House of Angevin Family Tree 1154-1216

 

The House of Angevin Family Tree below details the Kings of England that were also rulers of Anjou from 1154-1216. The Angevin Kings of England are capitalized and coloured blue. Direct descendants of the House of Angevin are capitalized in black while spouses are shown in black and lower case.

 

What is the House of Angevin?

The House of Angevin was a branch of the House of Plantagenet that also ruled Anjou. The accession of Henry II as King of England in 1154 ended the rule of the House of Normandy.

The House of Plantagenet was named after Geoffrey of Anjou who was nicknamed Plantagenet. His son became King Henry II.  

The House of Angevin generally refers to the royal rulers of England from 1054 to 1216. These kings were descended from Geoffrey of Anjou. 

 

History of the House of Angevin

The province of Anjou lies in the North-West of France. In 861 King Charles the Bald gave the rule of the province to Robert the Bold. 

The first Count of Anjou was Fulk the Red, who was granted the title by his father in 910. The title was hereditary and was passed through the generations. In 1044 Anjou was given control of Touraine. 

Fulk V, who became Count of Anjou in 1106, married Eremburga, Countess of Maine in 1110. He sought an alliance with King Henry I of England, marrying his daughter Matilda to Henry’s son William Adelin in 1119. After William Adelin’s death in 1120, Henry I’s sole legitimate heir was his widowed daughter Empress Matilda. In 1128 Fulk’s son and heir, Geoffrey Plantagenet, married Empress Matilda. 

When Fulk V died in 1129, his son, Geoffrey Plantagenet inherited control of Anjou, Touraine and Maine.

Although the English nobility had sworn to support Matilda’s accession as Queen, when Henry I died in 1035 it was Stephen of Blois that was crowned King of England. This led to a period of civil war between the supporters of Stephen and those of Matilda. 

In 1144 Geoffrey Plantagenet succeeded in defeating Stephen of Blois in Normandy and took the title Duke of Normandy for himself. The Civil War dragged on until a settlement was reached in 1153 with the signing of the Treaty of Winchester. The treaty determined that Stephen would remain king until his death when Geoffrey and Matilda’s son Henry Plantagenet would become King. 

Geoffrey Plantagenet did not live to see his son become King of England, he had died in 1151 and his son, Henry had succeeded to all his titles. In 1152, Henry Plantagenet married Eleanor of Aquitaine. This marriage brought Aquitaine under Angevin control and made Henry one of the most powerful rulers in Europe.

King Stephen died in 1154 and Henry Plantagenet succeeded as King Henry II. This added England to the Angevin Empire. 

In 1166, Henry seized control of Brittany from Conan IV and forced him to abdicated in favour of his daughter. He then betrothed his 8 year old son Geoffrey to Conan’s 5 year old daughter Constance. Geoffrey received the submission of the Breton nobility in 1169. As Geoffrey and Constance were minors, Henry ruled in their place.

In 1169, Henry II authorised an expedition into Ireland which subdued eastern Ireland and brought it under Angevin control. 

Despite the significant expansion of the Angevin Empire made by Geoffrey Plantagenet and King Henry II, it proved difficult to maintain by his successors. Henry II was succeeded by his son Richard. Within months of his accession, Richard embarked on the third crusade with Philip II of France. The pair quarrelled while in the Holy land and Philip returned home in 1191. Richard continued fighting and in 1192 agreed the Treaty of Jaffa with Saladin. On his return journey he was captured and held for ransom by Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. He did not return home until 1194. 

While Richard was in captivity, Philip II had worked to weaken Richard’s vast empire. But after his return Richard was able to maintain his hold on his lands. Richard’s successor in 1199 was his younger brother, John. 

King John was a weaker ruler than his brother and was unable to withstand challenges by Philip II or his own nobles. In 1203, the death of Arthur of Brittany, son of Geoffrey and Constance, marked the end of English overlordship of the province. The demands of the English nobility for reform left John without backing for a campaign against Philip II of France and by 1204, John had lost control of Normandy, Anjou, Maine and Touraine to the French king. 

 

Complete list of  House of Angevin
Plantagenet Rulers 1129 – 1216

Geoffrey (Plantagenet) of Anjou
Count of Anjou – 1129-1151, Duke of Normandy 1144-1150
King Henry II
Duke of Normandy 1150-1189, Count of Anjou 1151-1189, Duke of Aquitaine 1152-1189, King of England 1154-1189
King Richard I
Duke of Normandy 1189-1199, Count of Anjou 1189-1199, Duke of Aquitaine 1189-1199, King of England 1189-1199
King John
Duke of Normandy – 1199-1204, Duke of Aquitaine 1199-1216, King of England 1199-1216

 

Published Nov 1 2024  – Updated – Dec 16 2024