A new addition for me. A badly bashed about denier of Foulques V of Anjou. Born 1089, he became Compte D'anjou in 1109 and became King of Jerusalem in 1129 which he held until his death in 1143. His title `Compte D'Anjou' was passed to his son Geoffrey D'Anjou in 1129. Of course Geoffrey's claim to fame was fathering Henry II of England. The coin isn't brilliant, but for ten euros i'm not complaining.
I haven't checked this fact out yet but i've no reason to believe it's inaccurate. There was a dispute in 1152 over one of Louis VII's vassal lords, Geoffrey had taken him prisoner (took him many years to do so) and was refusing to release him. In August 1152 there was a a big debate between the two sides in Paris. Louis was disgusted with how the baron was being treat. Geoffrey said the lord had deserved it for being a ruthless lawless man that had gone round causing misery upon the land. Present at this meeting was Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux and things got a bit tense and heated. Geoffrey promptly defied the abbot and thus Bernard said God would strike Geoffrey down within a month. In September Geoffrey fell sick and died. Geoff might not have been a match for the abbot but Eleanor of Aquitane certainly was.
By the way Ian i like the coin! How often do these things turn up? Naturally i'd prefer one from a little later (i.e after Fulk's death), at least that way it's the cheap option of getting a coin from the other side of the English succession dispute. Some might think i'm cheating by not getting the Matilda penny, but as they say if it's good enough for the Bishop of Winchester then it's good enough for me!
They aren't too difficult, but its a bit like the old Hienz tomato sauce saying. `when at first you shake the bottle, none'll come...and then a lot'll'. You might not see one for mobths on end, then you get blitzed with them. Foulques IV is more common, but few there are in anything better than VG /Fine. I'll keep my eyes open for you and let you know when I see anything from the time frame you are particularly interested in. An interesting story you tell concerning Geoffrey. It is possible that the origins of it lie with Geoffrey's imprisonment of his own brother Elias, a proverbial thorn in his side and one of the reasons (rebellion) why he was less than willing to prosecute Matilda's claim through force of arms. It is possible that Louis raised petition with Geoffrey concerning him(?). Ian
It was a guy by the name of Giraud Berlai that Geoffrey held captive. (His name comes up in relation to Geoffrey if you do a google search, but seemingly mostly on French sites). From my impression of Giraud he was a bit like a Randolph of Chester/ Geoffrey de Mandeville type, i.e law unto himself. Geoffrey Plantagenet reigned him in. True Geoffrey did imprison his brother, but the Angevins were never a very loyal family. (Mind you having said that neither were any of the Normans, look at all of the Conqueror's children, they all fought each other).
Church and state and wars in the Holy Land. Power politics at its worst. What an unholy tangle of machinations and webs of intrigue!! Great eh? Giraud apparently held out against Geoffrey for three years. Louis VII used his incarceration as an excuse to have a go at Geoffrey and a nibble at Normandy.
Correct this is what i was led to believe. Geoffrey let Giraud go free (he said he never would) but the whole argument between them was slowing down the divorce process between Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitane. Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor had come to an agreement to get wed as soon as they could, but to do that they needed to get rid of Louis. So Giraud went free, Geoff snuffed it, and the French marriage was annulled on ground of them being related within the 4th degree of sanguinity (sp?), of course the blow to Louis was that when Eleanor married Henry they too were fourth cousins!
