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With his father's demise, the young Prince Edward, aged just 14, was declared king with Isabella and Mortimer acting as his regents. Edward III thus became the final part of the trio that completed the 'Edwardian' period of medieval England (1272-1377 CE). The coronation took place on 1 February 1327 CE, as usual, at Westminster Abbey. There follow...

Scotland's independence had been secured in the 1328 CE Treaty of Northampton, but Edward had not given up on the dream of his grandfather, Edward I of England (r. 1272-1307 CE), to conquer the country. When the Scottish king Robert the Bruce died in 1329 CE after a 23-year reign, his successor was David II (r. 1329-1371 CE), then only five years o...

Edward III held lands in France and he could even make a strong claim to the French crown via his mother Isabella. The current French king was Philip VI of France (r. 1328-1350 CE) who had succeeded his cousin Charles IV of France (r. 1322-1328 CE) even if, when Charles had died, it was Edward who was his closest male relative, being Charles' nephe...

From 1341 CE the English Parliament was beginning to take the form it has today with two separate houses sitting, the lower and the upper house (what would become the House of Commons and House of Lords respectively). The Parliament was able to push for more powers as the king became more desperate for funds, and these included the Houses first app...

During the good times of the victories in France, Edward's court became famous for its pageantry, extravagant clothing and chivalry. Medieval literature boomed, too, with the celebrated poet Geoffrey Chaucer, (c. 1343-1400 CE) a member of the king's inner circle from 1367 CE onwards. Edward, a keen student of history, seemed intent on creating a ne...

By the end of his reign, Edward was becoming increasingly unpopular and perhaps his mind was suffering from his age. There were no more victories in France to cheer, the state coffers and just about everyone else's were empty, and the king's scheming mistress, Alice Perrers - Queen Philippa had died of illness in 1369 CE - proved unpopular at court...