Indre-et-Loire, Mayenne, and Sarthe. Its capital was Angers. The ancient
inhabitants were the Andecavi, a Gallic tribe that long resisted the Romans. Beginning in
the 9th century, Anjou was governed by a dynasty of counts who were among the most powerful
feudal lords in France. In the second half of the 12th century, the province was subject to
the kings of England; it was conquered by Philip II Augustus of France in 1204. In 1246
Louis IX granted Anjou to his brother Charles I, king of the Two Sicilies and count of
Provence. Anjou was a duchy from 1297 to 1328, when it became a possession of the French
crown. It again became a duchy in 1360. King Louis XI annexed the duchy to the royal
dominions in 1480. In the 17th century Anjou became a province; it retained that status
until the French Revolution.
Anjou (dynasties), series of royal dynasties descended from the medieval rulers of Anjou in
northwestern France. The original Anjou, or Angevin, line consisted of the counts of Anjou
from the time of the founder,
Fulk I "The Red".
In 1154, Henry, count of Anjou,
became Henry II,
king of England, the first of the Angevin, or Plantagenet, line of English kings. Although
Anjou passed out of English hands in 1204, the Plantagenet house of the Angevins continued to
reign in England in a direct line of descent until the death of Richard II, king of England
until 1399.
A second Angevin dynasty was founded by Charles, count of Anjou, who became king of Naples
and Sicily as Charles I in 1266. He lost Sicily to the Spanish in 1282, but his descendants
continued to rule in Naples until 1442.
A third dynasty was established when Charles Robert of the Neapolitan branch became king
of Hungary as Charles I in 1308. His line died in 1395.
Exerpt from
"Anjou (province, France)," "Anjou (dynasties)," Microsoft� Encarta� Encyclopedia 99.
� 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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