The House of Plantagenet (/plænˈtædʒənət/ plan-TAJ-ə-nət also spelt in English sources as Plantaganet, Plantagenett, Plantagenette, Plantaginet, Plantagynett, etc.) was a family originally from France — the former French county of Anjou — whose members held the English throne from the accession of Henry II in 1154 to the death of Richard III in 1485. Within that period, some historians identify four distinct royal houses: Angevins, Plantagenet, Lancaster, and York. In the 10 years from 1144, two successive French counts of Anjou won control of a vast assemblage of lands that would last for 80 years and would retrospectively be referred to as the Angevin Empire. The first of these counts—Geoffrey—became duke of Normandy in 1144 and his successor—Henry—added Aquitaine by virtue of his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152 and became king of England in 1154 by successfully pursuing a claim derived from his descent from his maternal grandfather, Henry I of England. From Henry’s fourth son—John—the dynasty continued successfully forming a long line of 14 English Plantagenet kings. The name of Plantagenet that historians use for the entire dynasty dates from the 15th century and comes from a 12th-century nickname of Geoffrey.It was under the Plantagenet’s rule that England was transformed from a colony often governed from abroad and considered of lesser significance into a sophisticated, politically engaged and independent kingdom. This was not always necessarily due to the conscious intentions of the Plantagenets as Winston Churchill, the 20th century British prime minister, articulated in A History of the English-Speaking Peoples: "[w]hen the long tally is added, it will be seen that the British nation and the English-speaking world owe far more to the vices of John than to the labours of virtuous sovereigns". They were often forced by weakness to negotiate compromises that constrained their power as kings in return for financial and military support—such as the Magna Carta—which transformed the role of kingship. No longer would the king solely be the most powerful man in the country holding the prerogative of judgement, feudal tribute and warfare but the monarch would also have defined duties to his realm underpinned by a sophisticated justice system. A distinct national identity was shaped by conflict with the French, Scots, Welsh and Irish and the use of English re-established. The Plantagenets also provided England with significant buildings such as King's College, Cambridge, Eton College, Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle and the Welsh castles.The Plantagenet’s conclusive defeat in the Hundred Years' War broke confidence in the status quo and through the burden of taxes supporting the war they played a part in devastating the English economy. Several popular revolts demanded greater rights and freedoms for the general population. Crime increased as soldiers returned destitute from France, the nobility raised private armies, pursued private feuds and defied the weak leadership of Henry VI. Throughout the Plantagenet period there was continual rivalry between the members of the family but no English dynasty was as successful in passing the crown to a succeeding generation as the Plantagenets from 1189 to 1377. However, the political and economic situation combined with the splintering of the dynasty into competing cadet branches—the House of York and House of Lancaster—in the 15th century developed these regular conflicts into the internecine strife later named the Wars of the Roses.These events culminated in 1485 with the death of the last Plantagenet king—Richard III—at the Battle of Bosworth Field. This marks the end of Plantagenet power and the Middle Ages in England for many historians. The succeeding Tudors were able to resolve many of the problems that beset the later Plantagenets through centralising royal power by which they provided the necessary stability for an English Renaissance and the beginnings of Early modern Britain.