EDWARD III, KING OF ENGLAND
Edward III, b. Nov. 13, 1312, d. June 21, 1377, king of England (1327-77), began the Hundred Years'
War against France. At the deposition of his father, Edward II, his mother, Isabella, and her lover,
Roger de Mortimer (see Mortimer, family), took control. Edward married Philippa of Hainaut in 1328.
In 1330 he executed Mortimer and began his personal reign.
Edward first directed his attention to Scotland, where he won the Battle of Halidon Hill (1333). The
dangers of a French alliance with Scotland and French claims to Edward's duchy of Gascony led him to
invade France and claim the throne by inheritance from his mother, who was the daughter of Philip IV
of France. Between 1337 and 1340, with the help of allies, he attempted to invade the Low Countries
and Germany. He won the naval battle of Sluys (1340), but the ruinous expense of the war forced him
to conclude a truce and provoked a crisis at home. His later strategy of raids was more successful. In
1346 he led an army into Normandy and defeated the French at Crecy; he captured Calais in 1347.
Another English army defeated the Scots at Neville's Cross (1346). His son Edward, the Black Prince,
rose to prominence as a result of an expedition that led to the defeat and capture of King John II at
Poitiers in 1356. The Treaty of Bretigny (1360) ceded to Edward a greatly expanded Gascony.
Edward's high military prestige, symbolized by the Order of the Garter, which he founded in 1349, later
declined. French reconquest was begun by King Charles V in 1369. After Philippa's death (1369)
Edward fell under the influence of his unscrupulous mistress, Alice Perrers. The Black Prince, long
sick, died in 1376. When Edward died in 1377, he was succeeded by his young grandson Richard II.
Father: Edward II Of England b: 25 Apr 1284 in Caernarvon, Wales
Mother: Isabella Capet Princess Of France b: 1314
Marriage 1 Philippa Of Holland And Hainault b: 24 Jun 1311 in Mons, Hainaut, Belgium
Married: 24 Jan 1327/28 in Yorkminster
Children
1. Edward Plantagent b: 15 Jun 1330 in Woodstock, England
2. William Plantagent b: 1336
3. Lionel of Antwerp b: 29 Nov 1338 in Antwerp, Brabant, Holland
4. John Of Gaunt b: 24 Jun 1340 in Ghent, Belgium
5. Edmond Plantagent b: 5 Jun 1341 in King's Langley, Hertfordshire, England
6. Thomas Plantagenet b: 1347 in Woodstock
Endnotes
Information corrobrated by Brian Thompsett at the University of Hull, UK.
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Last updated on ... August 9, 2004