House of Anjou

Armorial of Capetian Anjou
Country	Kingdom of Sicily, Kingdom of Naples, Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, Kingdom of Poland, Latin Empire, Principality of Achaea, Despotate of Epirus, Kingdom of Albania
Ancestral house	House of Capet
Titles	Count of Anjou Count of Provence King of Sicily King of Naples King of Hungary King of Poland Emperor of Constantinople Despot of Epirus King of Albania Prince of Achaea
Founder	Charles I of Naples
Final sovereign	Joan II of Naples
Founding	1246
Cadet branches	House of Anjou-Hungary House of Anjou-Taranto House of Anjou-Durazzo

The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century. Later the War of the Sicilian Vespers forced him out of the island of Sicily, leaving him with just the southern half of the Italian Peninsula — the Kingdom of Naples. The house and its various branches would go on to influence much of the history of Southern and Central Europe during the Middle Ages, until becoming defunct in 1435.

In its time, the House ruled Naples and Sicily, Hungary, Croatia, and Poland.

Rise of Charles I and his sons[link]

The seated Charles I of Sicily is crowned by Pope Clement IV.

A younger son of House of Capet king Louis VIII of France the Lion, Charles was first given a noble title by his brother Louis IX of France who succeeded to the French throne in 1246. Charles was named Count of Anjou and Maine; the feudal County of Anjou was a western vassal state of the Kingdom of France, which the Capetians had wrested from the House of Plantagenet only a few decades earlier. Charles married the heiress of the County of Provence named Beatrice of Provence, she was a member of the House of Barcelona; this meant Charles' holdings were growing as Count of Provence. After fighting in the Seventh Crusade, Charles was offered by Pope Clement IV, the Kingdom of Sicily — which at the time included not only the island of Sicily but also the southern half of the Italian Peninsula. The reason for Charles being offered the kingdom was because of a conflict between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, the latter of whom were represented by the ruling House of Hohenstaufen.

It was at the Battle of Benevento that the Guelph Capetians gained the Sicilian kingdom from the Ghibelline Swabians, this was cemented after victory at Tagliacozzo. In keeping with the political landscape of the period, Charles is described by scholars as shrewd, energetic and highly ambitious; he dreamed of empire. He signed the Treaty of Viterbo in 1267 with Baldwin II of Courtenay and William II of Villehardouin,^[1] the political alliance gave many of the rights of the Latin Empire to Charles and a marriage alliance for his daughter Beatrice of Sicily.^[2] The Byzantines had taken back the city of Constantinople in 1261 and this was a plan to take it back from Michael VIII Palaiologos.^[2] It also recognised Charles' possession of Corfu and cities in the Balkans such as Durazzo, as well as giving him suzerainty over the Principality of Achaea and sovereignty of the Aegean islands aside from those already held by the Republic of Venice.^[1] For a while Charles was preoccupied helping his French brother in the unsuccessful Eighth Crusade on Tunis. After this he once again focused on Constantinople, but his fleet was wrecked in a freak storm off the coast of Trapani.^[3] With the elevation of Pope Gregory X, there was a truce between Charles and Michael in the form of the Council of Lyons, as Christians focused on improving ecumenical relations, with hopes of regaining the Kingdom of Jerusalem back from the Muslims.^[3]

Artistic depiction of the Sicilian Vespers.

Charles had fully solidified his rule over Durazzo by 1272, creating a small Kingdom of Albania for himself, out of previously Despotate of Epiros territory; he was well received by local chiefs.^[4]

Lands ruled by Louis the Great in 1370s. Louis led successful campaigns from Lithuania to southern Italy.

Charles was driven out of Sicily in 1282, but his successors ruled Naples until 1435.

Charles II, divided inheritance[link]

This House of Anjou included the branches of Anjou-Hungary, which ruled Hungary (1308–1385, 1386–1395) and Poland (1370–1399), Anjou-Taranto, which ruled the remnants of the Latin Empire (1313–1374) and Anjou-Durazzo, which ruled Naples (1382–1435) and Hungary (1385–1386).

The line became extinct in the male line with the death of King Ladislaus of Naples in 1414, and totally extinct with the death of his sister Joan II in 1435.

Branching out[link]

Hungary[link]

Poland[link]

Naples[link]

Taranto[link]

[edit] Kingdom of Albania

The Kingdom of Albania, or Regnum Albaniae, was established by Charles of Anjou in the Albanian territory he conquered from the Despotate of Epirus in 1271. He took the title of "King of Albania" in February 1272. The kingdom extended from the region of Durrës (then known as Dyrrhachium) south along the coast to Butrint. A major attempt to advance further in direction of Constantinople, failed at the Siege of Berat (1280–1281). A Byzantine counteroffensive soon ensued, which drove the Angevins out of the interior by 1281. The Sicilian Vespers further weakened the position of Charles, and the Kingdom was soon reduced by the Epirotes to a small area around Durrës. The Angevins held out here, however, until 1368, when the city was captured by Karl Thopia. In 1392 Karl Thopia's son surrendered the city and his domains to the Republic of Venice.

Titles[link]

Designation and details[link]

List of monarchs[link]

Kingdom of Sicily[link]

Portrait	Name	From	Until	Relationship with predecessor
	Charles I of Sicily	6 January 1266	4 September 1282	no direct relation to Manfred of Sicily, won the kingdom through right of conquest.

Kingdom of Naples[link]

Portrait	Name	Branch	From	Until	Relationship with predecessor
	Charles I of Naples	Anjou-Sicily	4 September 1282	7 January 1285	the southern half of the Italian Peninsula was part of the Kingdom of Sicily before the Sicilian Vespers forced Charles out of the island.
	Charles II of Naples (Charles the Lame)	Anjou-Sicily	7 January 1285	5 May 1309	son of Charles I of Naples.
	Robert of Naples (Robert the Wise)	Anjou-Naples	5 May 1309	20 January 1343	son of Charles II of Naples.
	Joan I of Naples	Anjou-Naples	20 January 1343	12 May 1382	granddaughter of Robert of Naples. Daughter of Charles, Duke of Calabria
	Charles III of Naples (Charles the Short)	Anjou-Durazzo	12 May 1382	24 February 1386	second cousin of Joan I of Naples, whom he had murdered. Son of Louis of Durazzo.
	Ladislaus of Naples	Anjou-Durazzo	24 February 1386	6 August 1414	son of Charles III of Naples.
	Joan II of Naples	Anjou-Durazzo	6 August 1414	2 February 1435	sister of Ladislaus of Naples, daughter of Charles III of Naples.

Hungary[link]

Portrait	Name	Branch	From	Until	Relationship with predecessor
	Charles I of Hungary	Anjou-Hungary	12 July 1312	16 July 1342	great-grandnephew (first-cousin thrice removed) of Andrew III of Hungary, the last Árpád agnate.
	Louis I of Hungary (Louis the Great)	Anjou-Hungary	16 July 1342	10 September 1382	son of Charles I of Hungary.
	Mary of Hungary	Anjou-Hungary	10 September 1382	December 1385	daughter of Louis I of Hungary.
	Charles II of Hungary (Charles the Short of Naples)	Anjou(-Durazzo)	December 1385	24 February 1386	second-cousin once removed of Mary of Hungary; great-grandson of Charles II of Naples. Usurped the throne from her.
	Mary of Hungary (restored)	Anjou-Hungary	24 February 1386	17 May 1395	second-cousin once removed of Charles II of Hungary; great-great granddaughter of Charles II of Naples.

Kingdom of Poland[link]

Portrait	Name	Branch	From	Until	Relationship with predecessor
	Louis of Poland (Louis the Great of Hungary)	Anjou-Hungary	17 November 1370	10 September 1382	nephew of Casimir III of Poland, the last Piast agnate.
	Jadwiga of Poland	Anjou-Hungary	16 October 1384	17 July 1399	daughter of Louis of Poland.

References[link]

The House of Anjou or Angevins has been used to refer to several different dynasties:

• The House of Anjou, a Frankish noble family that became the Kings of Jerusalem and separately the Kings of England in the 12th century
• The House of Plantagenet, the continuation of the senior line of the House of Anjou as Kings of England during the High and Late Middle Ages
  • Angevin Empire, the Plantagenets' 12th century domains across the British Isles and western France
• The Capetian House of Anjou, a cadet branch of the House of Capet, who were Kings of Sicily, Naples, Hungary, Poland, and Albania amongst others
• The House of Valois-Anjou, a cadet branch of the House of Valois, who were Kings of Naples and held territories such as Anjou, Maine, Piedmont and Provence

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Anjou
Coat of arms
Country	France
Time zone	CET
Rulers	870–98, Ingelger 1480–81, Charles IV of Anjou

Anjou (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ʒu]) is a former county (in the sense of being ruled by a count, from c. 880), duchy (1360) and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of what, since the early 13th century, we know as western France. Its traditional Latin name was Andegavia.

Anjou was united with the English Crown from 1151-1199, when Henry II, and, in turn, his (third) son Richard the Lionheart, inherited the county, and thus themselves became Counts of Anjou. At its peak, the Angevin Empire then spread from Ulster to the Pyrenees. But Richard had no legitimate issue, so in 1199 Anjou passed to his nephew, Arthur of Brittany (the posthumous son of Henry II’s fourth son, Geoffrey), while the Crown of England passed to Henry II’s fifth son and Richard’s youngest brother, John. Count Arthur was taken prisoner by John in 1203, and disappeared in murky circumstances. In 1204, the county as a whole was in turn seized by France. Its status was elevated to that of a duchy for Prince Louis, the second son of John II of France, and remained as such until the Revolution. Today, Anjou corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire.

History[link]

Gauls, Romans, and Franks[link]

Its political origin is traced to the ancient Gallic state of the Andes, on the lines of which was organized, after the conquest by Julius Caesar, the Roman civitas of the Andecavi. This was afterward preserved as an administrative district under the Franks with the name first of pagus, then of comitatus, or countship of Anjou. This countship, the extent of which seems to have been practically identical with that of the ecclesiastical diocese of Angers, occupied the greater part of what is now the départment of Maine-et-Loire, further embracing, to the north, Craon, Candé, Bazouges (Château-Gontier), Le Lude, and to the east, Château-la-Vallière and Bourgueil, while to the south, on the other hand, it included neither the present town of Montreuil-Bellay, nor Vihiers, Cholet, Beaupréau, nor the whole district lying to the west of the Ironne and Thouet, on the left bank of the Loire, which formed the territory of the Mauges. 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, 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 twofold danger: from Brittany (on the west side boundary) and from Normandy (on the north side boundary). Lambert, a former count of Nantes, after devastating Anjou in concert with Nominoé, duke of Brittany, had by the end of the year 851 succeeded in occupying all the western part as far as the Mayenne. The principality, which he thus carved out for himself, was occupied, on his death, by Erispoé, duke of Brittany; by him it was handed down to his successors, in whose hands it remained until the beginning of the 10th century.

All this time the Normans had not ceased ravaging the country; a brave man was needed to defend it, and finally towards 861, Charles the Bald entrusted it to Robert the Strong, but Robert met 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, 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 century, 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.

The Fulks[link]

In the second quarter of the 10th 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 the son of the latter, Geoffrey I Grisegonelle (Greytunic) (c. 960 – 21 July 987), who inaugurated a policy of expansion, having as its objects the extension of the boundaries of the ancient countship 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 10th century, in the east all the district of Saumur had already by that time fallen into the hands of the counts of Blois and Tours.

Geoffrey Greytunic succeeded in making the count of Nantes his vassal, and in obtaining from the duke of Aquitaine the concession in fief of the district of Loudun. Moreover, in the wars of King Lothaire against the Normans and against the emperor Otto II he distinguished himself by feats of arms which the epic poets were quick to celebrate.

Remains of the fortress of Langeais, built by Fulk III

His son Fulk III Nerra (21 July 987 – 21 June 1040) found himself confronted on his accession with a coalition of Odo I, count of Blois, and Conan I 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 the battle of Conquereuil (27 June 992) and re-establishing Nantes under his own suzerainty. Then turning his attention to the count of Blois, he proceeded to establish 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.

Flag of Anjou in Champtoceaux, facing Brittany

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 1016 a fresh struggle arose between Fulk and Odo II, the new count of Blois. Odo II was utterly defeated at Pontlevoy (6 July 1016), and a few years later, while Odo was besieging Montboyau, Fulk surprised and took Saumur (1026).

Finally, the victory gained by Geoffrey Martel (21 June 1040 – 14 November 1060), the son and successor of Fulk, over Theobald III, count of Blois, at Nouy (21 August 1044), assured to the Angevins the possession of the countship of Touraine. At the same time, continuing in this quarter also the work of his father (who in 1025 took prisoner Herbert Wakedog and only set him free on condition of his doing him homage), Geoffrey succeeded in reducing the countship of Maine to complete dependence on himself. During his father's life-time he had been beaten by Gervais de Château-du-Loir, bishop of Le Mans (1038), but later (1047 or 1048) succeeded in taking the latter prisoner, for which he was excommunicated by Pope Leo IX at the council of Reims (October 1049). In spite, however, of the concerted attacks of William the Bastard (the Conqueror), duke of Normandy, and Henry I of France, he was able in 1051 to force Maine to recognize his authority, though failing to revenge himself on William.

On the death of Geoffrey Martel (14 November 1060) there was a dispute as to the succession. Geoffrey Martel, having no children, had bequeathed the countship to his eldest nephew, Geoffrey III the Bearded, son of Geoffrey, count of Gâtinais and of Ermengarde, daughter of Fulk Nerra. But Fulk le Réchin (the Cross-looking), brother of Geoffrey the Bearded, who had at first been contented with an appanage consisting of Saintonge and the châtellenie 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 (25 February 1067) and Angers (4 April), and cast Geoffrey into prison at Sablé. Compelled by the papal authority to release him after a short interval and to restore the countship to him, he soon renewed the struggle, beat Geoffrey near Brissac and shut him up in the castle of Chinon (1068). In order, however, to obtain his recognition as count, Fulk IV Réchin (1068 – 14 April 1109) had to carry on a long struggle with his barons, to cede Gâtinais 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 Flèche, by the peace of Blanchelande (1081), he received the homage of Robert Curthose ("Courteheuse"), son of William the Conqueror, for Maine. Later, he upheld Elias, lord of La Flèche, against William Rufus, king of England, and on the recognition of Elias as count of Maine in 1100, obtained for Fulk V the Young, his son by Bertrade de Montfort, the hand of Eremburge, Elias's daughter and sole heiress.

Fulk V the Young (14 April 1109 – 1129) succeeded to the countship of Maine on the death of Elias (11 July 1110); but this increase of Angevin territory came into such direct collision with the interests of Henry I of England, who was also duke of Normandy, that a struggle between the two powers became inevitable. In 1112 it broke out, and Fulk, being unable to prevent Henry I from taking Alençon and making Robert, lord of Bellême, prisoner, was forced, at the treaty of Pierre Pecoulée, near Alençon (23 February 1113), to do homage to Henry for Maine. In revenge for this, while Louis VI was overrunning the Vexin in 1118, he routed Henry's army at Alençon (November), and in May 1119 Henry demanded a peace, which was sealed in June by the marriage of his eldest son, William the Aetheling, with Matilda, Fulk's daughter. William the Aetheling having perished in the wreck of the White Ship (25 November 1120), Fulk, on his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (1120–1121), married his second daughter Sibyl, at the instigation of Louis VI, to William Clito, son of Robert Curthose, 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 1124). But in 1127 a new alliance was made, and on 22 May at Rouen, Henry I betrothed his daughter Matilda, widow of the emperor Henry V, to Geoffrey the Handsome, son of Fulk, the marriage being celebrated at Le Mans on 2 June 1129. Shortly after, on the invitation of Baldwin II of Jerusalem, Fulk departed to the Holy Land for good, married Melisinda, Baldwin's daughter and heiress, and succeeded to the throne of Jerusalem (14 September 1131). His eldest son, Geoffrey V the Handsome or "Plantagenet", succeeded him as count of Anjou (1129 – 7 September 1151).

The Plantagenets[link]

Graves of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England in Fontevraud-l'Abbaye

From the first Geoffrey Plantagenet tried to profit by his marriage and, after the death of Henry I (1 December 1135), laid the foundation of the conquest of Normandy by a series of campaigns: 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. Having been abruptly recalled into Anjou by a revolt of his barons, he returned to the charge in September 1136 with a strong army, including in its ranks William, duke of Aquitaine, Geoffrey, count of Vendôme, and William Talvas, count of Ponthieu, but after a few successes was wounded in the foot at the siege of Le Sap (1 October) and had to fall back.

Coat of arms of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou

In May 1137 began a fresh campaign in which he devastated the district of Hiémois (round Exmes) and burnt Bazoches. In June 1138, with the aid of Robert of Gloucester, Geoffrey obtained the submission of Bayeux and Caen; in October he devastated the neighbourhood of Falaise; finally, in March 1141, on hearing of his wife's success in England, he again entered Normandy, when he made a triumphal procession through the country. Town after town surrendered: in 1141, Verneuil, Nonancourt, Lisieux, Falaise; in 1142, Mortain, Saint-Hilaire, Pontorson; in 1143, Avranches, Saint-Lô, Cérences, Coutances, Cherbourg; in the beginning of 1144 he entered Rouen, and on 19 January 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 Curtmantle, who received the investiture at the hands of the king of France.

All the while that Fulk the Young and Geoffrey the Handsome were carrying on the work of extending the countship of Anjou, they did not neglect to strengthen their authority at home, to which the unruliness of the barons was a menace. As regards Fulk the Young we know only a few isolated facts and dates: about 1109 Doué and L'Île Bouchard were taken; in 1112 Brissac was besieged, and about the same time Eschivard of Preuilly subdued; in 1114 there was a general war against the barons who were in revolt, and in 1118 a fresh rising, which was put down after the siege of Montbazon: in 1123 the lord of Doué revolted, and in 1124 Montreuil-Bellay was taken after a siege of nine weeks. Geoffrey the Handsome, with his indefatigable energy, was eminently fitted to suppress the coalitions of his vassals, the most formidable of which was formed in 1129. Among those who revolted were Guy IV of Laval, Giraud I of Montreuil-Bellay, the viscount of Thouars, the lords of Mirebeau, Amboise, Partbenay and Sablé. Geoffrey succeeded in beating them one after another, razed the keep of Thouars and occupied Mirebeau.

Another rising was crushed in 1134 by the destruction of Cand and the taking of L'Île Bouchard. In 1136, while the count was in Normandy, Robert III of Sablé put himself at the head of the movement, to which Geoffrey responded by destroying Briollay and occupying La Suze, and Robert of Sable himself was forced to beg humbly for pardon through the intercession of the bishop of Angers. In 1139 Geoffrey took Mirebeau, and in 1142 Champtoceaux, but in 1145 a new revolt broke out, this time under the leadership of Elias, the count's own brother, who, again with the assistance of Robert of Sable, laid claim to the countship of Maine. Geoffrey took Elias prisoner, forced Robert of Sable to beat a retreat, and reduced the other barons to reason. In 1147 he destroyed Doue and Blaison. Finally in 1150 he was checked by the revolt of Giraud, lord of Montreuil-Bellay: for a year he besieged the place until it had to surrender: he then took Giraud prisoner and only released him on the mediation of the king of France.

Thus, on the death of Geoffrey the Handsome (7 September 1151), his son Henry found himself heir to a great empire, strong and consolidated, to which his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine (May 1152) further added Aquitaine.

Château d'Angers

At length on the death of King Stephen, Henry was recognised as king of England (19 December 1154), as agreed in the Treaty of Wallingford. But then his brother Geoffrey, who had received 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, Geoffrey the Handsome, all the paternal inheritance ought to descend to him, if Henry succeeded in obtaining possession of the maternal inheritance. On hearing of this, Henry, although he had sworn to observe this will, had himself released from his oath by the pope, and hurriedly 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 the Young King when the latter became old enough to govern it, he absolutely refused to allow him to enjoy his power. After Henry II's death in 1189 the countship, together with the rest of his dominions, passed to his son Richard I of England, but on the death of the latter in 1199, Arthur of Brittany (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." He therefore set himself up in rivalry with John Lackland, youngest son of Henry II, and supported by Philip Augustus of France, and aided by William des Roches, seneschal of Anjou, he managed to enter Angers (18 April 1199) and there have himself recognized as count of the three countships of Anjou, Maine and Touraine, for which he did homage to the king of France. King John soon regained the upper hand, for Philip Augustus having deserted Arthur by the treaty of Le Goulet (22 May 1200), John made his way into Anjou; and on 18 June 1200 was recognized as count at Angers. In 1202 he refused to do homage to Philip Augustus, who, in consequence, confiscated all his continental 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 the first of August 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 to possess himself of it, in 1214, led to the taking of Angers (17 June), but broke down lamentably at the battle of La Roche-aux-Moines (2 July), and the countship was attached to the crown of France.

Medieval castle of Pouancé, built to defend Anjou against Brittany.

Shortly afterwards it was separated from it again, when in August 1246 King Louis IX gave it as an appanage to his brother Charles, count of Provence, soon to become king of Naples and Sicily. Charles I of Anjou, engrossed with his other dominions, gave little thought to Anjou, nor did his son Charles II, the Lame, who succeeded him on 7 January 1285. On 16 August 1290, the latter married his daughter Margaret to Charles of Valois, son of Philip III the Bold, giving her Anjou and Maine for dowry, in exchange for the kingdoms of Aragon and Valentia and the countship of Barcelona given up by Charles. Charles of Valois at once entered into possession of the countship of Anjou, to which Philip IV, the Fair, in September 1297, attached a peerage of France. On 16 December 1325, Charles died, leaving Anjou to his eldest son Philip of Valois, on whose recognition as king of France (Philip VI) on 1 April 1328, the countship of Anjou was again united to the crown.

On 17 February 1332, Philip VI bestowed it on his son John the Good, who, when he became king in turn (22 August 1350), gave the countship to his second son Louis I, raising it to a duchy in the peerage of France by letters patent of 25 October 1360. Louis I, who became in time count of Provence and 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 Aragon. On his death (29 April 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 15 November 1434, leaving no children. The duchy of Anjou then passed to his brother René, second son of Louis II and Yolande of Aragon, and king of Naples and Sicily.

In the Kingdom of France[link]

Map of Anjou in the 18th century.
In yellow: the Maine-et-Loire current département.
In red: the former border of Anjou

Unlike his predecessors, who had rarely stayed long in Anjou, René 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 December 1470, René, for reasons which are not altogether clear, decided to move his residence to Provence and leave Anjou for good. After making an inventory of all his possessions, he left the duchy in October 1471, taking with him the most valuable of his treasures. On 22 July 1474 he drew up a will by which he divided the succession between his grandson René II of Lorraine and his nephew Charles II, count of Maine. On hearing this, King Louis XI, who was the son of one of King René's sisters, seeing that his expectations were thus completely frustrated, seized the duchy of Anjou. He did not keep it very long, but became reconciled to René in 1476 and restored it to him, on condition, probably, that René should bequeath it to him. However that may be, on the death of the latter (10 July 1480) he again added Anjou to the royal domain.

Later, King Francis I again gave the duchy as an appanage to his mother, Louise of Savoy, by letters patent of 4 February 1515. On her death, in September 1531, the duchy returned into the king's possession. In 1552 it was given as an appanage by Henry II to his son Henry of Valois, who, on becoming king in 1574, with the title of Henry III, conceded it to his brother Francis, duke of Alençon, at the treaty of Beaulieu near Loches (6 May 1576). Francis died on 10 June 1584, and the vacant appanage definitively became part of the royal domain.

At first Anjou was included in the gouvernement (or military command) of Orléanais, but in the 17th century 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 généralité (administrative circumscription) of Tours, Anjou on the eve of the Revolution comprised five êlections (judicial districts):--Angers, Baugé, Saumur, Château-Gontier, Montreuil-Bellay and part of the êlections of La Flèche and Richelieu. Financially it formed part of the so-called pays de grande gabelle, and comprised sixteen special tribunals, or greniers à sel (salt warehouses):--Angers, Baugé, Beaufort, Bourgueil, Candé, Château-Gontier, Cholet, Craon, La Flèche, Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, Ingrandes, Le Lude, Pouancé, Saint-Rémy-la-Varenne, Richelieu, Saumur. From the point of view of 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 sénéchaussées of Angers, Saumur, Beaugé, Beaufort and the duchy of Richelieu; there were besides presidial courts at Château-Gontier and La Flèche. When the Constituent Assembly, on 26 February 1790, decreed the division of France into départments, Anjou and the Saumurois, with the exception of certain territories, formed the départment of Maine-et-Loire, as at present constituted.

Principal sources[link]

The history of Anjou may be told partly with the aid of the chroniclers of the neighbouring provinces, especially those of Normandy (William of Poitiers, William of Jumièges, Ordericus Vitalis) and of Maine (especially Actus pontificum cenomannis in urbe degentium). For the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries especially, there are some important texts dealing entirely with Anjou. The most important is the chronicle called Gesta consulum Andegavorum, of which only a poor edition exists (Chroniques des comtes d'Anjou, published by Marchegay and Salmon, with an introduction by E. Mabille, Paris, 1856–1871, collection of the Société de l'histoire de France). See also with reference to this text Louis Halphen, Êtude sur les chroniques des comtes d'Anjou et des seigneurs d'Amboise (Paris, 1906). The above may be supplemented by some valuable annals published by Louis Halphen, Recueil d'annales angevines et vendómoises (Paris, 1903), (in the series Collection de textes pour servir à l'étude et à l'enseignement de l'histoire). For further details see Auguste Molinier, Les Sources de l'histoire de France (Paris, 1902), ii. 1276–1310, and the book of Louis Halphen mentioned below.

Works[link]

The Art de vérifier les dates contains a history of Anjou which is very much out of date, but has not been treated elsewhere as a whole. The 11th century only has been treated in detail by Louis Halphen, in Le Comté d'Anjou au XI^e siècle (Paris, 1906), which has a preface with bibliography and an introduction dealing with the history of Anjou in the 10th century. For the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries, a good summary will be found in Kate Norgate, England under the Angevin Kings (2 vols., London, 1887). On René of Anjou, there is a book by A. Lecoy de La Marche, Le Roi René (2 vols., Paris, 1875). Lastly, the work of Célestin Port, Dictionnaire historique, géographique et biographique de Maine-et-Loire (3 vols., Paris and Angers, 1874–1878), and its small volume of Préliminaires (including a summary of the history of Anjou), contain, in addition to the biographies of the chief counts of Anjou, a mass of information concerning everything connected with Angevin history.

See also[link]

France portal

• List of Counts and Dukes of Anjou
• Angevin Empire
• French wine
• Seneschal of Anjou
• D'Anjou Pear

Link[link]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

v t e Historical Provinces of France Alsace Angoumois Anjou Artois Aunis Auvergne Basse-Navarre Béarn Beaujolais Berry Bourbonnais Brittany Burgundy Champagne Corsica Dauphiné Flanders and Hainaut Foix Forez Franche-Comté Gascony Guyenne Île-de-France Languedoc Limousin Lorraine Lyonnais Maine Marche Montbéliard Mulhouse Nice Nivernais Normandy Orléanais Perche Picardy Poitou Provence Roussillon Saintonge Savoy Touraine Trois-Évêchés Venaissin

Coordinates: 47°28′N 0°33′W / 47.467°N 0.55°W / 47.467; -0.55

Walter Camp
Camp in 1910
Sport(s)	Football
Biographical details
Born	(1859-04-07)April 7, 1859 New Britain, Connecticut
Died	March 14, 1925(1925-03-14) (aged 65) New York, New York
Playing career
1876–1882	Yale
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1888–1892 1892, 1894–1895	Yale Stanford
Head coaching record
Overall	79–5–3
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships 3 National (1888, 1891–1892)
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1951 (profile)

Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football. He played college football at Yale College from 1876 to 1882. Camp served as the head football coach at Yale from 1888 to 1892 before moving to Stanford University, where he coached in December 1892 and in 1894 and 1895. Camp's Yale teams of 1888, 1891, and 1892 have been recognized as national champions. Camp was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951.

Life[link]

Camp was born in the city of New Britain, Connecticut, the son of Leverett Lee and Ellen Sophia (Cornwell) Camp. He attended Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven, entered Yale College in 1876, and graduated in 1880. At Yale he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and Skull and Bones.^[1] He attended Yale Medical School, where his studies were interrupted first by an outbreak of typhoid fever and then by work for the Manhattan Watch Company. He worked for the New Haven Clock Company beginning in 1883, working his way up to chairman of the board of directors.^[1]

On June 30, 1888, Camp married Alice Graham Sumner, sister of William Graham Sumner. They had two children: Walter Camp, Jr. (born 1891) who attended Yale as well and was elected as a member of Scroll and Key in 1912, and Janet Camp Troxell (born 1897).^[2]

Rules committee[link]

Camp as he appears at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Camp was on the various collegiate football rules committees that developed the American game from his time as a player at Yale until his death. He is credited with innovations such as the snap-back from center, the system of downs, and the points system, as well as the introduction of the now-standard offensive arrangement of players (a seven-man offensive line and a four-man backfield consisting of a quarterback, two halfbacks, and a fullback). Camp was also responsible for introducing the "safety", the awarding of two points to the defensive side for tackling a ball carrier in his own end zone followed by a free kick by the offense from its own 20-yard line (to change possession). This is significant, as rugby union has no point value award for this action, but instead awards a scrum to the attacking side five meters from the goal line and Rugby League awards the defense by receiving a drop out on the goal line by the team caught inside their goal area.

In 2011, reviewing Camp's role in the founding of the sport and of the NCAA, Taylor Branch also credited Camp with cutting the number of players on a football team from 15 to 11 and adding measuring lines to the field. However, Branch noted that the revelation in a contemporaneous McClure's magazine story of "Camp's $100,000 slush fund", along with concern about the violence of the growing sport (25 college players killed during the 1905 football season), helped lead to President Theodore Roosevelt's intervention in the sport. The NCAA emerged out of the national talks but worked to Yale's disadvantage relative to rival (and Roosevelt's alma mater) Harvard, according to Branch.^[3]

Writing[link]

Despite having a full-time job at the New Haven Clock Company (A Camp Family Business) and being an unpaid yet very involved adviser to the Yale football team, Camp wrote articles and books on gridiron and also on sports in general. By the time of his death, he had written nearly 30 books and more than 250 magazine articles. His articles appeared in national periodicals such as Harper's Weekly, Collier's, Outing, Outlook, and The Independent, and in juvenile magazines such as St. Nicholas, Youth's Companion, and Boys' Magazine. His stories also appeared in major daily newspapers throughout the United States. He also selected an annual "All-American" team. According to his biographer, Richard P. Borkowski, "Camp was instrumental through writing and lecturing in attaching an almost mythical atmosphere of manliness and heroism to the game not previously known in American team sports."

By the age of 33, twelve years after graduating from Yale, Walter Camp had already become known as the "Father of American Football". In a column in the popular magazine Harper's Weekly, sports columnist Caspar Whitney had applied the nickname; the sobriquet was appropriate because, by 1892, Camp had almost single-handedly fashioned the game of modern American football.

The Daily Dozen exercise regimen[link]

Camp was a proponent of exercise, and not just for the athletes he coached. While working as an adviser to the United States military during World War I, he devised a program to help servicemen become more physically fit.

Walter Camp has just developed for the Naval Commission on Training Camp Activities a "short hand" system of setting up exercises that seems to fill the bill; a system designed to give a man a running jump start for the serious work of the day. It is called the "daily dozen set-up," meaning thereby twelve very simple exercises.^[4]

Both the Army and the Navy used Camp's methods.^[5]

The names of the exercises in the original Daily Dozen, as the whole set became known, were hands, grind, crawl, wave, hips, grate, curl, weave, head, grasp, crouch, and wing. As the name indicates, there were twelve exercises, and they could be completed in about eight minutes.^[6] A prolific writer, Camp wrote a book explaining the exercises and extolling their benefits. During the 1920s, a number of newspapers and magazines used the term "Daily Dozen" to refer to exercise in general.^[7]

Starting in 1921 with the Musical Health Builder record sets, Camp began offering morning setting-up exercises to a wider market.^[8] In 1922, the initiative reached the new medium of radio.^{[citation needed]}

Head coaching record[link]

Camp as Yale's captain in 1878

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Ronald A. Smith, Sports and Freedom: The Rise of Big-Time College Athletics, (1990)
• "Walter Camp Found All-American Eleven Selections and Originated the Daily Dozen." New York Times, March 15, 1925. p. 1.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Walter Camp

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Walter Camp

• Walter Camp at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Walter Camp at the College Football Data Warehouse
• Works by Walter Camp at Project Gutenberg
• Walter Camp at Find a Grave
• Walter Camp (1912). Condensed auction for the busy man. NY: Platt & Peck. http://www.archive.org/stream/condensedauctio00campgoog. 

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2012)

"Renaissance" is the ninth overall single from British band M People and is the fourth and final single from their second album Elegant Slumming (1993). It was written by Mike Pickering and Paul Heard and produced by M People. It was released on 28 February 1994. The song peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart following their first win for Best British Dance Act at the 1994 BRIT Awards.

Background[link]

At the time of "Renaissance"'s release they were touring the second leg of their 15-date Elegant Slumming UK Tour and riding the height of their musical fortunes with their double platinum album. "How Can I Love You More (Mixes)", "One Night in Heaven", "Moving on Up" and "Don't Look Any Further" had already provided them with four consecutive singles and this became their fifth.

Composition[link]

The song features pounding italo-piano chords and is laden with synths alongside an insistent bassline and classic house beat. Lyrically, it is in total contrast to the angry "breaking free" sung in "Moving on Up" to looking forward to coming home to one glorious night when Heather promises to "make you scream aloud with joy" – but "there’ll be no day there’ll be no night".

Chart Performance[link]

Out of the nine M People previous single releases at that point, this single was only the second to chart and peak in its first week (the only other single to do so at that point was predecessor "Don't Look Any Further"). "Renaissance" entered the chart and peaked in its first week at number 5 with sales of 89,000 copies in its first week, but made a steady descent out of the chart within seven weeks. When "Renaissance" left the chart, it had sold in total 179,000 copies. In the two weeks prior to "[Renaissance"'s release, Elegant Slumming climbed back into the Top Ten at eight climbing to six once the song had been released, then rising further once again to peak at number four weeks later. For the second time, M People recorded simultaneous single and album Top 10s for two weeks, being at numbers 5 and 6, respectively and the at 6 and 5, respectively the week after in March 1994. "Renaissance" was also used as the theme tune to the BBC2 show "The Living Soap" which helped the single sales.

Music Video[link]

The video was filmed in Michigan in January 1994 while the band promoted the launch of the US version of the album on the Sony label. Directed by Award winning Director of Photography Jeff Baynes for 'Eye Eye Ltd'/'Tatooist International' Production companies; Heather, Mike, Paul and Shovell were filmed together during the choruses with Heather in the driving seat of a classic black convertible American Cadillac with her bandmates as passengers all singing along or in a variety of places such riding in a classic Jag with Heather in the driving seat around the bustling American streets, driving past trams, and along a freeway. Heather has since admitted that at the time she was not qualified to drive and kept turning the wheel in the wrong direction. Other notable Michigan landmarks seen include the Park Bowl and Xing seen on the road. There are also some internal scenes in a studio with Heather dancing and singing to camera with her three bandmates dancing behind her. There are also close-ups on Paul’s hands playing chords on the piano and Shovell’s drumming.

Live Performances[link]

Since its release, M People have continued to perform this song as their show opener for all their tours to this day, and the refrain "I’m coming..." is what Heather sings off-stage before making her entrance to the instrumental.

Remixes[link]

Remixes of the single were provided by Roger S., Macready, Da Silva and John Digweed and M People themselves who also included the original Album mix of the single alongside the Radio Edit and Master Mix.

Airplay[link]

"Renaissance" was serviced to radio three weeks before physical release when "Don't Look Any Further" was still in the Airplay Top 30 from two months earlier. It entered the Top 50 at number 45 then moved up 26 places in its second week to number 19, finally peaking at number 6. The new instrumental, tighter verses and stronger structure plus its use as a theme tune of a popular BBC show, The Living Soap, all propelled the song's success very quickly. "Renaissance" has the distinction of being the only ever M People single to be written and recorded in just one day. This was partly because the band were under pressure from their record label, DeConstruction, to have finished and finalised the album by the end of the Summer 1993. Therefore, the tweaking of the track was essential to become a carefree dance single.

Track listings[link]

12" Maxi

1. “Renaissance” (M People master mix)
2. “Renaissance” (John Digweed's full on mix)
3. “Renaissance” (Roger S. uplifting club mix)

CD Maxi

1. “Renaissance” (Radio mix)
2. “Renaissance” (M People master mix)
3. “Renaissance” (John Digweed's full on mix)
4. “Renaissance” (Roger S. uplifting club mix)
5. “Renaissance” (Album mix)