General Notes

Edward III 1327-1377 The most able of the Plantagenets, who had had been in office since Henry II in 1154. It was not common to use the last name of the king. Edward was simply known as "Edward III of England."

One of England's greatest kings, his mother and grandmother were daughters of French kings, from whom he derived his claim to the throne of France when the male line of the House of Capet died out with Charles IV in 1328.


Edward began his reign in 1327, when he was only 15, after his mother and her lover had murdered his father, the ineffective and homosexual Edward II , who's principal failure was not his sexual preferences but rather his getting beaten by the Scots in battle, his reliance upon inept favorites, and his ambitious wife. Just two years later, when Edward III was only 17, he engineered a coup against his mother, ousted her from power, and took the reigns of government. He executed his mother's lover, and many of her supporters, in interesting ways, but she was not interfered with in any way, save that she was completely excluded from government, and died a happy, unrepenetant woman. She was, after all, the daughter of the king of France.


From this you will note that Edward III had exceptional political, diplomatic, governmental, and conspiratorial skills. He was also literally a lion in battle, reputedly one of the premier knights of the age, as were his sons. There is a legend that at a tourney several knights wearing nondescript surcoats entered the lists. They carried all before them, against some of the finest chivalry in England, and when the laurels were being handed out revealed themselves to be Edward and a couple of his sons.


The historical judgement on Edward has been favorable. Of course ultimately the war was a disaster for England, leading to the loss of all continental territories by 1453. But during Edward's reign the kingdom made a tidy little profit. Also, the power of Parliament was advanced, as the king found it a useful tool.


During his last years, however, Edward's health declined. Aside from other problems he came to be dominated by his young mistress and her family. He slipped into senesence before his death. The Black Prince should have succeeded him, but was also in declining health and died shortly before his father, leaving the throne to a much less capable grandson, Richard II, who was a young teenager.


Edward III was a large, good looking man, as were all the Edwards. They looked like kings, which counted for a lot in those days. At six feet he was considerably taller (by several inches) than the average noble of the period, and commoners were shorter still because of poor diet. Reportedly he had blond hair, but, if he followed the pattern of Edward I, this probably turned dark ["black" in some accounts] in his maturity and white in old age. At least he wasn't bald.

Edward III
Edward III (reigned 1327-77) was 14 when he was crowned King and assumed government in his own right in 1330. In 1337, Edward created the Duchy of Cornwall to provide the heir to the throne with an income independent of the sovereign or the state. An able soldier, and an inspiring leader, Edward founded the Order of the Garter in 1348.
At the beginning of the Hundred Years War in 1337, actual campaigning started when the King invaded France in 1339 and laid claim to the throne of France. Following a sea victory at Sluys in 1340, Edward overran Brittany in 1342 and in 1346 he landed in Normandy defeating the French King, Philip IV, at the Battle of Crécy and his son Edward (the Black Prince) repeated his success at Poitiers (1356). By 1360 Edward controlled over a quarter of France. His successes consolidated the support of the nobles, lessened criticism of the taxes, and improved relations with Parliament. However, under the 1375 Treaty of Bruges the French King, Charles V, reversed most of the English conquests; Calais and a coastal strip near Bordeaux were Edward's only lasting gain.

Failure abroad provoked criticism at home. The Black Death plague outbreaks of 1348-9, 1361-2 and 1369 inflicted severe social dislocation (the King lost a daughter to the plague) and caused deflation; severe laws were introduced to attempt to fix wages and prices. In 1376, the 'Good Parliament' (which saw the election of the first Speaker to represent the Commons) attacked the high taxes and criticised the King's advisers. The ageing King withdrew to Windsor for the rest of his reign, eventually dying at Sheen Palace, Surrey.