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   The Black Prince
The castle - The Black Prince - The restoration
The Black Prince

Edward, the Black Prince, eldest son of King Edward III of England, was born in 1330. He was made Duke of Cornwal in 1337, then Prince of Wales in 1343.

With his father, at the age of 16, he took part to the victories of Crecy and Calais during the Hundred Years War (1337-1543). In 1356, he won the battle of Poitiers and captured the French king Jean le Bon.

Tapestry : the Black Prince at the siege of Calais
The principality of Aquitaine

He was given his nick-name of "Prince Noir" (Black Prince) by the French, probably due to the colour of his always black armour.

Edward III made of his posession in France a principality and confided it to his son. The Black Prince established in Bordeaux in 1363 with his court. He helped Pierre I of Castilla (Spain) to regain his throne after the battle of Najera.

He never was a king
In 1372, his bad health obliges him to renounce to his principality of south of France. The Black Prince dies a few years later, in 1376, in London, and was buried in Canterbury. He died before his father so he never was a king. His son will succeed directly to Edward II on the British throne, with the name of Richard II.