Geoffrey was the eldest son of Fulk II, Count of Anjou and his first wife Gerberga. He succeeded his father as Count of Anjou about 960,at the age of 20. He married Adele of Meaux (934–982), daughter of Robert of Vermandois and Adelais de Vergy.
On her mother's side she was a granddaughter of king Robert I of France and on her father's side a direct descendant of Charlemagne.
Through this marriage the Angevins joined the highest ranks of western French nobility. Geoffrey started by making his power-base the citadel of Angers strategically placing his fideles in key areas surrounding the city to protect his territories. The lands of the abbeys of Saint-Aubin and Saint-Serge in Angers provided the beneficium for his most faithful adherents.
Therefore I admonish you to hold dear those fideles who have been friends." Although one of the principal methods of Angevin expansion was by the creation of family connections Geoffrey exerted his control through various methods. With an eye towards Maine, Geoffrey took advantage of the rift that developed between the Counts of Maine and the viscounts and Bishops of Le Mans. About 971 Geoffrey secured the see of Le Mans for his ally Bishop Seinfroy.
In 982 Geoffrey married his now widowed sister Adelaide-Blanche to the fifteen-year-old Louis V of France, the two being crowned King and Queen of Aquitaine. Their children were:Ermengarde-Gerberga of Anjou (b 956), married Conan I of Rennes. Fulk III of Anjou (970-1040), he succeeded his father as Count of Anjou.
Geoffrey of Anjou (971-977), died young. Maurice of Anjou, Count of Châlons.
