In his love of chivalry and knightly pursuits, Edward was following in the footsteps

of his grandfather, Edward I. But whereas the earlier Edward was above

all a ruthless conqueror whose main interest in knights and castles was their

power to subdue his neighbours, Edward III was more taken with the trappings

of chivalry. He liked tournaments with elaborate costumes and lots of

pageantry, and he rebuilt Windsor Castle in lavish style, taking more than 20

years and most of the craft workers and masons in the country to do so.

Edward harked back to the days of his grandfather in other ways, too.

Edward I had been one of those English kings who had looked back with

nostalgia to the golden days of King Arthur. To historians, Arthur is a mythical

figure, but to the Plantagenets, he was a real king who presided over a

chivalric court in which knights went off on valiant quests and returned to

sit around the famous round table, where every knight was meant to be equal

in status and equal in virtue. Edward was fascinated with the story of Arthur

and even had a search made for the body of Joseph of Arimathea, the biblical

character who was said to be the ancestor of the mythical king.

New order

In 1348, to celebrate the great English victory at the Battle of Crecy, Edward

III founded a new order of knights who were inspired by the ideals of Arthur’s

round table. They were called the Knights of the Garter, and to be chosen as

one of their number was one of the greatest honours the king could bestow.

According to an old and enduring story, the Order of the Garter got its weird

name in a peculiar way. One night at a party at Windsor Castle, the king

noticed that a garter belonging to the Countess of Salisbury had fallen to the

floor. When the courtiers started to snigger at this courtly piece of underwear,

the king picked it up and tied it around his own leg (or in some versions

Being a knight

The knight was the upper-class elite fighting man

of the Middle Ages. Knights wore armour, rode

into battle on horseback, and used the sword, the

weapon of the aristocracy. To be a knight was

very prestigious.

Only the king could appoint you as a knight, and

the knightly way of life required a long training

period. But once you were a knight, you were

given great respect – you might become a military

leader and would certainly have a lot of influence

at home, probably becoming lord of a

castle or large manor house, and enjoying considerable

wealth.

In return, though, you were expected to abide by

a code of behaviour, called the code of chivalry,

that required you to be courteous and civil. You

were meant to be especially respectful to your

womenfolk and merciful to your enemies. It didn’t

always work out like this in practice – knights

were energetic, often boisterous men who could

be a handful, especially when they were young.

But that was the theory: chivalry, at all times.

of the story, his arm). Then he ticked the giggling courtiers off: ‘Honi soit qui

mal y pense,’ said Edward (Shame on him who thinks evil of it), demonstrating

the courteous, chivalric values he prized so much.

The king’s one-liner became the motto of the new Order of the Garter. It was –

and still is – a highly exclusive order. Edward would admit only 24 people,

plus himself and the Black Prince, and the members were all high-ranking

men chosen specifically by the king.

A lasting influence

As part of his rebuilding work at Windsor Castle, Edward had the castle

chapel made over. The chapel, formerly St Edward’s chapel, was rededicated

to the knightly figure St George, and became the religious headquarters of the

Order of the Garter. The members still meet there every year for a commemorative

service, and to be made a Knight of the Garter is still one of the highest

honours the monarch can convey.

Since Edward founded the Order of the Garter, several later monarchs have

founded other orders of knights, such as the Order of the Bath, which was set

up in the 15th century. Such orders show how Edward’s interest in chivalry

has continued down through the ages and are still a way of honouring people.

Edward was very good at using pageantry and ceremony to impress his subjects

and produce an aura of glory. If he was alive today, the king would be

seen as an image-conscious ruler who created a powerful chivalric brand for

the monarchy. Other examples of Edward’s canny use of image-manipulation

include:

_ Presenting gold model ships to important pilgrimage churches.

_ Having a new gold coin called the noble minted, bearing the image of

the king on board a warship.

Both of these striking images helped to promote the idea of Edward as a

leader who could rule the waves.

Parliamentary questions

Edward III’s reign was outstandingly successful in many ways. He scored victories

in France, promoted good relations with his aristocracy, had a happy

married life, and produced a bunch of healthy sons to secure the succession.

But his last years were clouded with sadness. His beloved Philippa died in

1369, and many of his friends were dying, too. He placed great hope in his

eldest son, Edward, but the Black Prince contracted an illness on military

campaign in Spain in 1367 and spent the next few years a shadow of his

former self. The prince died in 1376, a year before his father.

The king also saw some of his power ebbing away. This loss of power was

partly the result of some devious courtiers, who gathered in a circle that may

have been centred on Edward’s mistress, Alice Perrers. But it was also due to

Parliament. It was in this period that Parliament made two innovations that

would become important in the future.

Parliament in Edward’s reign was very different from a modern parliament,

but was beginning to show its muscle. By the 14th century, the Commons was

made up of representatives from the shires and boroughs (in other words, the

countryside and town) and met separately from the Lords (the representatives

of the nobility). Two key innovations of Edward’s reign changed the way

Parliament worked.

_ Parliamentary innovation No. 1 – The Speaker: In 1376, Parliament

appointed the first known Speaker. It was his job to take Parliamentary

complaints to the king and do something about getting them addressed.

Today, the role of Speaker is that of chairman – the Speaker is the

person who watches the members’ behaviour and doesn’t actually

‘speak’ very much at all, apart from shouting ‘Order, order’ to bring

everyone into line. But the Speaker in Edward III’s time had a slightly different

role – he was another of Parliament’s attempts to curb the

excesses of the crown.

_ Parliamentary innovation No. 2 – Impeachment: The 1376 Parliament

used the Speaker to bring charges against key officials and courtiers

who were abusing their power. In other words, they were impeaching

officials. Again, it was a way of using Parliament to stop courtiers from

throwing their weight around. No wonder the 1376 Parliament went

down in history as the Good Parliament.

These reforms were all well and good, but they didn’t have much effect in

Edward’s reign. By 1377, the old king was dead and lying with his ancestors in

Westminster Abbey. His crown was to pass to his grandson Richard, the

oldest surviving son of the Black Prince.

Sad, not Bad: Richard II

Richard II, son of the Black Prince and grandson of the previous king, Edward

III, came to the throne in 1377 at the tender age of ten. To run the country

while the king was a boy, councils of noblemen were appointed. There was

naturally a lot of jockeying for position amongst nobles who wanted to be

included in these influential councils, and amongst those who supported the

various candidates.

One person who was not selected for the councils was Richard’s uncle, John

of Gaunt, who as a son of the previous king and had some claim to the throne

himself. No doubt Richard’s advisers wanted to keep this powerful member

of the royal family away, in case he tried to take over the crown himself. And

as a close relative of the king, John of Gaunt probably already had a powerful

influence. Richard’s reign certainly started with uncertainty, as so often happened

in the Middle Ages when a child ascended to the throne. But these

troubles with the aristocracy were nothing compared with what happened

when the lower classes started to make trouble for the young king.

Revolting peasants

In previous centuries, when objections were raised against the way a king

ruled, the objectors were usually members of the upper classes – especially

nobles who thought they or their friends could do a better job of ruling than

whoever was on the throne. But in 1381, things were different. Ordinary

people – farmers from the English countryside – led a rebellion. The

Peasants’ Revolt was under way.

Why did the peasants finally lose their temper in 1381? There were several

reasons, and together they meant that for the first time ordinary people not

only felt hard done by but could also see a way of doing something about it.

_ Villeinage: Most of the revolting peasants were villeins. In other words

they were unfree tenants, who held their land in return for paying onerous

rents and services to their landlords. They were right at the bottom

of the feudal system, with no way out, and it hurt.

_ Radicalism: A new movement, on the fringes of the church, spoke out

against the iniquities of church and state. Men like religious reformer

John Wyclif stressed that all people, not just priests, should have access

to the Bible. The implication was that all good people were equally

worthy, and out-of-date feudal customs shouldn’t stand in the way of

people’s rights.

_ Taxes: The authorities had ordered that every male over the age of 15

should pay a poll tax – the same amount would be due from everyone,