King of England, Ireland, and France (1327–77). He succeeded his father, Edward II, though the throne was at first his in little more than name, power remaining in the hands of his mother, Isabella of France, and her lover Roger Mortimer; but in 1330 Edward had Mortimer arrested and began his personal rule. He secured the Scottish frontier with relative ease by the victory of Halidon Hill (1333); but his initial French strategy was less successful, for although he prudently bought up the allegiance of France’s neighbours the cost proved excessive. By 1341 Edward was virtually bankrupt. In 1346 he sought to justify his claim to the French throne by the more direct means of leading a vast army to France, and victories at Crécy (1346) and in Brittany made him effectively king in France. The English by now were gaining a taste for foreign warfare and booty, and the truce of 1354 was ended by a fresh invasion of France two years later, crowned by the epic victory that Edward’s son, Edward the Black Prince, won at Poitiers.

The rest of Edward’s long reign was less successful—there were failures in France between 1369 and 1375, and after the death of his wife, Philippa of Hainault in 1369, his health and mind began to deteriorate; he fell under the influence of his mistress, Alice Perrers. Edward left his successor, Richard II, with a legacy of social discontent in England as well as the possession of vast tracts of France.