(born Nov. 13, 1312, Windsor, Berkshire, Eng.—died June 21, 1377, Sheen, Surrey) King of England (1327–77). His mother, Isabella of France, deposed his father, Edward II, and crowned the 15-year-old Edward in his place. Isabella and her lover, Roger de Mortimer, governed in Edward's name for four years and persuaded him to grant the Scots their independence (1328). After having Mortimer executed in 1330, Edward became the sole ruler of England. By asserting his right to the French crown, he began the Hundred Years' War.
He instituted the Order of the Garter in 1342. He defeated the French at the Battle of Crécy (1346) and captured Calais (1347), though lack of funds forced him to sign a truce. The Black Death hit England in 1348, but fighting continued. The Scots surrendered to Edward in 1356, and the same year his son Edward the Black Prince won a major victory for the English at the Battle of Poitiers. In 1360 Edward gave up his claim to the French crown in return for Aquitaine. The war later resumed when Charles V repudiated the Treaty of Calais; Edward lost Aquitaine, and he signed a new truce in 1375. In his later years he fell under the influence of his greedy mistress, Alice Perrers, and his son John of Gaunt.
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