The
House of Plantagenet ( ) was a
royal house which 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 body of the Plantagenets following the loss of Anjou, and the houses of
Lancaster and
York, the Plantagenets' two
cadet branches. The family held the
English throne from 1154, with the accession of
Henry II, until 1485, when
Richard III died.