Geoffrey II, Count of Perche

Geoffrey II (died October 1100), Count of Mortagne and Count of Perche, son of Rotrou I, Viscount of Châteaudun, and Adelise de Bellême, daughter of Guérin de Domfront. Geoffroy was Count of Mortagne and Seigneur of Nogent from 1060 to 1090, and Count of Perche from 1090 until his death.

Godffrey succeeded his father in 1080, receiving the Percheron fields of his father (Mortagne-au-Perche and Nogent-le-Rotrou), while his younger brother Hugues received Châteaudun. A third brother, Rotrou, acquired by marriage the lordship of Montfort-le-Rotrou. He participated in the conquest of England and fought at the Battle of Hastings. For his service, William the Conqueror gave him a reward of significant property in England.

According to Orderic Vitalis, he and his two brothers attacked and plundered the fields of Robert of Bellême. Later, he tried to repeat the operation with the help of Elias I, Count of Maine, but failed. He devoted the rest of his life to religious pursuits, and founded the first leper colony in Perche.

Geoffrey married Beatrix de Ramerupt, daughter of Hilduin IV, Count of Montdidier, and Alice de Roucy. Geoffrey and Beatrix had four children:

Rotrou III the Great, Count of Perche
Marguerite (d. after 1156), married to Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick. Their son was Rotrou, Archbishop of Rouen.
Juliette du Perche (d. after 1132), married to Gilbert, Lord of d’Aigle. Their daughter was Marguerite de l’Aigle, who married García Ramírez, King of Navarre.
Mathilde (d. 27 May 1143), married first to Raymond I, Vicomte de Turenne, and, widowed, second to Guy IV de Lastours.

Geoffrey was succeeded by his son Rotrou as Count of Perche upon his death.

Sources

Settipani, Christian, Les vicomtes de Châteaudun et leurs alliés, dans Onomastique et Parenté dans l'Occident médiéval, Oxford, Linacre, Unit for Prosopographical Research, 2000

Tout, T. F., Periods of European History, Volume II: The Empire and the Papacy, 918-1273, Rivingtons, London, 1932

Bury, J. B. (Editor), The Cambridge Medieval History, Volume V, Contest of Empire and Papacy, Cambridge University Press, 1926

Medieval Lands Project, Perche, Mortagne

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