EDWARD III, king of ENGLAND. — Son and successor of EDWARD II, born at Windsor on 13 Nov. 1312 and died at Sheen on 21 June 1377. He began the Hundred Years’ War against France, on whose throne he claimed rights. In 1340 he assumed the title of king of France, occupying vast territories through a series of successful enterprises in which his son of the same name, known as the “Black Prince,” played a major part.
To finance his undertakings, EDWARD III imposed very heavy taxes, which drained England and provoked strong discontent. Toward the Church he resumed the policy of his predecessor EDWARD I, aimed at limiting the Pope’s power in England; in 1353, with the decree Praemunire, he forbade the reception of ecclesiastical benefices from the hands of the Pope. This stance, although it did not call into question the spiritual mission of the Church of the pope, favoured the revolutionary work of reform promoted by John Wyclif, who found powerful supporters at court.