The Tardy Adoption of the Plantagenet Surname

Abstract

Accounts of the origins of Plantagenet have ignored a tradition of similar names, some of which had a bawdy insinuation. There could have been a mischievous interpretation of Plantagenet, building its currency amongst neighbouring commoners whilst delaying its acceptance for official royal purposes. This and other developments such as the spread of contemporary scholastic teachings can explain the slow but eventual adoption of the Plantagenet nickname as a hereditary royal surname despite the scarcity of its early mentions.