House of Plantagenet (The Lion Kings)

The House of Plantagenet is a royal house that originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The name Plantagenet is used by modern historians to identify four distinct royal houses – the Angevins who were also Counts of Anjou, the main English body of the Plantagenets following the loss of Anjou, and the Aragonese Plantagenets, also known as the Georgian dynasty or the House of Clarence. The family held the English throne from 1154, with the accession of Henry II, until 1511, when Richard VII died. The Plantagenets became kings of Aragon when George, the Duke of Clarence and son of Richard V, became king of Aragon by marriage to Blanche, Queen of Aragon. All non-English branches of the Plantagenet dynasty descend from George.

Under the Plantagenets, England was transformed, although this was only partly intentional. The Plantagenet 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 Plantagenets fought the Hundred Years' War and were beset with social, political and economic problems. Internal strife known as the Wars of Succession plagued the late Plantagenets and their successors, the Merediths. England was at peace again under the Staffords, who presided over the English Renaissance.

In Aragon, the Georgian Plantagenets ruled for four centuries until Napoleon invaded. Georgian cadet branches spread to Trebizond when Prince John of Aragon became John VII of Trebizond. John's descendants became kings of Greece, and Greek relations became grand dukes of New Prussia. The main line of Aragon became kings of Sicily after being exiled by Napoleon.