Margaret of Anjou, 1430?-1482, queen consort of King Henry VI of England, daughter of René of Anjou. Her marriage, which took place in 1445, was negotiated by William de la Pole, 4th earl (later 1st duke) of Suffolk (see under Pole, family). Margaret soon asserted influence at the English court, allying herself with Suffolk and Edmund Beaufort, 2d duke of Somerset, in their rivalry with Richard, duke of York, heir presumptive to the throne. When the king became temporarily insane in 1453, York was made protector, but the birth (1453) of Margaret's son, Edward (which destroyed Richard's chances of succession), and Henry's recovery of his faculties (1454), allowed Margaret to regain the ascendancy. With the clash between the followers of York (the Yorkists) and the supporters of the king (the Lancastrians) at St. Albans (1455), the Wars of the Roses began (see Roses, Wars of the). Margaret was very active in the warfare; for 16 years she fought in defense of her son's claim to the throne. Richard of York was killed (1460), but Richard Neville, earl of Warwick, and Edward, the new duke of York (later Edward IV), took up the Yorkist cause. After the Lancastrian defeat at Towton (1461), Margaret went to Scotland with her son and husband and thence to France, where she secured aid for an abortive invasion (1463) of England. Thereafter she was forced to bide her time until, following the quarrel between Warwick and Edward IV, she made common cause with Warwick to invade England and restore Henry VI to the throne (1470). The next year Edward IV triumphed at Tewkesbury, where Margaret was captured and her son killed. The payment of ransom by Louis XI enabled her to return to France (1476), where she spent her last years in poverty.

Anjou, region and former province, W France, coextensive roughly with Maine-et-Loire and parts of Indre-et-Loire, Mayenne, and Sarthe depts. Angers, the historic capital, and Saumur are the chief towns. A fertile lowland, Anjou is traversed by the Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe, Loir, and Maine rivers. It is chiefly an agricultural area with excellent vineyards that produce the renowned Saumur sparkling wines. Occupied by the Andecavi, a Gallic people, the region was conquered by Caesar. Anjou fell to the Franks in the 5th cent. and became a countship under Charlemagne in the 9th cent. By the 10th cent. it was in the hands of the first line of the counts of Anjou (see Angevin dynasty), who expanded their holdings vigorously. Fulk Nerra, who founded the Angevin dynasty, acquired Saumur from the counts of Blois. His successor, Geoffrey Martel, won Touraine from Blois (1044) and Maine from Normandy (1051). Fulk (d. 1143), the grandson of Fulk Nerra, after protracted wars with Henry I of England over the possession of Maine, married his son Geoffrey (Geoffrey Plantagenet) to Henry's daughter Matilda. Geoffrey ruled Anjou (1129-51) and conquered Normandy, of which he was crowned duke in 1144. His son, later Henry II of England, married Eleanor of Aquitaine and with her inheritance ruled most of W France. When Henry II's grandson, Arthur I, duke of Brittany, rebelled against his uncle, John of England, he won the support of Philip II of France, to whom he paid homage (1199) for Anjou, Maine, and Touraine. After Arthur's death, Philip II seized (1204) all Anjou. In 1246, Louis IX of France gave Anjou in appanage to his brother Charles, count of Provence, who later also became king of Sicily and Naples (see Charles I). Charles II of Naples gave Anjou as dowry to his daughter Margaret when she married Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France. When their son became (1328) King Philip VI of France, Anjou was again reunited to the French crown. John II of France, however, made Anjou a duchy (1360) and gave it to his son Louis (later Louis I of Naples). Louis XI of France inherited Anjou after the death (1480) of René, grandson of Louis I, and the death (1481) of Charles of Maine, René's nephew, the last of the Angevin line. Anjou was definitively annexed to France in 1487. In the 16th cent. Anjou was held as appanage at various times; the last duke was Francis of Alençon and Anjou. The region was devastated during the Wars of Religion (1562-98; see under Religion, Wars of). During the French Revolution the rising of the Vendée, the Royalist revolt against the revolution, occurred in Anjou.

Historical region, lower Loire valley, northwestern France. Organized in the Gallo-Roman period as the Civitas Andegavensis, it later became the countship, and from 1360 the duchy, of Anjou. Its capital was Angers. Under the Carolingian dynasty, it was nominally administered by a count representing the French king. The area came under the English king Henry II when he married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, thus founding the Anglo-Angevin empire of the Plantagenet dynasty. The French recovered Anjou in 1259, and it was united with France in 1487. It ceased to exist as a department in 1790.

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