Geoffroy V, King of England until his death on September 7th, 1151, has been recognized as the originator of the Plantagenêt Dynasty.
This came from his 12th-century nickname "Plantegenest," which was created from his use of sprigs of the "yellow broom" blossom that he wore in his hat, and was derived from "genêt," the French name for the "planta genista" which is Latin for the broom shrub.
While I have dozens of descendants in the Dynasty, it is notable that the Great-Grandfather of Henry VIII (of the Tudor Dynasty) was Richard of York (3rd Duke of York), who had adopted Plantagenêt as his family name in the 15th century.
It is uncertain as to why Richard chose this name, although during the Wars of the Roses, it did emphasize Richard's status as Geoffrey's patrilineal descendant. The retrospective usage of the name for all of Geoffrey's male descendants was popular during the subsequent Tudor dynasty, perhaps encouraged by the further legitimacy it gave to Richard's great-grandson, Henry VIII.
The House of Plantagenêt (/plænˈtædʒənət/ plan-taj-ə-nət) was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France.
The name Plantagenêt is used by modern historians (it was in the late 17th century that the name passed into common usage among historians) to identify four distinct royal houses – the Angevins who were also Counts of Anjou, the main body of the Plantagenêts following the loss of Anjou, and the houses of Lancaster and York, the Plantagenêts' two cadet branches. The family held the English throne from 1154, with the accession of Henry II, until 1485, when Richard III died.
Under the Plantagenêts, England was transformed, although this was only partly intentional. The Plantagenêt kings were often forced to negotiate compromises such as Magna Carta. These constrained royal power in return for financial and military support. The king was no longer just the most powerful man in the nation, holding the prerogative of judgement, feudal tribute and warfare. He now had defined duties to the realm, underpinned by a sophisticated justice system. A distinct national identity was shaped by conflict with the French, Scots, Welsh and Irish, and the establishment of English as the primary language.
In the 15th century, the Plantagenêts were defeated in the Hundred Years' War and beset with social, political and economic problems. Popular revolts were commonplace, triggered by the denial of numerous freedoms. English nobles raised private armies, engaged in private feuds and openly defied Henry VI.
The rivalry between the House of Plantagenêt's two cadet branches of York and Lancaster brought about the Wars of the Roses, a decades-long fight for the English succession, culminating in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, when the reign of the Plantagenêts and the English Middle Ages both met their end with the death of King Richard III. Henry VII, a Lancastrian, became king of England; two years later, he married Elizabeth of York, thus ending the Wars of the Roses, and giving rise to the Tudor dynasty.
The Tudors worked to centralize English royal power, which allowed them to avoid some of the problems that had plagued the last Plantagenêt rulers. The resulting stability allowed for the English Renaissance, and the advent of early modern Britain.
This story was sourced from the WiKi page, shown in the location and others.
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