From "Debrett's Kings and Queens of Britain" by David Williamson, ISBN 0-86350-101-X, p. 79-81:
Keeper of the Realm 26 Oct 1326
Proclaimed King 25 Jan 1327
Crowned Westminster Abbey 2 Feb 1327
Edward of Windsor, the eldest child of Edward II and Isabella of France, was the first English king to have the time of his birth noted exactly. He was born at 5:40 am on Mon 13 Nov 1312 and baptized 4 days later in the old chapel of St Edward in Windsor Castle. The names of 7 godfathers are recorded, but no godmothers. Af few days later his father created him Earl of Chester, but not Prince of Wales.
The principal preoccupation during his long reign of 50 years was his claim to the throne of France which began the hundred Years' War. Edward assumed the title of King of France in 1340, claiming the crown through his mother, as heir of her brother Charles IV, who had died in 1328. The French barons, however, did not recognized the principle of inheritance through the female line, and Charles had been succeeded by his cousin Philip VI, the nearest male heir. Edward did homage to him for his French fiefs in 1329 and 1331. Some years later, English commercial interests connected with the wool trade in Flanders precipitated a commercial crisis. Flanders had passed under French administration in 1328 and it was the powerful Flemish weavers who persuaded Edward to advance his claim to France after concluding a commercial treaty with him in 1338.
Philip's answer to Edward's pretensions was to declare his French fiefs forfeited and invade Guienne. Edward, no less a warrior than his grandfather, Edward I, took up arms to defend his title by sea and land. The great naval battle of Sluys in 1340 gave England control of the Channel and this was followed by the land victories of Crecy 1346 and Poitiers 1356, in which the superiority of the English longbowmen over the heavily armored French cavalry won the day. Calais was taken after a long siege in 1347, thus giving the English an important economic and military base.
The hero of the wars was Edward's eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales, later known as 'The Black Prince,' who came to be regarded as the model of chivalry, but who was in reality bad-tempered, foul-mouthed and cruel. He died a year before his father and never lived to become King.
In the years 1348-50 northern Europe was ravaged by the Black Death, an outbreak of bubonic plague, which is said to have halved the population of England and served greatly to undermine her military strength. The Treaty of Bretigny in 1360 ended the wars for a time and Edward renounced his claim to the French crown. King John of France, the son and successor of Philip, was released from prison in England, where he had been held since his capture at Poitiers, and allowed to return home.
In 1369 Edward renewed his claim and resumed the title of King of France after the Black Prince had refused to appear at the Court of Charles V (John's successor) to answer complaints against him by the Count of armagnac. Poitou was reconquered but the French regained control of the Channel, with Castilian aid, at the battle of La Rochelle 1372, and successfully blocked English transport. When the Black Prince died of dysentery in 1376, English fortunes were at their lowest ebb and all that remained were the 5 fortified towns of Bordeaux, Bayonne, Brest, Calais, Cherbourg, and their coastal lands. France, however, was in a ruinous state.
At home, Edward III's reign saw many changes. English replaced French as the official language of the law courts, and Chaucer commenced writing the Canterbury Tales in English, the office of Justice of the Peace was created, and Parliament divided into 2 houses. In 1348 Edward founded the Order of the Garter which was to become and still remains one of the leading orders of chivalry in Europe.
Edward was a tall dignified man of regal bearing. Though sometimes given to outbursts of temper, a Plantagenet characteristic, his charm, generosity, and affinity with the baronial classes helped him to retain his popularity for most of his reign. He was happily married to the plump and stolid Philippa for over 40 years.
After her death in 1369, he acquired a rapacious mistress, Alice Perrers, who rendered the four declining years of the senile though lecherous King a thorough misery. She and her daughter Isabella were in the habit of sleeping with the King together and it seems highly probable that one of the other of them infected the old man with gonorrhea. Edward was taken ill in Sep 1376 and only partially recovered in the following spring when an abscess burst and gave him some relief. He was able to attend Parliament, but towards the end of May suffered a stroke and died at Sheen Palace in Jun. His body was left unattended for several hours, and Alice Perrers is said to have robbed it of its rings and personal jewelry. She lived comfortably on her ill-gotten gains until her death in 1400. Edward was buried in Westminster Abbey beside Philippa.