W. M. Ormrod offers a concise assessment of Edward III’s fifty-year reign, tracing the king’s troubled inheritance from Edward II and Isabella of France through the restoration of royal authority in the 1330s. He explains how war with Scotland and France, the claim to the French crown and victories at Crécy and Calais transformed Edward’s reputation and ambitions.
The study also considers parliament, taxation, chivalric culture, the Order of the Garter and the political strains created by plague and prolonged war. Edward’s final years, marked by military reverses, court faction and financial pressure, are set against the broader achievement of a monarchy that had become more confident, martial and closely identified with an English political community.
Alison Weir
35 books
Richard Woodman
37 books