Edward III – The man steps forth as king in his own right.

With Mortimer now dead and his mother in comfortable but confined seclusion at Windsor, Edward, aged eighteen, was able to begin his reign. Edward was tall and possessed a strong physique, he had fine facial features and a head of long fair hair. He looked every inch the successful king that he aspired to be. Edward was courteous, affable in manner and charmed people with his broad easy smile.

King Edward III.

‘With Mortimer gone, all the bad deeds are now in the past!

So now, I am free! Yes free! God be praised, I am free at last!’

 As the feast of Christmas, 1330 approached, King Edward must have looked back on the last four years with somewhat mixed feelings.

‘Well, this will be the first merry Christmas I will have had in years! For the last few Christmases I have had to suffer the spectacle of that dirty old hound, Mortimer, gnawing at his meat and guzzling back wine as he sat with my mother at top table.

God! The news of my father’s death hit me hard. True, he was not up to the job of kingship, but to have him done to death by a band of ruffians in a dingy cell at Berkeley castle was simply wrong. Not that dog face Mortimer was any great shakes in the statesman stakes either! Look at how he got a drubbing from king of the Jocks, Robert Bruce. He goes charging into Scotland claiming that he will soon be serving up Bruce’s head on a platter, and then ends up saluting the Celt savage as king of Scots.

Thank goodness I stopped Mortimer’s gallop that night in Notts castle! We grabbed him and were lassoing him down, when I could hear my men roaring their heads off with laughter on the other side of the curtain! They had found that old codger, Bishop Burghersh wriggling half way down the toilet shaft. The old fool panicked at the sight of us piling in and tried to escape down the toilet. Anyway, we got him out and packed him off back to Lincoln Cathedral!’

One happy memory for Edward would have been his marriage to Philippa of Hainault in 1328. Although a marriage arranged for political purposes, it would prove to be one that provided mutual happiness.

Queen Philippa, wife of Edward III.

Edward decided to make a very public declaration that a clean break was being made with the past. A proclamation was issued and recited aloud in public places throughout the realm. It acknowledged that the country had endured years of bad government, but that Edward would:

‘henceforth govern his people according to right and reason, as befits his royal dignity.’

The young king was soon true to his word. He handed back estates that had been seized by Edward II and the incorrigible Despensers to their rightful owners, and elevated talented men to the ranks of  the aristocracy.

Scotland.

Edward was still seething over Mortimer’s disastrous campaign in Scotland and the grossly unsatisfactory treaty agreed between the two countries.  An opportunity to correct the situation arose when Robert Bruce died in 1329, leaving his five year old son, David as his heir.

‘King Robert Bruce is dead, leaving wee prince Davy as his heir, as his heir!

There is trouble afoot! Please be aware! Of ambitious men, please beware! Please beware!

Such a development occurring in those days was a guarantee for instability, as others would view it as a situation ripe for exploitation. Edward Balliol the son of the late king, John, decided to mount a challenge to the infant king David.

Balliol asked Edward for support, but the king declined to assist him in what appeared to be a doomed bid for the crown of Scotland. However, Balliol’s army against all odds, defeated a much larger force loyal to King David at the Battle of Duppin Moor in August 1332. Flushed with victory, Balliol had himself crowned King of Scots. Although Balliol was later expelled from Scotland, Edward now decided to back his claim for the Scottish throne.

Edward realised that if he were to be a successful king like his grandfather, Edward I, he would have to prove himself as a military commander. The chance to do so now presented itself in Scotland in the spring of 1333.