Emma (or Emme) of Anjou (c.1140 - c.1214) was an illegitimate daughter of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, and half-sister of King Henry II of England. She was married to Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, a Welsh prince. She is occasionally confused with Emma de Laval (1200-1264), the daughter of Guy V de Laval.[1] Emma married Dafydd in the summer of 1174, after an unsuccessful rebellion by the queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and her older sons had led her half-brother the king to disperse Eleanor's court in Aquitaine and bring Emma back to England.[2]
Emma had four children by Dafydd:
In 1176, after her husband's rule in the Kingdom of Gwynedd had been challenged by his brother, Emma is known to have visited King Henry II and received a gift of manors in Shropshire and Worcestershire.[3] After Henry's death in 1189, she continued to attempt to protect her children's interests by making representations to Henry's heirs.[5]
In 1196, Emma and her husband, at the request of their son, Owain,[3] gave property to Haughmond Abbey.[6] Shortly afterwards, Dafydd was deposed by his nephew, Llywelyn the Great, and was forced into exile in England, where he died in 1203.