Geoffrey was the son of Fulk V, Count of Anjou, who later became King of Jerusalem, leaving his properties of Anjou, Maine and Tourraine to his son. Geoffrey was given the nickname or sobriquet of Plantagenet (Latin, planta-genista), from the sprig of yellow broom he wore in his hat as a distinguishing mark. Heraldry and armorial bearings were in their infancy during this time, so soldiers wearing armor on the battlefield had to tell themselves apart in some way. Despite his young age, Geoffrey had already distinguished himself as a warrior, enough that King Henry I of England, desperate for heirs to his throne, negotiated a match between Geoffrey and his much older widowed daughter, Matilda. There was a method to Henry's madness. Geoffrey's lands bordered Normandy and would make a good buffer zone between the English and French territories on the Continent. This idea did not go down well with Matilda at all. Matilda was conscious of her own rank as the daughter of a King and the widow of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick V. She was 11 years older than her husband, who was knighted by his father-in-law Henry in 1128, when Geoffrey was just 15 years old.Within weeks of the wedding, Matilda bailed, heading back to her father in England. Henry finally prevailed on his daughter to return to her husband and make the best of things. Later, when Matilda and Henry had a falling out of their own, Matilda and Geoffrey reconciled. She would bear him three children. The future Henry II, born 1133, Geoffrey, Count of Nantes, and William, Viscount of Dieppe. William would die unmarried and Geoffrey would later be forced to cede his claims to the family inheritance to his older brother, not figuring into the family story after that point. Meanwhile, Geoffrey, Sr., in 1135, on his father-in-law's death, promptly invaded Normandy to secure this portion of Matilda's inheritance. With his help, Matilda could concentrate on consolidating England, something she was unable ultimately to do.
While Matilda and Stephen battled for control of England, Geoffrey wrested Normandy from the control of its own rebellious barons, who weren't about to acknowledge a woman as head of state unless they were forced to, and kept the French at bay. He was so efficient at keeping Normandy in check that he was created Duke of Normandy in his own right in 1244. He also successfully put down three baronial revolts in the Plantagenets' home province of Anjou. Constant fighting on the Continent kept him from joining Matilda in England. Matters there had devolved in a stalemate between her and her rival Stephen known as the Anarchy. It was a period considered so dire at the time that one chronicler claimed Christ and the Saints were all asleep. In 1153, the Treaty of Wallingford finally settled that Stephen should remain King of England for life, with Henry as his successor. Stephen conveniently died in 1154 and the barons proclaimed Henry King of England. His father didn't get to see this day.
In 1151, Geoffrey, Sr., was stricken with fever. He had just enough time to ride home, collapse on his bed, make a few bequests to charity and die. He was buried at St. Julien's Cathedral in Le Mans, France. Geoffrey's funeral monument shows gold lions on a field of blue. Some sources take this as the first incidents of a lion crest for the Plantagenet family in particular. Others claim that Henry I may have used a lion as a symbol, and given his son-in-law the right to use it. The effigy on the tomb may be a later addition. There's no other evidence that Geoffrey used any distinguishing marks other than the broom plant badge. Whether from Geoffrey or Henry I, lions became associated with the family and with the monarchs of England, and the lion in various forms has been part of the royal crest ever since.
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