Henry II was the first Plantagenet king of England, but he is often referred to as the first Angevin king; likewise, his descendants are known as ‘the Angevin dynasty’.<\/p>\n
This has created understandable confusion, though the problem is quite simple.\u00a0 Unlike most kings, Henry is not known by one family name.\u00a0 His father was Geoffrey V ‘the Fair’, count of Anjou and Maine.\u00a0 Since his ancestral lands were in Anjou, Henry was called an ‘Angevin’.\u00a0 Also, his extensive lands in France made him a vassal to the French king.\u00a0 The French understandably referred to him as an ‘Angevin’.<\/p>\n
So what was he – Angevin or Plantagenet?\u00a0 Well, obviously both names can be used for equally good reasons.\u00a0 I have chosen Plantagenet because it was the English surname given to Henry and his descendants.\u00a0 If this site were about French history, I would probably use Angevin.<\/p>\n
But it is important to remember that both names are interchangeable.\u00a0 Also, historians use both names and further research on the family would be complicated if you didn’t know that Angevin and Plantagenet are one and the same.<\/p>\n
In the course of my studies, I have found that though the surname Plantagenet is well-established, it’s historical justification is almost non-existent.\u00a0 It probably developed as a nickname for Henry II’s father, Count Geoffrey – perhaps referring to his practice of wearing a sprig of broom (from the Latin ‘genista’) in his hat.\u00a0 It was\u00a0not<\/i>\u00a0a hereditary surname.\u00a0 Hence, Geoffrey’s descendants – who ruled England – lacked a surname for over 250 years.\u00a0 And, during this same period, surnames became universal outside the royal family.\u00a0 In other words, every family – from the wealthiest to the poorest – began to use surnames while the royal family did not.<\/p>\n
Many historians refer to Henry II and his 13 successors as the House of Anjou, or Angevin Dynasty.\u00a0 Others label just Henry II and his two sons, Richard I and John I, as Angevins; the rest, for lack of a better name, are called Plantagenets.\u00a0 However, the first official use of the surname Plantagenet by any descendant of Henry II occurred in 1460, when Richard, duke of York<\/a>, claimed the throne of England as ‘Richard Plantagenet’.\u00a0 (And keep in mind that the dynasty fell from power just 25 years later.)<\/p>\n