Edward III

Edward succeeded to the throne after the untimely death of his father, Edward II, in Berwick Castle (?). At first his reign was dominated by his mother, Isabella, and her lover Mortimer.

In all, Edward reigned for fifty years.

In 1337, Edward decided it would be a good time for him to become King of France, and thus started The Hundred Years War, which, since it was a government-run enterprise, failed to run to schedule and actually lasted for 116 years. Edward's claim to the French throne came through his maternal grandfather, Phillip IV (the Fair) of France. Pretty Phil had three sons, who succeeded him, one after another onto the French throne. By 1328, they were all out of sons, and, since none of the boys had children of their own, the French were a bit stuck for a king. According to French law, the next in line was Philip of Valois, whos was the son of Pretty Phil's younger brother. According to English law, Edward III's claim on the throne was better than Phil of Valois's, since he was descended from a more recent king. The French interpretation was that Edward's claim didn't count, because it went through a woman (his mother Isabelle).

Notice that it took Edward a good nine years to work out that he actually objected to being by-passed for the French throne. Even after war broke out, it was another three years or so before the first fight that got the label of a battle, the naval Battle of Sluys in 1340.

As his son, Edward the Black Prince had died just before him, when Edward III died, in 1277, he was succeeded by his young grandson, Richard II.

timnfromoz

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