Anjou (historic region, France)

Anjou (historic region, France), former province of France, now included in the departments of Maine-et-Loire, Indre-et-Loire, Mayenne, and Sarthe. Its capital was Angers. The ancient inhabitants were the Andecavi, a Gallic tribe that long resisted the Romans. Beginning in the 9th century, Anjou was governed by a dynasty of counts who were among the most powerful feudal lords in France. In the second half of the 12th century, the province was subject to the kings of England; it was conquered by Philip II Augustus of France in 1204. In 1246Louis IX granted Anjou to his brother Charles I, king of the Two Sicilies and count of Provence. Anjou was a duchy from 1297 to 1328, when it became a possession of the French crown. It again became a duchy in 1360. King Louis XI annexed the duchy to the royal dominions in 1480. In the 17th century Anjou became a province; it retained that status until the French Revolution.