Gottfried III. (Anjou)

Gottfried III. (French: Geoffroy , eng .: Geoffrey ; * 1040 ; † 1097 ), called the bearded one (le Barbu), was a Count of Anjou and Tours from 1060 to 1068 , the first from the House of Château-Landon . He was the eldest son of Count Gottfried II. Ferréol von Gâtinais († 1042/45) and his wife Ermengarde von Anjou († 1076) , daughter of Count Fulko III. Nerra of Anjou († 1040).

Life

Gottfried's family on his father's side came from central France where, as Count des Gâtinais and Vice Count of Orléans, they were followers of the French kings. Gottfried succeeded in this inheritance after the death of his father. But soon he entered the service of his maternal uncle Count Gottfried II Martel von Anjou , one of the most powerful men in France of his time, and was entrusted by him with the rule of the Aquitaine Saintonge . After his uncle's death in 1060, Gottfried succeeded him in his extensive estates.

At the beginning of his rule, Gottfried and his brother Fulko managed to repel an attack by Duke Wilhelm VIII of Aquitaine on the Saintonge in 1062 . In contrast to his uncle, who did not interfere in questions of church politics, Gottfried came into conflict with the clergy of his domains over the investment of the bishopric in Le Mans . For Gottfried this was important because he was able to maintain his influence in the county of Maine with a bishop he liked , where in 1063 his rival Duke Wilhelm II of Normandy could appoint his eldest son Robert Kurzhose as count. After Gottfried attacked the Marmoutier Abbey , he was excommunicated in 1067 by a papal legate .

His younger brother Fulko took advantage of this to usurp the rule in Anjou and to put Gottfried prisoner. Quickly escaping from this, Gottfried was defeated by his brother in a fight near Brissac-Quincé (April 1068) and was again imprisoned in Chinon Castle. Only released in 1096 on the intervention of Pope Urban II , he died a short time later.

Gottfried was married to Julienne, the daughter of his vassal Hamelin von Langeais , with whom he had no children.

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predecessor	Office	successor
Gottfried II. Ferréol	Count of Gâtinais 1042 / 45-1068	Fulko IV. The brawler
Gottfried II Martel	Count of Anjou Count of Tours 1060-1068	Fulko IV. The brawler