The House of Plantagenet ruled England from 1154 to 1399, and was succeeded by the rival Houses of Lancaster and York, who were themselves both direct descendents of the early Plantagenets.
Origins of the Name
The surname came from the flowering broom plant (Planta genista), said to have been worn as a badge by Geoffrey, Count of Anjou between 1129-1151 who was the father of the first Plantagenet King of England, Henry II.
The members of the dynasty often had fiery and violent tempers, possessed huge amounts of courage and imposed themselves fully on their kingdoms. Richard I said of his family:” from the Devil we sprang and to the Devil we shall go”.
Plantagenet Rule
Under the Plantagenets huge advances were made regarding constitutional reform. The origins of Common Law originated under Henry II as did trial by jury, and the first Parliament was held in 1265, albeit against the contemporary monarch Henry III.
Military conquest also featured heavily, with Wales and Ireland subjected to English rule, and inroads made into Scottish and French territory.
Henry II (1154-1189)
Originally the Count of Anjou (central France), Henry advanced his mother (Matilda’s) claim to the English throne during the civil war fought with King Stephen I. In 1153 a compromise was reached, with Stephen agreeing to bequeath the throne to Henry, who became King in 1154.
One of the greatest Plantagenet Kings, under whom the origins of the English Common Law and trial by jury can be traced, territorial gains in Ireland and the curbing of baronial power, which had given Stephen so many problems, were also hallmarks of his reign.
Richard I (1189-1199)
“The Lionheart” was a popular ruler, famed for his chivalry and courage, although he spent only seven or so months of his ten-year reign in England.
Shortly after his accession, Richard joined Philip Augustus of France and Frederick Barbarossa of Germany in a Crusade to retake Jerusalem from Saladin and the Turks. Although notable victories were achieved, Jerusalem was not taken and Richard was only able to secure pilgrimage rights for Christians.
Captured by the Duke of Austria whilst returning to England in 1192, Richard was held for ransom for two years, during which his brother John attempted to seize the throne. With the ransom paid, Richard spent a few months in England raising cash and fighting men and left for France, where he was killed at the siege of Chalus in 1199.
John (1199-1216)
The most notable feature of John’s reign was the sealing of the Magna Carta (“Great Charter”), in 1215
High levels of taxation on both the Church and nobility, military defeats in France and the banning of many Church services after an argument with the Pope prompted a group of barons to threaten an uprising if their rights and privileges in relation to the King were not formally set out and respected.
The Charter curbed the King’s authority on taxation and asserted the Church’s independence. Regarding the lower classes, it set down that “no free man should be arrested or imprisoned except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land”.
Cambridge University was founded during John’s reign, in 1209.
Henry III (1216-1272)
Because of his age on accession, Henry did not take over his royal duties until 1227, leaving the governance of the country to Regents.
Under Henry many French officials and barons attained privileged positions in the English Court, a change resented by the English nobility. Ironically, the leader of a major revolt against the King’s rule in 1258, Simon de Montfort, was himself Anglo-French. De Montfort later marked a milestone in English constitutional history when he summoned the first Parliament in 1265.
The 1265 Parliament was the first to include knights (4 from each shire) and burgesses (2 from every main city and town); previous meetings had been open only to high members of the clergy and lords. However, internal bickering broke up the parliament with some barons choosing to side with the King, and de Montfort was killed at the Battle of Evesham in 1265.
Sources
"The Kings and Queens of England and Scotland", Plantagenet Somerset Fry, 1990.
"A History of the English-speaking Peoples, Vol 1", Winston Churchill, 1956
Further Reading
"Plantagenet England 1225-1360" by Michael Prestwich.
"Henry Plantagenet: A Biography of Henry II of England" by Richard Barber
