Ermengarde-Blanche of Anjou

Ermengarde-Blanche of Anjou (–1076), was a French noblewoman who was first Countess of Chateau-Landon and secondly Duchess of Burgundy. She is also called Hermangarde in some sources. Ermengarde-Blanch was the heiress of the countship of Anjou and is an ancestress of the House of Plantagenet. 

 Life 

Ermengarde-Blanche was the daughter of Count Fulk III of Anjou and Hildegarde.Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln|Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band III Teilband 1 (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 116 She was involved in two marriage alliances that greatly benefited her father and brother as counts of Anjou. She was first contracted to marry Geoffrey II, Count of Gâtinais, called Ferréol, who was also lord of Château-Landon.Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 82 It was important marriage to return Château-Landon to the counts of Anjou.Bernard S. Bachrach, Fulk Nerra, the Neo-Roman Consul, 987-1040 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), p. 202 It took between twelve and eighteen months to arrange the marriage. Meanwhile Fulk paid a great deal of attention to Château-Landon. He and his wife, Hildegarde, founded the abbey of Le Ronceray.Henk Teunis, The Appeal to the Original Status: Social Justice in Anjou in the Eleventh Century (Hilversum, Netherlands: Uitgeveri Verloren, 2006), p. 38 Originally a church dedicated to St. Mary, Hildegard was very active in its rebuilding into an abbey. They gave the abbey many gifts including the forest of Lattay. They gave more gifts to this abbey than any other church or religious house. Her two sons of this marriage, Geoffrey III and Fulk both became counts of Anjou after her brother Geoffrey II Martel. Among her descendants are the Plantagenet (or Angevin) kings of England.

After her husband Geoffrey died Ermengarde-Blanche married Robert I Capet, Duke of Burgundy.Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 11 Robert was the son of King Robert II of France. Because both Ermengarde and her second husband Robert Capet were both descendants of Ingelger, they were related by blood.The Haskins Society Journal: Studies in Medieval History 14, ed. Stephen Morillo (Woodbridge : Boydell, 2005), pp. 106-08 This was found in charts prepared at the monastery of Saint-Aubin at Angers between 1048 and 1052. The ancestral charts show how closely the Angevin and Capet families were related. The charts were probably created over concerns of who Ermengarde and Robert's daughter Hildegarde could or could not marry. Ermengarde-Blanche died at Fleury-sur-Ouche on 18 March 1076. Robert died three days later at the same place on 21 March 1076.

 Family 

Together she and Geoffrey II had the following children: 

 Hildegarde de Château-Landon, she married  c.1060 Joscelin I, Lord of Courtenay. 
Geoffrey III of Anjou.
Fulk IV, Count of Anjou

She married secondly Robert I, Duke of Burgundy.Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 20 Together they had a daughter:

Hildegarde (–1104), who married Duke William VIII of Aquitaine

 Notes 

References

Category:1010s births
Category:1076 deaths
Category:Dukes and Duchesses of Anjou