House of Plantagenet is also known as the Angevin dynasty or the House of Anjou. The Plantagenets were the powerful and richest family in Europe. They ruled England and almost half of France for almost 300 years making them one of the longest ruling dynasty. The Plantagenet family started first with the Count of Anjou, Geoffrey and his wife Empress Matilda.
The Plantagenets derived its surname from Geoffrey, Count of Anjou with his habit of wearing a helmet having Planta Genista or say Sprig of Broom. The Plantagenet dynasty is generally divided into three parts
Angevins, The first Plantagenet Kings from 1154 -1216.
Contents
There were three kings starting with the reign with King Henry II. They were called Angevins because they belonged to Counts of Anjou in France.
The Plantagenets from 1216-1399.
There were 5 kings starting with the reign from King Henry III.
The House of Lancaster and York from 1399 – 1485.
The House of Lancaster and York are separated from the main house of Plantagenets as they are considered the first true English Kings rather than the French Kings. This period had 6 kings starting with the reign of King Henry IV.
The Plantagenet Kings
A total of 14 kings ruled in the House of Plantagenets from 1154 to 1485, out of which 6 kings were from the house of York and Lancaster.
Here is shown the table of all the 14 kings with their reign years and other important details.
| Monarch | Birth and Death | Reign Years | Parents | Marriage |
|
The ANGEVINS (1154-1216) |
||||
| King Henry II | March 1133- July 1189 | 1154-1189 | Geoffrey, Count of Anjou and Empress Matilda of Normandy | Eleanor of Aquitaine |
| King Richard I
(Lionheart) |
September 1157 – April 1199 | 1189-1199 | Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine | Berengaria of Navarre |
| King John I | December 1166 – October 1216 | 1199-1216 | Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine | 1) Isabel of Gloucester
2) Isabella of Angouleme |
|
THE PLANTAGENETS( 1216-1399) |
||||
| King Henry III | October 1207 – 1272 | 1216-1272 | King John and Isabella of Angouleme | Eleanor of Provence |
| King Edward I | 1239- 1307 | 1272-1307 | Henry III and Eleanor of Provence | 1)Eleanor of Castile
2)Margaret of France |
| King Edward II | April 1284- October 1387 | 1307-1327 | Edward I and Eleanor of Castile | Isabella of France |
| King Edward III | November 1312- 1377 | 1327-1377 | Edward Ii and Isabella of France | Philipa of Hainault |
| King Richard II | January 1367- 1400 | 1377-1399 | Edward, the Black Prince, and Joan of Kent | 1)Anne of Bohemia
2)Isabella of Valois |
|
THE HOUSE OF YORK AND LANCASTER(1399-1485) |
||||
| King Henry IV | April 1367- March 1413 | 1399-1413 | John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster | 1)Mary de Bohun
2)Joan of Navarre |
| King Henry V | September 1386- August 1422 | 1413-1422 | Henry IV and Mary de Bohun | Catherine of Valois |
| King Henry VI | December 1421- May 1471 | 1422-1461 and 1470-1471 | Henry V and Catherine of Valois | Margaret of Anjou |
| King Edward IV | April 1442- April 1483
|
1461- 1470 and 1471-1483) | Richard of Duke and Cecily Neville | Elizabeth Woodville |
| King Edward V | November 1470- 1483 | 6th April 1483 – 26th June 1483 | Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville | |
| King Richard III | October 1452 – August 1485 | 1483 – 1485 | Richard, Duke of York and Cecily Neville | Anne Neville
|
The Plantagenet dynasty had given us a variety of characters like energetic King Henry II who was one of the greatest Monarch of England. Then came his son Richard, the Lionheart creating his own legends leading the Third Crusade in the Holy Lands against Saladin.
The next kings Henry III and his son, Edward I who conquered both Wales and Scotland and became popular as the Hammer of Scots. King Henry V who conquered France and bequeathed the diadems of both France and England to his ineffectual son and later King Henry VI.
The Plantagenets destroyed themselves in the War of Roses creating two more houses of York and Lancaster which was descended by different sons of King Edward III. King Richard III of the York house was the last king of his house after being killed in the battle of Bosworth. After that House of Plantagenets was replaced by the Tudors.
The last male Plantagenet was Edward, the Earl of Warwick, son of George, Duke of Clarence who was executed in 1499 during the reign of Henry VII, the first Tudor.
