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The British Royal Family 
Prince Edward The Black Prince Born June 15, 1330 - Died June 8, 1376 Father: King Edward III In 1347 and 1348 tournaments on a great scale were held at Windsor, birthplace of Edward III, and foreign Knights came from all over Europe to joust at them. The Order of the Blue Garter, under the patronage of St. George, the patron saint of England, was founded and the names of the first knights are a role of English chivalry. The first name is that of the Black Prince. He, as Prince of Wales, was the obvious choice of a knight of the new Order, and from that time each Prince of Wales automatically becomes a Knight of the Order. The Prince had well earned this right as well, for Prince Edward, in 1348, was at the pinnacle of his military career. He had vanquished the French at Crecy in 1346. There, as is told, the Prince was hard pressed in battle against impossible numbers, but won his spurs and in the triumph of English arms saw all his enemies prostrate. Among the slain was the blind King of Bohemia, who lay dead with the bridles of his two knights entwined with his. His crest was the now famous ostrich feathers and his motto Ich Dien, German for "I Serve". Edward took these for himself, and thus they have brought a heritage of glory to the succeeding Princes to this day. In addition to that, his army in England had beaten the Scot's at Neville's Cross and taken their king prisoner. He had secured mastery of the narrow seas, and captured Calais, which was to add to his control of the Channel and to serve as a useful base of action against France. The son of Edward III, king of England from 1327, he himself never ruled as king because he died a year before his father. In 1362 he married Joan of Kent. Their son, became King Richard II and ruled between 1377-99. |
