Wars of the Roses a "sudden narrowing in the direct line of descent" near the end of his reign. His eldest son, Edward, the Black Prince, had died the year before. Edward III was succeeded on the throne by the Black Prince's only surviving son Richard II, who was only 10 years old. Richard's claim to the throne was based on the principle that the son of an elder brother had priority in the succession over his uncles. Since Richard was a minor, had no siblings, and had three living uncles at the time of Edward III's death, there was considerable uncertainty about who
Edward the Black Prince Thomas Holland: Edward had several natural sons before his marriage. With Edith de Willesford (died after 1385): With unknown mothers: Edward is often referred to as the "Black Prince". The first known source to use the sobriquet "Black Prince" was the antiquary John Leland in the 1530s or early 1540s (about 165 years after the death of the Black Prince). Leland mentions the sobriquet in two manuscript notes in the 1530s or early 1540s, with the implication that it was by that date in relatively widespread use. In one place, Leland refers in Latin to ""Edwardi Principis cog: Nigri"" (i.e.,