Edward III

Timeline

1. 1312–1327Windsor · BerkshireBorn at Windsor Castle, son of Edward II and Queen Isabella. He acceded in 1327 after his father's deposition, aged fifteen, with power initially held by a regency council, his mother, and her favorite Roger Mortimer.
2. 1330–1340London · Greater LondonIn 1330 he launched a palace coup to take personal rule, executing Mortimer and placing his mother under house arrest. In 1337, as the last descendant of the Capetians, he claimed the French throne and declared war, opening the Hundred Years' War. Between 1338 and 1340 he organized fleet and army expeditions to northern France.
3. 1346–1347Crécy · Hauts-de-FranceIn 1346 he led his army to a great victory over the French at Crécy, where his eldest son, the Black Prince Edward, first distinguished himself. He then besieged Calais; the French surrendered in 1347, and Calais became a strategic fortress held by the English in France for generations.
4. 1360–1377Westminster · Greater LondonAfter the Treaty of Brétigny the war temporarily lapsed; in his later years Edward's health declined and his eldest son, the Black Prince, predeceased him. He died in 1377, days before his grandson Richard II acceded, ending a reign of fifty years.