Plantage net

The surname of a dynasty of English kings who ruled from 1154 to 1485. Henry II. was the founder, and Richard III., who was killed at Bosworth, the last of the line. They were generally warlike and ambitious rulers, being engaged in contests at home (see Roses, Wars of the ) and in France. The name belonged to the house of Anjou, and is said to have been derived from the circumstance of the first count of this house having caused himself to be scourged with branches of broom ( planta genista ) as a penance for some crime. The name pa ed to the English line of kings through the extinction of the old Norman dynasty in the male line in the person of Henry II., and the marriage of Matilda, his daughter, to Geoffrey, count of Anjou, their son succeeding to the throne.