Editing Angers (section)

=== Middle Ages ===

[[File:Loire Maine Angers2 tango7174.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Château d'Angers|castle]], seat of the [[Plantagenêt]] dynasty]]
Angers received its first [[Bishop of Angers|bishop]] in 372 during the election of [[Martin of Tours]]. The first abbey, Saint-Aubin, was built during the 7th century to house the sarcophagus of [[Albinus of Angers|Saint Albinius]]. Saint-Serge Abbey was founded by the Merovingian kings [[Clovis II]] and [[Theuderic III]] a century later. In 2008, ten Frankish sarcophagi from that period were discovered where Saint-Morille church once stood during the [[Angers tramway|tramway]] construction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=City website |url=http://www.angers.fr/outils/actualite/index.html?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=453&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=50060&tx_ttnews%5BpS%5D=1222767993&cHash=17b442ddd8}}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

From the 850s, Angers suffered from its situation on the border with [[Brittany]] and [[Normandy]]. In September 851, [[Charles the Bald]] and [[Erispoe]], a Breton chief, met in the town to sign the [[Battle of Jengland|Treaty of Angers]], which secured Breton independence and fixed the borders of [[Brittany]]. However, the situation remained dangerous for Angers, and Charles the Bald created in 853 a wide buffer zone around Brittany comprising parts of [[Duchy of Anjou|Anjou]], [[Touraine]], [[Maine (province)|Maine]] and [[Sées]], which was ruled by [[Robert the Strong]], a great-grandfather of [[Hugh Capet]].

In 870, the [[Viking]] chief [[Hastein]] seized Angers where he settled until a successful siege temporarily displaced him. He again took control of the town in 873,<ref>Michel Dillange. ''Op. cit'', p 59–60</ref> before the Carolingian Emperor ousted him.

[[File:Hopital-St-Jean-Angers.jpg|thumb|The ''Hospice Saint-Jean'', founded by [[Henry II of England|Henry II Plantagenêt]]]]
[[Fulk I, Count of Anjou|Fulk I of Anjou]], a [[Carolingian]] descendant, was the first viscount of [[Viscounty of Angers|Angers]] (before 898 until 929) and of [[Viscounty of Tours|Tours]] (898–909), and count of [[County of Nantes|Nantes]] (909–919). Around 929, he took the title of count (earl) of Angers and founded the first Anjou dynasty, the [[House of Ingelger]] (''French: Ingelgeriens''). Angers subsequently formed the capital of the [[French province|province]] of [[Duchy of Anjou|Anjou]].{{sfnp|EB|1878}}

During the 12th century, after internal divisions in [[Brittany]], the county of Nantes was annexed by [[Duchy of Anjou|Anjou]]. [[Henry II of England|Henry II Plantagenêt]] kept it for more than 30 years. The grandson of [[Henry I of England]], he also succeeded to the English crown and ruled the vast [[Angevin Empire]], which stretched from the [[Pyrenees]] to [[Ireland]].<ref>''Le duché de Bretagne et la politique Plantagenêt aux XII et XIII siecles'', Judith Everard. ", ''in'' Marin Aurell and Noël-Yves Tonnerre éditeurs. ''Plantagenêts et Capétiens, confrontations et héritages'', Poitiers. Brepols, 2006, Turnhout. Collection ''Histoires de famille. La parenté au Moyen Âge'', p. 202</ref> The [[Château d'Angers|castle of Angers]] was then the seat of the Court and the dynasty. The Empire disappeared in 1204–1205 when the King of France, [[Philip II of France|Philip II]], seized [[Normandy]] and Anjou. Henceforth, there were no more counts of [[County of Anjou|Anjou]], as the French king had made Anjou a dukedom.

Now a part of the [[Kingdom of France]], Angers became the "Key to the Kingdom" ({{lang|fr|Clé du Royaume}}) facing still independent [[Brittany]]. In 1228, during [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]]'s minority, [[Blanche of Castile]] decided to fortify the city and to rebuild the castle. Later, during the 1350s and 1360s, the schools of Law, Medicine and Theology, renowned in [[Europe]], were organized into a university. In 1373, [[Louis I, Duke of Anjou|Louis I of Naples and Anjou]] ordered the six tapestries illustrating the [[Apocalypse]] of St John known today as the ''[[Apocalypse Tapestry]]''.