Geoffrey IV, Count of Anjou

Who was Geoffrey IV, Count of Anjou?

Geoffrey IV, called Martel, was Count of Anjou from 1103 until his early death, either co-ruling with his father, Fulk IV, or in opposition to him. He was popular with the Church and grew a reputation for curbing tyranny and opposing his violent father, who, according to Orderic Vitalis, enjoyed pillaging and terrorising his subjects.

Geoffrey was a son of Fulk's first wife, Ermengard of Bourbon. His father tried to disinherit him in favour of Fulk the Younger, his son by his fourth wife, Bertrada of Montfort. Fulk, by then an old man, had previously delegated much of his authority to Geoffrey. With the support of his father's adversaires, Geoffrey seems to have achieved recognition from his father and from 1103 styled himself "count" and took control of the government. He allied with Renaud de Martigné, Bishop of Angers, against the baron Maurice of Craon. An anonymous poem by a scholar or cleric addressed to a certain Philip, probably Philip of Melun, son of Philip I of France through his dalliance with Bertrada, is an encomium of a "Count Martel", probably Geoffrey IV. The poem is didactic and upholds the count, only named as Martel, as an exemplar of good rulership. The last lines offers hope that he may "long prosper", and so must have be written during the brief period of his rule in Anjou.