Edward was now sinking into his dotage. After the death of Queen Philippa he fell entirely under the influence of a greedy mistress named Alice Perrers, while the Black Prince and John of Gaunt became the leaders of sharply divided parties in the court and council of the king. With the help of Alice Perrers John of Gaunt obtained the chief influence with his father, but his administration was neither honourable nor successful. His chief enemies were the higher ecclesiastics, headed by William of Wykeham, bishop of Winchester, who had been excluded from power in 1371. John further irritated the clergy by making an alliance with John Wycliffe. The opposition to John was led by the Black Prince and Edmund Mortimer, earl of March, the husband of Edward's grand-daughter,Philippa of Clarence. At last popular indignation against the courtiers, came to a head in the famous Good Parliament of 1376. Alice Perrers was removed from court, and Duke John's subordinate instruments were impeached. But in the midst of the parliament the death of the Black Prince robbed the commons of their strongest support. John of Gaunt regained power, and in 1377 a new parliament, carefully packed by the courtiers, reversed the acts of the Good Parliament. Not long after Edward III. died, on the 21st of June 1377.
Edward III. was not a great man like Edward I. He was, however, an admirable tactician, a consummate knight, and he possessed extraordinary vigour and energy of temperament. His court, described at length in Froissart's famous chronicle,. was the most brilliant in Europe, and he was himself well fitted to be the head of the magnificent chivalry that obtained fame in the French wars. Though his main ambition was military glory, he was not a bad ruler of England. He was liberal, kindly, good-tempered and easy of access, and his yielding to his subjects' wishes in order to obtain supplies for carrying on the French war contributed to the consolidation of the constitution. His weak points were his wanton breaches of good faith, his extravagance, his frivolity and his self-indulgence. Like that of Edward I. his ambition transcended his resources, and before. he died even his subjects were aware of his failure.
Edward had twelve children, seven sons and five daughters. Five of his sons played some part in the history of their time, these being Edward the Black Prince, Lionel of Antwerp, duke of Clarence, John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, Edmund of Langley, afterwards duke of York, and Thomas of Woodstock, afterwards duke of Gloucester. John and Edmund are also important as the founders of the rival houses of Lancaster and York. Each of the last four was named from the place of his birth, and for the same reason the Black Prince is sometimes called Edward of Woodstock. The king's two other sons both died in infancy. Of his daughters, three died unmarried; the others were Isabella, who married into the family of Coucy,. and Mary, who married into that of Montfort.
Authorities. - The two chief modern lives of Edward III. are W.
Longman's Life and Times of Edward III., and J. Mackinnon's
History of Edward III. Neither work can be regarded as adequate,
and in some ways J. Barnes's quaint History of Edward III. (1688)
is less unsatisfactory. The general history of the time can be read in
W. Stubbs's Constitutional History of England, vol. ii. chapters
xvi. and xvii.; in T. F. Tout's Political History of England,
1216-1377, pp. 301-441; in R. Pauli's Geschichte von England, iv.
pp. 307-504; and in Edward's life by W. Hunt in the Dictionary of
National Biography. For the Hundred Years' War, see E. Deprez's
Les Preliminaiies de la guerre de cent ans, 1328-1342, and H.
Denifle's La Desolation des eglises, monasteres et hopitaux en France
pendant la guerre de cent ans. For economic and social history see
W. J. Ashley's English Economic History, and W. Cunningham's
Growth of English Industry and Commerce during the Early and Middle
Ages. For the end of the reign see S. Armitage Smith's John of
Gaunt, J. Lechler's Wiclif and die Vorgeschichte der
Reformation, translated as Wycliffe and his English
Precursors, R. L. Poole's Wycliffe and Movements for Reform,
and G. M. Trevelyan's England in the Age of Wycliffe. (T. F. T.)
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