The Black Prince The King That Never Was

As a child he was given his own suit of armour; in 1346, at the age of 16 he helped defeat the French at Crécy; and in 1356 he captured the king of France at Poitiers. For the chronicler Jean Froissart 'He was the flower of all chivalry'; for the Chandos Herald, who fought with him on all his campaigns, he was ‘the embodiment of all valour'. Edward of Woodstock, eldest son and heir of Edward III of England, better known as 'the Black Prince', was England's pre-eminent military leader during the first phase of the Hundred Years War. Michael Jones uses a wide range of chronicle and documentary material, including the Prince's own letters and those of his closest followers, to bring to life the dramatic and powerful story of the life and times of 'the Black Prince', and to paint a memorable portrait of warfare and society in the tumultuous fourteenth century.