Counts and dukes of Anjou
Rulers of the County (later Duchy) of Anjou
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ToursExplore Lably’s 3D toursIngelger's male line ended with Geoffrey II. Subsequent counts of Anjou were descended from Geoffrey's sister Ermengarde and Count Geoffrey II of Gâtinais. Their agnatic descendants, who included the Angevin kings of England, continued to hold the title and territory until King Philip II Augustus seized the region and annexed it to the French crown lands.
In 1360, the county was raised to a dukedom becoming known as Duke of Anjou, subsequently leading the Duchy of Anjou. The title was held by Philip V of Spain before his accession to the throne in 1700. Since then, some Spanish Legitimist claimants to the French throne also claim the title even to the present day, as does a first cousin of the Orléanist pretender.
Counts of Anjou
Robertian dynasty
The Robertians, or Robertian dynasty, comprised:
House of Ingelger
Agnatic descent
Cognatic descent
House of Plantagenet
In 1204, Anjou was lost to king Philip II of France. It was re-granted as an appanage for Louis VIII's son John, who died in 1232 at the age of thirteen, and then to Louis's youngest son, Charles, later the first Angevin king of Sicily.
Capetian dynasty
House of Anjou
In 1290, Margaret married Charles of Valois, the younger brother of king Philip IV of France. He became Count of Anjou in her right.
House of Valois
In 1328, Philip of Valois ascended the French throne and became King Philip VI. At this time, the counties of Anjou, Maine, and Valois returned to the royal domain. On 26 April 1332, Philip granted the county to his eldest son, John:
Following John's ascension to the throne as John II in 1350, the title again returned to the royal domain.
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Dukes of Anjou
The dukes contributed greatly to social reform in the 1300s and 1400s.
First creation: 1360–1481 – House of Valois-Anjou
On the death of Charles IV, Anjou returned to the royal domain.
Second creation: 1515–1531 – House of Savoy
Third creation: 1566–1576 – House of Valois-Angoulême
Fourth creation: 1576–1584 – House of Valois-Angoulême
Fifth creation: 1608–1626 – House of Bourbon
Sixth creation: 1640–1660 – House of Orléans
Seventh creation: 1668–1671 – House of Bourbon
8th creation: 1672 – House of Bourbon
9th creation: 1683–1700 – House of Bourbon
10th creation: 1710–1715 – House of Bourbon
11th creation: 1730–1733 – House of Bourbon
12th creation: 1755–1795 – House of Bourbon
Dukes of Anjou without legal creation
1883–1936 – House of Bourbon
After the death of Henri, Count of Chambord, only the descendants of Philip V of Spain remained of the male line of Louis XIV. The most senior of these, the Carlist claimant to the Spanish throne, became the eldest of the Capetians. Some of them used the courtesy title of Duke of Anjou, as shown below:
At the death of Alfonso Carlos in 1936, the Capetian seniority passed to the exiled King of Spain, Alfonso XIII. In 1941, Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia, succeeded his father Alfonso XIII (Alphonse I of France according to the Legitimists) as the heir male of Louis XIV and therefore as the Legitimist claimant to the French throne. He then adopted the title of Duke of Anjou.
1941–present – House of Bourbon
2004–present – House of Bourbon-Orléans
On 8 December 2004, Henry, Count of Paris, Duke of France, Orléanist Pretender to the French throne, granted the title Duke of Anjou to his nephew, Charles-Philippe d'Orléans. Since he did not recognize his cousin's courtesy title, in his view, the title was available since 1795.