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Black Prince, was born. Soon after, Edward made a successful effort to throw off his degrading dependence on his mother and her paramour. In October 1330 he entered See also:

Nottingham See also:

Castle by See also:

NIGHT

night, through a subterranean passage, and took Mortimer prisoner.

On the 29th of November the See also:

EXECUTION (from Lat. ex-sequor, exsecutus, follow or carry out)

execution of the favourite at See also:

TYBURN

Tyburn completed the See also:

young king's emancipation. Edward discreetly See also:

drew a See also:

VEIL (O.Fr. veile, mod. voile, from Lat. velum, cloth, awning, sail)

veil over his mother's relations with Mortimer, and treated her with every respect. There is no truth in the stories that henceforth he kept her in See also:

HONOURABLE (Fr. honorable, from Lat. honorabilis, worthy of honour)

honourable confinement, but her See also:

POLITICAL

political See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence was at an end. Edward See also:

IIL, PP

IIL's real reign now begins. Young, ardent and active, he strove with all his might to win back for England something of the position which it had acquired under Edward I. He bitterly resented the concession of See also:

independence to See also:

SCOT, MICHAEL (? 1175-1232)

Scot-See also:

LAND

land by the treaty of See also:

Northampton of 1328, and the See also:

DEATH

death of See also:

Robert See also:

Bruce in 1329 gave him a See also:

CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance of retrieving his position. The new king of Scots, See also:

David, who was his See also:

BROTHER

brother-in-See also:

law, was a See also:

mere boy, and the Scottish barons, exiled for their support of Robert Bruce, took See also:

ADVANTAGE

advantage of the weakness of his See also:

RULE

rule to invade See also:

Scotland in 1332. At their See also:

head was Edward See also:

Baliol, whose victory at Dupplin See also:

MOOR

Moor established him for a brief See also:

time as king of Scots. After four months Baliol was driven out by the Scots, whereupon Edward for the first time openly took up his cause. In 1333 the king won in See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person the See also:

BATTLE

battle of Halidon See also:

Hill over the Scots, but his victory did not restore Baliol to See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power. The Scots despised him as a puppet of the See also:

ENGLISH

English king, and after a few years David was finally established in Scotland. During these years England gradually drifted into hostility with France.

The See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief cause of this was the impossible situation which resulted from Edward's position as duke of See also:

GASCONY (Wasconia)

Gascony. Contributing causes were See also:

Philip's supportof the Scots and Edward's See also:

ALLIANCE

alliance with the Flemish cities, which were then on See also:

BAD, BCD

bad terms with their See also:

French overlord, and the revival of Edward's claim, first made in 1328, to the French See also:

CROWN

crown. See also:

War See also:

broke out in 1337, and in 1338 Edward visited See also:

COBLENZ (KOBLENZ)

Coblenz, where he made an alliance with the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor See also:

Louis the Bavarian. In 1339 and 1340 Edward endeavoured to invade France from the See also:

north with the help of his See also:

German and Flemish See also:

ALLIES, THOMAS WILLIAM (1813-1903)

allies, but the only result of his See also:

CAMPAIGNS

campaigns was to reduce him to See also:

BANKRUPTCY (from Lat. bancus or Fr. banquet table or counter, and Lat. ruptus, broken)

bankruptcy. In 1340, however, he took See also:

PERSONAL

personal part in the See also:

GREAT

great See also:

NAVAL

naval battle off See also:

SLUYS, BATTLE OF

Sluys, in which he absolutely destroyed the French See also:

NAVY

navy. In the same See also:

YEAR

year he assumed the title of king of France. At first he did this to gratify the Flemings, whose scruples in fighting their overlord, the French king, disappeared when they persuaded themselves that Edward was the rightful king of France. However, his pretensions to the French crown gradually became more important. The persistence with which he and his successors urged them made See also:

STABLE

stable See also:

peace impossible for more than a See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, and this made the struggle famous in See also:

HISTORY

history as the Hur}dred Years' War. Till the days of See also:

George III. every English king also called himself king of France. Despite his victory, at Sluys, Edward was so exhausted by his land campaign that he was forced before the end of 1340 to make a truce and return to England. He unfairly blamed his chief See also:

MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)

minister, See also:

ARCHBISHOP (Lat. archiepiscopus, from Gr. apxceatorcoros)

Archbishop See also:

Stratford, for his See also:

FINANCIAL

financial See also:

DISTRESS

distress, and immediately on his return vindictively attacked him.

Before the truce expired a disputed See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession to the duchy of See also:

BRITTANY

Brittany gave Edward an excuse for renewing hostilities with France. In 1342 he went to Brittany and fought an indecisive campaign against the French. He was back in England in 1343. In the following years he spent much time and See also:

MONEY

money in rebuilding Windsor Castle, and instituting the 'See also:

order of the Garter, which he did in order to fulfil a See also:

VOW (Lat. votum, vow, promise: cf. VOTE)

vow that he had taken to restore the See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

Round Table of See also:

Arthur. His finances, therefore, remained embarrassed despite the See also:

COMPARATIVE

comparative pause in the war, although in 1339 he had repudiated his See also:

DEBT (Lat. debitum, a thing owed)

debt to his See also:

ITALIAN

Italian creditors, a See also:

DEFAULT (Fr. defaut, from defailler, to fail, Lat. fallere)

default that brought about widespread misery in See also:

Florence. A new phase of the French war begins when in See also:

JULY

July 1346 Edward landed in See also:

NORMANDY

Normandy, accompanied by his eldest sort, Edward, prince of Wales, a youth of sixteen. In a memorable campaign Edward marched from La Hogue to See also:

CAEN

Caen, and from Caen almost to the See also:

GATES, HORATIO (1728-1806)

gates of See also:

Paris. It was a plundering expedition on a large See also:

scale, and like most of Edward's campaigns showed some want of strategic purpose. But Edward's decisive victory, over the French at See also:

CRECY (Cressy)

Crecy, in Ponthieu, on the 26th of See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August, where he sittered the See also:

army with which Philip VI. attempted to stay his See also:

RETREAT (O. Fr. retrete, mod. retraite, from Lat. retrahere, to draw back)

retreat from Paris to the See also:

NORTHERN

northern frontier, signally demonstrated the See also:

TACTICAL

tactical superiority of Edward's army over the French. Next year Edward effected the reduction of See also:

CALAIS

Calais. This was the most solid and lasting of his conquests, and its execution compelled him to greater efforts than the Crecy campaign. Other victories in Gascony and Brittany further emphasized his power.

In 1346, David, king of Scots, was also defeated and taken prisoner at See also:

Neville's See also:

CROSS

Cross, near See also:

Durham. In the midst of his successes, however, want of money forced Edward to make a new truce in 1347. He was as far from the See also:

CONQUEST

conquest of France as ever. Edward returned to England in October 1347. He celebrated his See also:

TRIUMPH (triumphus)

triumph by a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of splendid tournaments, and completed his See also:

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme for the See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment of the order of the Garter. In 1348 he rejected an offer of the imperial See also:

THRONE

throne. In the same year the Black Death first appeared in England, and raged until 1349. Yet the horrors which it wrought hardly checked the magnificent See also:

REVELS, MASTER OF THE

revels of Edward's See also:

court, and neither the See also:

PLAGUE (in Gr. Xotµos; in Lat. pestis, pestilentia)

plague nor the truce stayed the course of the French war, though what fighting there was was indecisive and on a small scale. Edward's See also:

MARTIAL (MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS)

martial exploits during the next years were those of a gallant See also:

knight rather than those of a responsible See also:

general. Conspicuous among them were his famous combat with Eustace de Ribemont, near Calais, in 1349, and the hard-fought naval vicLcy over the Spaniards off See also:

Winchelsea, in 1350. Efforts to make peace, initiated by See also:

Pope See also:

Innocent VI., came to nothing, though the English See also:

COMMONS

commons were now weary of the war. The result of this failure was the renewal of war on a large scale.

In 1355 Edward led an unsuccessful See also:

RAID

raid out of Calais, and in January and See also:

FEBRUARY

February 1356 harried the Lothians, in the expedition famous as the Burned See also:

CANDLEMAS (Lat. festum candelarum live luminum)

Candlemas. His exploits sank into insignificance as compared with those. of his son, whose victory at See also:

POITIERS

Poitiers, on the 19th of See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September 1356, resulted in the captivity of King See also:

John, and forced the French to accept a new truce. Edward entertained his royal See also:

CAPTIVE (from Lat. capere, to take)

captive very magnificently, and in 1359 concluded with him the treaty of See also:

LONDON

London, by which John surrendered so much that the French repudiated the treaty. Edward thereupon resolved to invade France afresh and compel its See also:

ACCEPTANCE (Lat. acceptare, frequentative form of accipere, to receive)

acceptance. On the 28th of October he landed at Calais, and advanced to See also:

Reims, where he hoped to be crowned king of France. The strenuous resistance of the citizens frustrated this scheme, and Edward marched into See also:

BURGUNDY

Burgundy, whence he made his way back towards Paris. Failing in an attack on the See also:

capital, he was glad to conclude, on the 8th of May 1360, preliminaries of peace at Bretigny, near See also:

CHARTRES

Chartres. This treaty, less onerous to France than that of London, took its final See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form in the treaty of Calais, ratified by King John on the 9th of October. By it Edward renounced his claim to France in return for the whole of Aquitaine. The treaty of Calais did not bring See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest or prosperity either to England or France. Fresh visitations of the Black Death, in 1362 and 1369, intensified the social and economic disturbances which had begun with the first outbreak in 1348. Desperate, but not very successful, efforts were made to enforce the See also:

STATUTE

statute of Labourers, of 1351, by which it was sought to maintain prices and See also:

WAGES (the plural of " wage," from Late Lat. wadium, a pledge, O. Fr. wagier, gagier)

wages as they had been before the pestilence.

Another feature of these years was the See also:

ANTI, or CAMPA

anti-papal, or rather anti-clerical, legislation embodied in the statutes of Provisors and See also:

PRAEMUNIRE (Lat. praemonere, to pre-admonish or fore-warn)

Praemunire. These See also:

MEASURES

measures were first passed in 1351 and 1353, but often repeated. In 1366 Edward formally repudiated the feudal supremacy over England, still claimed by the papacy by See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason of John's submission. Another feature of the time was the strenuous effort made by Edward to establish his numerous See also:

FAMILY

family without too great expense. In the end the estates of the houses of Lancaster, See also:

Kent, See also:

BOHUN

Bohun, See also:

Burgh and Mortimer swelled the revenues of Edward's See also:

CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

children and grandchildren, in whose favour also the new title of duke was introduced. In 1369 the French king, Charles V., repudiated the treaty of Calais and renewed the war. Edward's French dominions gladly reverted to their old See also:

ALLEGIANCE (Mid. Eng. ligeaunce; med. Lat. ligeantia, &c.; the al- was probably added through confusion with another legal term, allegeance, an allegation; the Fr. allegeance comes from the English; the word is formed from " liege," of which the derivatio

allegiance, and Edward showed little of his former vigour in See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting this new trouble. He resumed the title and arms of king of France, but See also:

LEFT

left most of the fighting and See also:

ADMINISTRATION (Lat. administrare, to serve)

administration of his See also:

FOREIGN

foreign kingdoms to his sons, Edward and John. While the latter were struggling with little success against the rising See also:

TIDE (O. Eng. lid, cf. Ger. Zeit, time or season, connected with root of Sanskrit a-diti, endless)

tide of French See also:

NATIONAL

national feeling, Edward's want of money made him a willing participator in the attack on the See also:

WEALTH

wealth and privileges of the See also:

Church. In 1371 a clerical See also:

MINISTRY

ministry was driven from See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office, and replaced by laymen, who proved, however, less effective administrators than their predecessors. Meanwhile Aquitaine was gradually lost; the defeat of See also:

Pembroke off La Rochelle deprived England of the command of the See also:

sea, and See also:

Sir See also:

Owen ap See also:

Thomas, a See also:

GRAND

grand-See also:

NEPHEW

nephew of See also:

LLEWELYN

Llewelyn ab Gruff yd, planned, with French help, an abortive invasion of Wales. In 1371 the Black Prince came back to England with broken See also:

HEALTH

health, and in 1373 John of Lancaster marched to little purpose through France, from Calais to See also:

BORDEAUX

Bordeaux.

In 1372 Edward made his final effort to See also:

lead an army, but contrary winds prevented his even landing his troops in France. In 1375 he was glad to make a truce, which lasted until his death. By it the only important possessions remaining in English hands were Calais, Bordeaux, See also:

BAYONNE

Bayonne and See also:

BREST

Brest. Edward was now sinking into his dotage. After the death of See also:

Queen Philippa he See also:

fell entirely under the influence of a greedy See also:

MISTRESS

mistress named Alice See also:

PERRERS (or DE WINDSOR), ALICE (d. 1400)

Perrers, while the Black Prince and John of Gaunt became the leaders of sharply divided parties in the court. and See also:

COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council of the king. With the help of Alice Perrers John of Gaunt obtained the chief influence with his father,995 but his administration was neither honourable nor successful. His chief enemies were the higher ecclesiastics, headed by See also:

William. of Wykeham, See also:

bishop of See also:

Winchester, who had been excluded from power in 1371. John further irritated the See also:

clergy by making an alliance with John Wycliffe. The opposition to John was led by the Black Prince and See also:

Edmund Mortimer, earl of See also:

March, the See also:

HUSBAND

husband of Edward's grand-daughter, Philippa of See also:

CLARENCE, DUKES OF

Clarence. At last popular indignation against the courtiers came to a head in the famous See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

Good Parliament of 1376. Alice Perrers was removed from court, and Duke John's subordinate See also:

INSTRUMENTS

instruments were impeached. But in the midst of the parliament the death of the Black Prince robbed the commons of their strongest support.

John of Gaunt regained power, and in 1377 a new parliament, carefully packed by the courtiers, reversed the acts of the Good Parliament. Not See also:

long after Edward III. died, on the 21st of June 1397. Edward III. was not a great See also:

man like Edward I. He was, however, an admirable tactician, a consummate knight, and he possessed extraordinary vigour and See also:

ENERGY (from the Gr. ivipyela; iv, in, ipyov, work)

energy of temperament. His court, described at length in See also:

FROISSART, JEAN (1338-1410?)

Froissart's famous See also:

CHRONICLE (from Gr. Xpovos, time)

chronicle, was the most brilliant in See also:

EUROPE

Europe, and he was himself well fitted to be the head of the magnificent See also:

CHIVALRY (O. Fr. chevalerie, from Late Lat. caballerius)

chivalry that obtained fame in the French See also:

WARS

wars. Though his See also:

main ambition was military See also:

GLORY (through the O. Fr. glorie, modern gloire, from Lat. gloria, cognate with Gr. KXebs, abets)

glory, he was not a bad ruler of England. He was liberal, kindly, good-tempered and easy of See also:

ACCESS (Lat. accessus)

access, and his yielding to his subjects' wishes in order to obtain supplies for carrying on the French war contributed to the consolidation of the constitution. His weak points were his wanton breaches of good faith, his extravagance, his frivolity and his self-See also:

INDULGENCE (Lat. indulgentia, indulgere, to grant, concede)

indulgence. Like that of Edward I. his ambition transcended his resources, and before he died even his subjects were aware of his failure. Edward had twelve children, seven sons and five daughters. Five of his sons played some part in the history of their time, these being Edward the Black Prince, Lionel of See also:

Antwerp, duke of Clarence, John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, Edmund of See also:

LANGLEY, SAMUEL PIERPONT (1834-1906)

Langley, afterwards duke of York, and Thomas of See also:

WOODSTOCK

Woodstock, afterwards duke of See also:

Gloucester. John and Edmund are also important as the founders of the See also:

RIVAL

rival houses of Lancaster and York.

Each of the last four was named from the See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of his See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth, and for the same reason the Black Prince is sometimes called Edward of Woodstock. The king's two other sons both died in See also:

INFANCY

infancy. Of his daughters, three died unmarried; the others were Isabella, who married into the family of See also:

COUCY, LE CHATELAIN DE

Coucy, and See also:

Mary, who married into that of See also:

Montfort.

End of Article: EDWARD III

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