Edward the Black Prince Edward the Black Prince Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and thus the heir to the English throne. He died before his father and so never became king. His son, Richard II, would succeed to the throne instead. Edward nevertheless still earned distinction as one of the most successful English commanders during the Hundred Years' War, being regarded by his contemporaries as a model of chivalry and one of the greatest knights of his age. Edward was created Duke
Edward the Black Prince black Prince". Raphael Holinshed uses it several times in his "Chronicles" (1577); and it is also used by William Shakespeare, in his plays "Richard II" (written "c".1595; Act 2, scene 3) and "Henry V" ("c".1599; Act 2, scene 4). In 1688 it appears prominently in the title of Joshua Barnes's "The History of that Most Victorious Monarch, Edward IIId, King of England and France, and Lord of Ireland, and First Founder of the Most Noble Order of the Garter: Being a Full and Exact Account Of the Life and Death of the said King: Together with That of his Most