[2] By 1129, Elias had married Philippa, daughter of Count Rotrou III of Perche.
Elias rebelled in 1145 with the support of Lord Robert III of Sablé, sparking a conflict known in Angevin historiography as the "war of the barons" (guerra baronum).
According to the Gesta consulum Andegavorum, Elias, acting "by the counsel of wicked men ... attacked his own brother, demanding the consulship of Maine".
A 13th-century source, the Chronicon Turonense magnum, likewise call Elias the count of Maine.
[4] John of Marmoutier, writing in the 1170s, states that Geoffrey released Elias, but that he died from a fever contracted during his incarceration a few days later.