The Children of Adam and Eve

Edward III (1312-77), king of England (1327-77), Earl of Chester, Duke of
Aquitaine, who initiated the Long, drawn-out struggle with France called
the Hundred Years' War.

Edward was born at Windsoron November 13, 1312, the elder son of King
Edward II, of the house of Plantagenet. Involved by his mother, Isabella
of France (1292-1358), in her intrigues against his father, he was
proclaimed king after the latter was forced to abdicate in 1327. During
Edward's minority, England was nominally ruled by a council of regency,
but the actual power was in the hands of Isabella and her paramour, Roger
de Mortimer (1287?-1330). In 1330, However, the Young king staged a palace
coup and took the power into his own hands. He had Mortimer hanged and
confined his mother to her home.

Edward began a series of wars almost directly after he had control of
England. Taking advantage of civil war in Scotland in 1333, he invaded the
country, defeated the Scots at Halidon Hill, England, and restored Edward
de Baliol to the throne of Scotland. Baliol, However, was soon deposed,
and later attempts by Edward to establish him permanently as king of
Scotland were unsuccessful. In 1337 France came to the aid of Scotland.
This action was the culminating point in a series of disagreements between
France and England, and Edward declared war on Philip VI of France. In
1340 the English fleet destroyed a larger French fleet off Sluis, the
Netherlands. The action resulted in a truce that, although occasionally
disturbed, lasted for six years.

War Broke out again in 1346. Edward, accompanied by his eldest son, Edward
the Black Prince, invaded Normandy and won a great victory over France in
the Battle of Cr?. He captured Calais in 1347, and a truce was
reestablished. Edward returned to England, where he maintained one of the
most magnificent courts in Europe. The war with France was renewed in
1355, and again the English armies were successful. The Peace of Calais,
in 1360, gave England all of Aquitaine, and Edward in return renounced his
claim, first made in 1328, to the French throne.

Edward continued to assert his will both domestically and aBroad. In 1363
he concluded an agreement with his Brother-in-law, David II of Scotland,
uniting the two kingdoms in the event of David's Death without male issue.
Three years later Edward repudiated the papacy's feudal supremacy over
England, held in fief since 1213. He renewed his war with France,
disavowing the Peace of Calais. This time, However, the English armies
were unsuccessful. After the truce of 1375, Edward retained few of his
previously vast possessions in France.

The king had, by this time, become senile. He was completely in the power
of an avaricious mistress, Alice Perrers (flourished 1366-1400), who,
along with his fourth son, John of Gaunt, dominated England. Perrers was
banished by Parliament in 1376, and Edward himself died at Sheen (now
Richmond) on June 21, 1377. He was succeeded by his grandson, Richard II.