Chroniques d'Anjou

A collection of texts by religious and lay authors on the history of the Angevin dynasty during its formative years.

Published in Paris in 1856, this book is a printed collection of medieval manuscripts relating to the County of Anjou under the Angevin dynasty. Most importantly, it includes the only printed edition of the Gesta Consulum Andegavorum commissioned by Count Fulk Nerra, the founder of the Angevin dynasty.Trained at the École Royale des Chartes at the Sorbonne, Paul Marchegay (1812–1885) dedicated his life to publishing the rich manuscript history found in the archives in his native Anjou. Volume 1 contains a collection of important texts by religious and lay authors written about the Angevin dynasty in its early years, dating from roughly the tenth to twelfth centuries. The most important manuscript printed in this collection is the Gesta Consulum Andegavorum. It is the only printed version of this manuscript, although modern scholars consider Marchegay's edition to be of poor quality. The collection also includes the only biography written about Geoffrey 'le bel' (Plantagenet), Count of Anjou, by Jean, a twelfth-century monk at Marmoutier. This book retains an interest for modern readers because it includes rare printed manuscripts, and also because descendants of the family, the Plantagenets, became the ruling monarchy in England.