King Edward III
1312 – 1377 · Generation XVI · King of England (r. 1327–1377)
Edward III of Windsor (1312–1377). King of England (r. 1327–1377). Married Philippa of Hainault in 1328. Began the Hundred Years’ War and founded the Order of the Garter; every later claimant in the Wars of the Roses descended from him. Crowned at fourteen after his mother and Roger Mortimer deposed his father, he seized personal power at seventeen with a coup against Mortimer himself. Victories at Crécy and Poitiers brought France to the favourable Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, England gaining territory while Edward renounced his claim to the French throne, and under him England rose to rank among the strongest military states in Europe. His reign also endured the Black Death and saw far-reaching developments in Parliament. Illness and inactivity clouded his final years, when most of the conquests slipped away until little beyond Calais remained; having outlived the Black Prince, he left the crown to his grandson.
Line of descent: King William I The Conqueror → King Henry I → Matilda the Empress → King Henry II → King John → King Henry III → King Edward I Longshanks → King Edward II → King Edward III.
Parents
- King Edward II (1284 – 1327)
- Isabella of France (1295 – 1358)
Partners
- Married Philippa of Hainault (1314 – 1369) in 1328 — 3 children together
Children
- Edward the Black Prince (1330 – 1376)
- John of Gaunt (1340 – 1399)
- Edmund of Langley (1341 – 1402)
Life
- 1312 — Born
- 1327 — Edward III accedes to the throne after his father, Edward II, is formally deposed.
- 1328 — Married Philippa of Hainault
- 1328 — Edward marries Phillipa of Hanault
- 1329 — Edward recognizes Scotland as an independent nation
- 1330 — Edward takes power after three years of government by his mother, Isabella of France, and her lover, Roger Mortimer. He imprisons his mother for the rest of her life.
- 1337 — French King Philip VI annexes the English King's Duchy of Aquitaine. Edward III responds by laying claim to the French crown as a grandson of Philip IV though his mother Isabella. This results in the 100 Years’ War with France.
- 1344 — Edward establishes the Order of the Garter
- 1347 — Edward besieges and captures Calais.
- 1370 — Edward, The Black Prince, sacks Limoges massacring 3,000 people.
- 1373 — John of Gaunt returns to England and takes charge of government. Edward and his son are ill.
- 1376 — Parliament gains right to investigate public abuses and impeach offenders; the first impeachment is of Alice Perrers, Edward’s mistress, and two lords.
- 1376 — Death of Edward, the Black Prince.
- 1377 — Died
- 1377 — Edward III dies of a stroke at Sheen Palace, Surrey, aged 64 years