EDWARD III 1327 - 1377 (E3) Life 1312

EDWARD III 1327 - 1377 (E3) Lived 1312 - 1377

xxxxxAs we have seen, Edward II’s reign came to an end in 1327 after he was deposed and imprisoned by his estranged wife Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. His son was crowned as Edward III in January of that year, but he was only fifteen so for the next three years the government was in the hands of his mother Isabella and Mortimer, now Earl of March.

xxxxxIn 1330, however, Edward III suddenly seized power, and then lost no time in having Mortimer executed, the man who had betrayed his father and doubtless instigated his murder. It was Mortimer, of course, who, two years earlier, had persuaded the young Edward to recognise Scottish independence via the humiliating Treaty of Northampton. Edward now set out to reverse this agreement. A struggle for succession having broken out following the death of Bruce in 1329, he crossed into Scotland with a huge army in 1333 to support John Balliol, one of the claimants. The result was a victory at the Battle of Halidon Hill by which Edward secured authority over the southern part of Scotland.

xxxxxNow the young, energetic Edward was free to challenge for a far greater prize. He had a strong claim to the French throne via his mother, Isabella (daughter of Philip IV of France), and he was anxious to fight for what he considered to be his inheritance. In 1337 he was provided with a ready excuse to intervene when the French king, Philip VI, threatened Guyenne, part of the English possessions in south-west France. This, together with the fact that France was helping Scotland in their struggle for independence, spurred Edward into action. He at once laid claim to the French throne and embarked on the first phase of that long, intermittent struggle which eventually came to be known as the Hundred Years’ War.

xxxxxWith the active support of his son Edward, known for his battle prowess as the Black Prince, he won a series of sensational victories, including the naval Battle of Sluys in 1340 (when the French fleet was virtually destroyed), the Battle of Crécy in 1346, the capture of Calais, a year later, and the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, during which the French king, John II, was captured. A further expedition by Edward ended in failure, however, and in 1360, running seriously short of money, he agreed to the Treaty of Brétigny, giving up his claim to the French throne but, in return, being granted sovereignty over the whole of Aquitaine.

xxxxxBy 1360, success on the battlefield had restored English prestige and regained lost land in France, but it was about this time that matters took a serious turn for the worse. In Scotland, despite the English victory at Halidon Hill, and a further defeat of the Scots at the battle of Neville’s Cross in 1346, John Balliol had been deposed and the movement for independence remained very much alive. Meanwhile in France, the new king, Charles V, renounced the Brétigny agreement and once again English possessions in the south-west were in danger. Against a rising tide of French nationalism, an expedition led by Prince Edward, the Black Prince, and his brother, John of Gaunt, ended in failure and this was followed by a violent revolt against English rule in Aquitaine. Then in 1370 Prince Edward, by this time a sick man, allowed his army to run amok in the town of Limoges and this virtually put an end to any hope of a favourable settlement.

xxxxxEventually a truce was reached at the Treaty of Bruges in 1375, but by then the French had slowly nibbled away at most of Aquitaine, and the only English possessions of any importance in France were Calais, Brest, Bayonne and Bordeaux. The following year, Prince Edward died of an illness he had contracted during a short campaign in Spain, and by this time, too, the king had become senile and his unpopular son John of Gaunt was ruling the country. Thus a reign which had opened with such promise, with its victories on the battlefield and Edward’s glittering court, had little to show for itself when it petered out with the king’s death in 1377.

xxxxxNor, it must be said, was there much comfort to be gained at home. In church affairs, there was growing hostility towards the papacy at Avignon - a virtual puppet of the French government - and towards the higher clergy at home, enjoying as they did a life of privilege and wealth. The Statutes of Provisors and Praemunire were passed in the early 1350s to reduce the power of the pope in state affairs, and Edward was not averse to seizing church funds to help finance his war efforts. Opposition to the belief and practices of the church was championed at this time by the great preacher John Wycliffe, the “morning star” of the Reformation.

xxxxxThere was a measure of commercial prosperity in the early years of the reign, particularly in the wool trade, but the good times were not destined to last. The Black Death, beginning in 1348, killed off one third of the population and brought immense misery, hardship and social unrest, particularly amongst the peasantry. The feudal system went into rapid decline and hastened the beginning of a money economy. The Statute of Labourers in 1351 attempted to maintain prices and wages but proved almost impossible to enforce.

xxxxxFurthermore, Edward’s constant need for money to finance his expeditions to the continent brought about the inevitable clashes with Parliament and a consequent growth in its authority, particularly in the last years of the reign. The Good Parliament of 1376, for example, was the first to impeach a King’s Minister (the Chamberlain William Latimer), and the first to elect a Speaker, one Peter de la Mare. And by now, Parliament had become two chambers, with representatives of the shires and towns meeting together in a separate house - the Commons.

xxxxxAt one time it was feared that John of Gaunt was planning to seize the throne on the death of his ailing father. When the king died, however, in June 1377 he was succeeded by his ten-year-old grandson Richard, son of the Black Prince, though, as we shall see, John of Gaunt did remain a power in the land and something of a thorn in Richard’s flesh.

xxxxxIncidentally, it was Edward III, renowned throughout Europe for his glittering court, who, as we shall see, instituted The Most Noble Order of the Garter in 1348.

1328

Roger Mortimer acknowledges the independence of Scotland by the Treaty of Northampton, but on coming to power in 1330 Edward seeks to restore his authority north of the border.

1330

The Italian poet Francesco Petrarch begins writing his Il Canzoniere (the Songbook), a set of love lyrics which were to have a profound influence on the poetry of the Renaissance.

1333

Edward III defeats the Scots at the Battle of Halidon Hill and gains the southern part of the country, but with the outbreak of war with France, further action is limited.

1334

1336

The Italian architect Giotto de Bondone designs the beautiful bell tower (campanile) at Florence, known popularly as Giotto’s Tower. The work is not finished in his life-time.

In Japan, civil war breaks out between rival “Emperors” at the courts of Yoshino and Kyoto. Peace is finally restored in 1392, but, in the meantime, local warlords gain much power.

1338

By the Declaration of Rhens, and later, the Golden Bull of 1356, the electors of the Holy Roman Empire claim that the Pope has no jurisdiction over the election of a new emperor.

1339

1340

Edward, having adopted the title of King of France and landed in the Netherlands, moves his army into France, thus opening the first offensive of the the Hundred Years' War. This series of conflicts does not end until 1453.

In the first engagement of the war, the English fleet, with Edward in attendance, wins the Battle of Sluys off the Flemish coast. The French navy is virtually destroyed.

The Sultan of Morocco, Abu al-Hasan, launches a holy war against Spain, but his army is defeated by a combined Christian force at the Battle of Rio Salado near Seville.

1345

Under Orhan the Ottoman Turks establish a military stronghold on the Gallipoli peninsula. From this European foothold they subdue the Byzantine Empire and move into the Balkans.

1346

Edward III and his son, Prince Edward, later known as the Black Prince, defeat the French at the Battle of Crécy and go on to capture the port of Calais the following year.

1347

1348

A bubonic plague, originating from Asia and known as the Black Death, enters Europe via Greece and Italy and wipes out more than a third of the continent's population in four years.

Edward III institutes the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the highest honour in the land, and makes the royal chapel at Windsor Castle into the centre for the new Order.

1353

One of the world’s literary masterpieces, Il Decameron, a collection of prose romances on a variety of subjects, is completed by the Italian poet and writer Giovanni Boccaccio.

The traveller Ibn Battuta returns to his native Morocco after thirty years, and gives an account of his 75,000 mile journey to the Middle and Far East, South East Asia, and Africa.

1356

The Black Prince wins a decisive victory over the French at the Battle of Poitiers. The French king, John II, is captured and brought to England, where he dies eight years later.

1358

A revolt by French peasants north-east of Paris, known as the Jacquerie, is ruthlessly crushed by royalist forces. Following the uprising, thousands are killed in reprisals.

1360

The Treaty of Brétigny ends the first part of the Hundred Years' War. Edward gives up his claim to the French throne but retains, for the present at least, his land in southern France.

1362

The English poet William Langland writes his first version of Piers Plowman, in which he describes the poverty of the peasant, and condemns the social and moral evils of his day.

1363

One of the leading surgeons of the day, the Frenchman Guy de Chauliac, produces his Chirurgia magna (Great Surgery), a book which becomes a standard work on the subject.

1368

The Ming Dynasty, a name which is to become synonymous with finely decorated porcelain, is established in China by the rebel leader Chu Yuan-chang.

The Hanseatic League, a powerful confederation of cities trading in and around the Baltic, defeats the Danish army and forces the Danes to grant its members commercial privileges.

1370

The Massacre of Limoges by the Black Prince severely weakens England’s hold on its possessions in the south of France. The French now begin to recapture their lost land.

Tamerlane, the last great leader of the Mongols, becomes ruler of west Turkestan in Central Asia, and begins to make an empire which will stretch from India to the Mediterranean Sea.

The Chimu, a people living along the north coast of Peru, expand southwards, constructing a network of roads and irrigation canals, and building vast walled citadels.

1374

Edward III becomes ill and his fourth son, John of Gaunt, rules in his place. His blatant display of wealth and autocratic manner make him a target of discontent.

1375

At a Conference at Bruges, England and France declare a truce. By this time the only English possessions in France are Calais, Brest, Bordeaux and Bayonne.

1376

1377

John Wycliffe, a teacher at Oxford University, calls for church reform. In his treatise On Civil Lordship he argues that the Church should only be concerned with spiritual matters.

Pope Gregory XI leaves Avignon and returns to Rome, thus ending the Babylonian Captivity. However, there then follows the Great Schism, (1378 R2), with papal courts at both Rome and Avignon.

Edward III, confused and ailing for a number of years, dies at Sheen in Surrey. He is succeeded by his ten-year-old grandson, son of the Black Prince, as Richard II.

1377

1327

1330

1333

Acknowledgements

Edward III: artist unknown – National Portrait Gallery, London. Map (Europe): licensed under Creative Commons - https://wdarcy.wikispaces.com. Coat of Arms: licensed under Creative Commons. Author: Sodacan – https://commons.wikimedia. org. Giotto’s Tower: detail, by the italian artist Giovanni Silvestri (active 1830-1840) – Fitwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, England.

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