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Home / People / Edward III of England

Historical person

Edward III of England

1312–1377

Edward III became king of England in 1327 after the deposition of his father and ruled for fifty years. He restored royal prestige, asserted a claim to the French throne and began the conflict later known as the Hundred Years’ War. English victories at Crécy and Poitiers, the foundation of the Order of the Garter and the expansion of parliament marked his reign, which was also devastated by the Black Death. His later years were weakened by military setbacks and factional politics.

Edward’s wars form the background to Bernard Cornwell’s Grail Quest novels, while Maurice Druon’s The Accursed Kings sequence traces the dynastic crisis that helped produce his French claim. He appears in many novels about the Black Prince, Crécy and the rise of English military power. Fiction tends to celebrate chivalry and battlefield success, but the long reign also involved taxation, chevauchée warfare and severe disruption for civilian populations.

In Paul Bannister’s Storm of Arrows, in 1330, Edward III asks Sir Thomas Holland to help overthrow Roger Mortimer, whose control of the young king and suspected role in Edward II’s death have made him the dominant power in England. In Maurice Druon’s The She-Wolf, she refuses to return to England while Hugh Despenser dominates the king and forms a political and personal alliance with the exiled Roger Mortimer. Other novels featuring Edward III of England include Maurice Druon’s The Lily and the Lion, Colin Falconer’s A Vain and Indecent Woman, David Gilman’s Shadow of the Hawk, David Pilling’s Folville's Law (II), and Jonathan Lunn’s Kemp: An Arrow for the Crown.

In non-fiction, Edward III of England is discussed in Dan Jones’s The Plantagenets. In Dan Jones’s The Plantagenets, the United States edition was published as The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England.

Historical context

Historical periods linked to Edward III of England

Battle of Crécy 1346 CE Black Death 1347–1351 CE Hundred Years’ War 1337–1453 CE Invasion of England and Deposition of Edward II 1326–1327 CE Reign of Edward III 1327–1377 CE

Series

Series featuring Edward III of England (13 series)

Master of War in Order

by David Gilman 9 books 4.6

The Master of War series follows Thomas Blackstone, an English archer and later knight, through the Hundred Years’ War. Beginning with the Crécy campaign in 1346, the sequence expands across France, Aquitaine, Brittany, Castile and northern Italy, using Blackstone’s career to show how medieval war was fought through…

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Sir John Hawkwood in Order

by Griff Hosker 7 books 4.5

Sir John Hawkwood follows the rise of an English soldier from the Hundred Years’ War into the world of mercenary companies in Italy. Beginning around Crécy and the Black Prince’s campaigns, the series moves toward the White Company and the condottieri, where professional soldiers sell skill, discipline and…

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The Grail Quest in Order

by Bernard Cornwell 4 books 4.3

The Grail Quest follows Thomas of Hookton, an English archer whose search for the truth about his family becomes entangled with the opening decades of the Hundred Years’ War. The novels move through the capture of La Roche-Derrien, the assault on Caen, the Battle of Crécy, Neville’s Cross,…

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Arrows of Albion in Order

by Jonathan Lunn 8 books 4.3

Arrows of Albion follows Martin Kemp, an English archer and sometime mercenary, through the campaigns and border wars of the mid-fourteenth century. Beginning with Edward III’s invasion of France and the Battle of Crécy, the series moves through the siege of Calais, warfare in Brittany and Scotland, Gascon…

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Jeanette of Kent Duology in Order

by Elizabeth Chadwick 2 books 4.4

The Jeanette of Kent Duology tells the story of Joan of Kent, presented as Jeanette: a royal cousin whose private choices repeatedly become matters of dynastic importance. The Royal Rebel follows her forbidden marriage to Thomas Holland and the long legal battle to have that marriage recognised. The…

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The Accursed Kings in Order

by Maurice Druon 7 books 4.2

The Accursed Kings follows the French and English monarchies from the final year of Philip IV's reign in 1314 to the capture of John II at Poitiers and the political crisis of the late 1350s. Across seven novels, the direct Capetian line fails, the Valois dynasty takes the…

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The Kingsbridge Novels in Order

by Ken Follett 5 books 4.4

The Kingsbridge novels trace the development of a fictional English community across nearly nine centuries. Builders, merchants, clergy, landowners, labourers and reformers repeatedly contest who controls work, worship, law and education, while the town changes from an impoverished Anglo-Saxon settlement into a cathedral city and industrial centre. Chronologically,…

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Epic Historical Adventure in Order

by Colin Falconer 15 books 4.3

Epic Historical Adventure is Colin Falconer's publisher-defined collection of stand-alone historical thrillers rather than a continuous narrative sequence. The novels range from Alexander the Great, Cleopatra and the Mongol Empire to the Ottoman court, the conquest of Mexico, colonial India, shipwreck and twentieth-century Palestine. Most volumes can be…

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Storm of Arrows in Order

by Paul Bannister 2 books 4.0

The Storm of Arrows sequence follows Sir Thomas Holland from Edward III’s seizure of power to the opening campaigns of the Hundred Years’ War. Storm of Arrows places the young archer and baron beside the king during the overthrow of Roger Mortimer, the wars in Scotland, the naval…

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An Owen Archer Mystery in Order

by Candace Robb 16 books 4.2

The Owen Archer mysteries follow a Welsh soldier and former captain of archers who becomes an investigator, spy and officer in fourteenth-century York. Beginning in 1363, Owen serves Archbishop John Thoresby and later the city authorities, while his marriage to apothecary Lucie Wilton gives the investigations a close…

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Plantagenet Saga in Order

by Jean Plaidy 14 books 4.1

The Plantagenet Saga spans the dynasty from Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine to Richard III. Across fourteen novels, family rebellion, disputed succession, royal marriage and war connect the Angevin Empire, the conquest of Wales, conflict with Scotland, the Hundred Years’ War and the Wars of the Roses.

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Moments of History in Order

by Julian Stockwin 2 books 4.1

The Moments of History series uses self-contained historical adventures to explore discoveries and technologies that changed the balance of power between societies. Each novel follows fictional travellers and craftsmen whose ambitions place them beside documented rulers, scholars and military events at a decisive historical turning point. The Silk…

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Folville’s Law in Order

by David Pilling 2 books 4.1

Folville's Law follows Sir John Swale through the violent collapse of Edward II's government and the uncertain minority of Edward III. Set amid northern warfare, political murder, outlaw bands and the rise and fall of Roger Mortimer, the novels blend medieval crime with the struggle for control of…

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Standalone books

Standalone books featuring Edward III of England (4 books)

Non Fiction

Non Fiction featuring Edward III of England (1 book)

Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.