Edward III.

Edward III., king of England (1327-1377), son of the preceding, married Philippa of Hainault; during his boyhood the government was carried on by a council of regency; in 1328 the independence of Scotland was recognised, and nine years later began the Hundred Years' War with France, memorable in this reign for the heroic achievements of Edward the Black Prince (q.v.), the king's eldest son; associated with this reign are the glorious victories of Crécy and Poitiers, and the great naval battle at Sluys, one of the earliest victories of English arms at sea; these successes were not maintained in the later stages of the war, and the treaty of Bretigny involved the withdrawal of Edward's claim to the French crown; in 1376 the Black Prince died.

Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)