Plantagenets

Hello everyone.
Royal houses and monarchs do not bear surnames but they do bear the title of the senior male who started the royal house/line/dynasty.
If you take a look at the genealogical tables at the end of your book (Morgan), you will see the genealogical tables labelled per house/dynasty on the top right hand corner of the page.
We had very little to do in class with the House of Wessex, but there it is.
The nature of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy was elective, with certain qualifications. That is, the monarch was chosen/elected by the Witan but only from among the ablest adult males of the royal house/of royal blood. That is why we say that the Confessor's crown was not for him to promise to William.
Other monarchs came to the throne by right of conquest (e.g. Cnut, William of Normandy), i.e they won their crown on the battle field.
Gillingham says that the principle of primogeniture established itself but slowly in England. Primogeniture is now the essence of monarchical succession and means that the crown goes directly from father to eldest son. When the direct line is exhausted for lack of a direct male heir or because there is an heiress who marries a nobleman who fathers her children and thus gives the family a new name, we have a change of dynasty. When there are no direct male heirs but variosu collateral descendants (such as Arthur and John) we have disputes. In short, every time there is a direct minor heir or no direct male heir there's going to be trouble, that's what our course is about. This is so because the king is the center of gvmt.
William and his immediate direct descendants (Rufus, Henry I and with certain qualifications Stephen) are called the Norman Kings.
Henry II was Matilda's (the Conqueror's grandaughter) son by the Count of Anjou (that's why Henry II & his sons are called Angevins). See the official website of British Monarchy. Download
Henry II started a new dynasty, whose immediate descendants (Richard I & John) were called the the Angevins. When John's son Hnery III came to the throne we have the Plantagenets. I'm saying this in strict accordance to the official website of the British monarchy. Download
Now the name Plantagenet comes from the Count of Anjou's-- i..e Henry II¨s father--habit of wearing a broomstick (shrub) as his badge, a plant whose name in Latin is plantagenesta o planta genista. There you are. The last Plantagenet king died in 1399.
For your assignment just begin with Henry II and stop at Edward I.