How long did the Plantagenet kings rule?

Answer 1

This kind of depends on how you define it. While the name "Plantagenet" goes back to Geoffrey of Anjou, father of Henry II, the bloodline itself goes even further back -- to William the Conqueror. So if you're talking about family rather than dynasty, I would say that it began with William (crowned 1066).

The end of the reign of the Plantagenets is generally considered to be the defeat of Richard III (1485) by Henry Tudor who became Henry VII. However, Henry VII's queen, Elizabeth of York, was also a Plantagenet, so their son Henry VIII and his children who followed him on the throne were also technically Plantagenets.

In that sense, every English monarch ever since has had Plantagenet blood, mostly through Henry VIII's sister Margaret. However, as previously stated, the last "true" Plantagenet king was Richard III, who was deposed in 1485, ushering in the rule of the Tudors.

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Retrospectively, we call the kings from Henry II to Richard III, Plantagenet. So the family officially reigned from 1154 to 1485.

As the previous author acknowledges, the matriarchal line continued. Henry VIII's mother was Elizabeth Plantagenet.

I think William the Conqueror would roll over in his grave if he was called a Plantagenet. He and his son, Henry I, would have considered themselves Norman, while his great grandson, Henry II, would have identified more strongly with his father and Anjou.

Normandy and Anjou were principalities on the continental mainland that held vassalage from the French king, but were quite independent in their own right, and therefore often in armed conflict with one another.

While Planta Genest was apparently a nickname used by Geoffrey of Anjou. The name was by no means commonly used, and didn't acquire any status as a surname until 1460 when Richard, 3rd Duke of York used it as he fought for the English crown.