Geoffrey IV Plantagenet 1 2
- Born: 23 Sep 1158
- Marriage: Constance of Brittany in Jul 1181
- Died: 19 Aug 1186, Paris, France aged 27
- Buried: Notre Dame, Paris, France
Other names for Geoffrey were Geoffrey II of Bretagne and Geoffroi Plantagenet.
General Notes:
Duke of Brittany and earl of Richmond, the fourth, but third surviving, son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine.
In 1166, in furtherance of his father's policy of extending and consolidating Angevin power in France, Geoffrey was betrothed to Constance, daughter and heir of Conan IV, Duke of Brittany. At the same time, Duke Conan was forced to surrender to Henry II for Geoffrey's use the whole duchy of Brittany except the county of Guingamp. Geoffrey received the homage of the Breton nobles in 1169, and in 1173 he joined the rebellion against Henry II led by his eldest brother, Henry, the "Young King," and supported by the rulers of France, Scotland, and Flanders. He submitted to his father at Michaelmas, 1174, and was sent back to Brittany, where he proceeded to recover lost ducal estates and subdue rebellious barons. He and Constance were married in 1181.
From then until his death he fought against both his brother Richard the Lion-Heart and his father (toward whom he behaved atrociously), largely for possession of Anjou. In 1185 he issued an "assize" at Rennes regularizing the succession to military fiefs in Brittany. He died at Paris while forming an alliance with Philip II of France against Henry II, either of illness or in a tournament, leaving a daughter, Eleanor, and a posthumous son, Arthur I.
Noted events in his life were:
• Acceded: Duke of Brittany, 1171.
Geoffrey married Constance of Brittany, daughter of Conan IV "la Petit" of Brittany and Margaret of Huntingdon, in Jul 1181. (Constance of Brittany was born about 1161 and died on 5 Sep 1201 in Nantes, Brittany, France.) The cause of her death was some say she died in childbirth, other that she died of smallpox.
Marriage Notes:
In 1166, in furtherance of his father's policy of extending and consolidating Angevin power in France, Geoffrey was betrothed to Constance, daughter and heir of Conan IV, Duke of Brittany. 3
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