History of Europe

Eduardo «The Black Prince», the man who could reign and change history

Entry taken from the book The Plantagenets

If there is a character who once raised enormous expectations of becoming one of the greatest English monarchs, destined to take his country to the highest levels and dominate the conflict war later known as "The Hundred Years' War" making his French enemies bite the dust, that character was undoubtedly Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales and better known as "The Black Prince". And if there is a character whose death radically, bloodily and brutally altered the future of his country for almost more than a century, that was also Eduardo "The Black Prince".

He was the son of the English King Edward III, whose initial accession to the throne and effective seizure of power in the Kingdom of England are worthy of not one, but several articles on this blog . Moreover, many of the characters involved in the story of Edward III (mainly English, French and Scottish) have in turn fascinating stories that are also stories worthy of his own post. But those are other stories, that perhaps one day I will narrate.

Suffice it to say that Edward III acceded to the English throne in 1327, rooting out a plot of nobles led by Lord Mortimer who tried to impose him as a puppet king and took in 1330 by hand firm the reins of the monarchy, directing its warrior ambitions towards the two traditional enemies of the English at that time:the Scots and the French.

After their victory against the Scots at the Battle of Hallidon Hill in 1333, the confrontation between the two most powerful European monarchies of the time was inevitable:the English and the French, whose dynastic rights over territories of one country and another constituted a veritable gibberish of family relationships and vassalage that supported various arguments (excuses, rather) for what could not but lead to the armed confrontation that was known as the "Hundred Years' War". ».

The difficulties that Edward III had to face to obtain from Parliament the funds and troops necessary to face the war are not the subject of this entry either. This contest was a confrontation between two very different ways of waging war:the traditional and even chivalrous war of the French, with the cavalry charges of their nobles dressed in heavy mail and mounted on huge war steeds designed to cause panic and stampede in the opposing armies, facing to the novel way of waging war by the English, in which for the first time one of the elements incorporated by the English army, which was decisive in the most important battles of the Hundred Years' War, was key:the English archers.

The first significant battle of the Hundred Years' War took place on August 26, 1346 at Crécy, where a contingent of four thousand English archers literally skewered the cream of the crop of the French cavalry and nobility who, despite being superior in number, never managed to come to grips with the bulk of the English army, which then besieged and took Calais. After a brief truce in the conflict between the English and French , they learned their lesson and tried to avoid a new confrontation in the open field at all costs.

And this is where the protagonist of our article comes into play. Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, was born on July 15, 1330 and from a very young age accompanied his father in the different war campaigns led by him, quickly demonstrating both his warrior skills and his strategic ability in battle. From a very early age he was known by the name of "The Black Prince" ("The Black Prince") because of the black color of the armor he always wore, although some of the events he starred in could have earned him the same nickname for other reasons. .

After the battle of Crécy and the capture of Calais, the French decided, as we have mentioned, to give up fighting in the open field and took refuge in their impregnable castles. The strategy of Edward III, in which his son "The Black Prince" played a very prominent role, was to subject a multitude of towns in the Bordeaux region to looting, looting, destruction and burning, for which they did not hesitate to hire mercenaries, criminals and any kind of scum. Finally, the French could no longer avoid confrontation in the open field, especially because of the need for their new King, John II, to prove his worth. The battle took place at Poitiers in 1356. The French army outnumbered the English 5 to 1 (35,000 men to 7,000), but the clever use of terrain devised by The Black Prince and, again, the use of archery force by the English chose the battle on the British side.

Not only that:the French king himself was taken prisoner and transferred to London where he spent time as a captive. Edward "The Black Prince" was the star of the day and not many doubted his ability to once again defeat the French on the battlefield if need be again. The succession to the English throne by a young, strong, popular, warrior and strategist monarch was assured.

However, various treaties were signed between the English and the French, which prevented new open confrontations between the two countries and led to different exchanges of territories. Discontent began to spread in England itself in relation to the last years of the government of the elderly Edward III, especially by the advisers he surrounded himself with, among them the unpopular little brother of "The Black Prince", Juan de Gante. Therefore, when in 1376 the king summoned a Parliament to collect new taxes, the Parliament refused to accept it until the King removed from his side these "evil advisers".

Perhaps the issue would not have escalated if nature had taken its course, Edward III had died, his popular son had inherited the crown and ruled with a firm hand with the blessing of the people and Parliament and consolidated his lineage. However, the "Black Prince" Edward died of dysentery in 1376, his father Edward III also died a year later and the crown fell on the small head of Richard II, son of Edward " The Black Prince» only 10 years old. The young Ricardo was a puppet in the hands of the different factions of the royal family (especially his uncle John of Ghent).

If Edward "The Black Prince" had not died prematurely, England would have consolidated a firm dynasty in the hands of a capable, popular, great warrior king feared by his enemies, avoiding the tearing and impoverishment that derived from the power struggles between the Yorks and the Lancastrians and very likely the relations with their French and Scottish neighbors would also have been very different with the one who would have been Edward IV wearing the English crown.

Those who want to know more about the role of English archers in the battles of the Hundred Years' War can read Bernard Cornwell's series «King's Archers», cited in my reading blog Another interesting novel about the time is "The King of the Purple City" by Rebecca Gablé. I have also cited Sharon Kay Penman's work on the Wars of the Roses on other occasions.
On the History of England, I recommend Simon Schama's "History of Britain", for which there is also a exceptional BBC series available on DVD and highly recommended. To write this post I have also consulted «The History of England» by Peter Ackroyd.Image | Edward "The Black Prince"