Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Issue #10 of the Anglotopia Print Magazine in 2018. Support great long-form writing about British History, Culture, and travel by subscribing to the Anglotopia Magazine. Every subscription helps keep Anglotopia running and provides us to the opportunity to produce articles like this. You can subscribe here.
Edward III was the king of England for 50 years, during which time he turned the country into one of the most powerful military forces in Europe; initiated the beginning of the Hundred Years’ War with France; made huge developments to the English Parliament and led the country through the devastating Black Death. Initially, a much-admired king whose main interests were warfare and the extension of the Kingdom of England, Edward III became unpopular in his later years as his military campaigns failed, the economy suffered, and his health deteriorated.
KEY FACTS
- Edward III was born at Windsor Castle on 13 November 1312.
- He succeeded as King of England, Duke of Aquitaine and Overlord of Ireland on 20 January 1327 aged 14.
- Edward III married Philippa, daughter of the Count of Flanders in January 1328. The couple had 14 children together.
- The king died of a stroke on 21 June 1377 aged 64, having reigned for 50 years.
Edward III did not have a particularly stable upbringing. The first son of King Edward II, a notorious royal failure, Edward was used by his mother Isabella and her new lover Lord Mortimer to remove his father from the throne forcibly.
In 1325, King Charles IV of France demanded that King Edward II perform homage for the English Duchy of Aquitaine. Unwilling to leave England and ignorant to the plot that his wife Isabella and her exiled lover Mortimer were forming against him, Edward II sent his son Edward in his place. Isabella promptly had the young Edward engaged to Philippa of Hainault and, with the support of the French King, launched an invasion against England. King Edward II was forced to relinquish his throne and the new king, Edward III, was crowned in January 1327.
At first, Edward was a puppet in the administration of Mortimer, the de facto ruler of England. Mortimer and Isabella were instantly unpopular as they had signed a costly treaty with King Charles IV of France. A treaty that proved to be even more damaging than first thought as Charles died almost immediately, giving Edward a legitimate claim to the French throne that was now forfeited.
Edward was married to Philippa in January 1328. Despite that fact that Edward was only 15 at the time of the marriage and Philippa just 13, the couple managed to have a son within two years. Having suffered the indignity of being ruled by his mother’s lover for long enough and as the proud new father of a legitimate heir, Edward took violent action against the unpopular and unsuccessful Mortimer. When a parliament was called at Nottingham Castle, Edward and a group of close friends dragged Mortimer from Isabella’s bed in the middle of the night and executed him as an ‘enemy of the state.’
Edward took to the throne with gusto and immediately set out to prove himself as a worthy king by renewing the war against the Scots. But Scotland was already at war with itself. On one side was King David II and on the other the pretender Edward Balliol, a representative of ‘The Disinherited’ a group of English magnates who had lost land in Scotland due to the peace accord. Edward supported Balliol while King Philip VI of France supported King David II and gave him refuge. Philip confiscated Edward’s title to Aquitaine, so Edward threw the match into the powder keg and made his claim to the French throne, starting what became the Hundred Years’ War.
In 1339, King Edward III invaded France and laid claim to the throne. Victory over France would lead to the expansion of an already lucrative wool trade with Flanders and wine trade with Gascony as well as opportunities for feudal taxes and all-out plunder of French towns. The invasion was popular with the English public.
The first few years of the Hundred Years’ War went brilliantly for Edward. In a significant naval battle in 1340, the English Navy destroyed almost the entire French fleet at Sluys. In 1342, Edward overran Brittany, and in 1346 he landed in Normandy and defeated the French King Philip VI at Crecy. At the same time, Queen Philippa was fighting independently in the north, defeating the Scots at Neville’s Cross and capturing King David II of Scotland.
Edward’s costly war went on with no end in sight until it was forced to pause in 1348 while England fought an invisible enemy, the bubonic plague. The Black Death killed 1.5 million people in England alone over the next few years. One-third of the population of England died of the plague and what remained of the decimated population was neither able nor willing to fund a war overseas. Serious fighting did not begin again until the mid-1350s when Edward’s oldest son, Edward, later known as the Black Prince, won the Battle of Poitiers and captured King John II, the youngest son of Philip VI.
This was to be the most glorious moment of Edward III’s aggressive reign. At one time the King of Scots was held in the Tower of London, and the King of France was held in Windsor Castle. England owned a great deal of land in France, and the French central government had totally collapsed. However, the final push that would have seen Edward III crowned King of France never came, and in 1360, Edward renounced his claim to the throne and in return was awarded extended territory around Aquitaine and the bastion of Calais, now owning almost one-quarter of France.
Edward’s attempt nine years later to claim his title as King of France proved to be too little too late, and the rest of his reign was a disaster, militarily and politically. All five of Edward’s sons were granted ducal titles with a deed to English territory, and Edward created the Duchy of Cornwall to provide the heir to the throne with an income independent of the sovereign or the state.
By the mid-1360s, Edward was increasingly relying on his sons to manage his military efforts and state affairs. Lionel of Antwerp, the king’s second surviving son, led a campaign in Ireland where he hoped to exert control over the autonomous Anglo-Irish lords in charge there. The venture was a disaster, and in April 1364, John II of France died in captivity in England having failed to raise his ransom, restarting the war with France. Edward’s younger son, John of Gaunt, led a disastrous campaign in France that culminated in the 1375 Treaty of Bruges and leaving only Calais, Bordeaux and Bayonne and Brest in English hands.
Public opinion about King Edward III and his reign shifted dramatically. Previously seen as a chivalrous, victorious, and strong King, Edward was now seen as weak and was accused of leaving his duties in the hands of his advisors who were running England’s economy into the ground. Following Queen Philippa’s death in 1369, Edward took a mistress by the name of Alice Perrers who, in the mid-1370s, was thought to hold too much power over the weakened king and was banished from court by parliament.
Largely deserted by his family, Edward was alone with Alice Perrers when he died of a stroke in June 1377. So the story goes, Alice Perrers looked at Edward’s prone body, stripped the rings from his royal fingers, and left.
Legacy Today
During his lifetime, King Edward III was an extremely popular king. Edward created the Order of the Garter, creating a sense of camaraderie amongst his peerage, a peerage that he purposefully expanded during his reign by creating many new earls and dukes. Edward’s popularity extended out from the nobility to the lower classes thanks in part to his reputation as a fearless warrior. The people of England were united in their fear of a French invasion and turned to Edward, a war-hungry king, for reassurance. Edward III’s reign saw key developments in the establishment of the English Parliament and a strong revival of the English language in literature and law. Only one thing has scarred the reputation of the chivalrous warrior king, and that is the length of his reign: Edward III won some of the most important battles of the Middle Ages but died with only three castles to show for them.
Film & TV
- “World Without End” (2012) TV series
- “Eduard III” (1961) TV movie
- “The Death of King Edward III” (1911)
- Further Research
- Ormrod, Mark (2013) “Edward III” (English Monarchs Series) (The English Monarchs Series)
- Mortimer, Ian (2008) “The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation”
- Bothwell, J. (2001). “The Age of Edward III”.
- Waugh, S.L. (1991). “England in the Reign of Edward III”.
Locations to Visit
- Edward III was born at Windsor Castle where visitors can see his famous round table.
- In York, visitors can see York Minster, where Edward’s marriage to Queen Philippa of Hainault, York Abbey, where Edward kept his chancery and York Castle where Edward kept his Exchequer.
- Edward III is buried at Westminster Abbey
