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Edward III
Edward III | W Mark Ormrod
6 posts | 1 read | 3 to read
Edward III (1312-1377) was the most successful European ruler of his age. Reigning for over fifty years, he achieved spectacular military triumphs and overcame grave threats to his authority, from parliamentary revolt to the Black Death. Revered by his subjects as a chivalric dynamo, he initiated the Hundred Years' War and gloriously led his men into battle against the Scots and the French. In this illuminating biography, W. Mark Ormrod takes a deeper look at Edward to reveal the man beneath the military muscle. What emerges is Edward's clear sense of his duty to rebuild the prestige of the Crown, and through military gains and shifting diplomacy, to secure a legacy for posterity. New details of the splendor of Edward's court, lavish national celebrations, and innovative use of imagery establish the king's instinctive understanding of the bond between ruler and people. With fresh emphasis on how Edward's rule was affected by his family relationshipsincluding his roles as traumatized son, loving husband, and dutiful fatherOrmrod gives a valuable new dimension to our understanding of this remarkable warrior king.
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Lcsmcat
Edward III | W Mark Ormrod
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Edward III is usually either lionized or denigrated, but Ormrod seeks (and I would say succeeds) to show him as fully human. At times amusing, but always readable, the biography is cradle-to-grave, not just the fighting. I have a greater appreciation for how much we have in common with medieval people, and how complex their lives were. Highly recommended!

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Lcsmcat
Edward III | W Mark Ormrod
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Edward III is dying, and I‘m only at 69%? #slowdeath

mrsmarch How much of what is left are the endnotes? 🫢 2y
Lcsmcat @mrsmarch The end notes are at the end of each chapter, which is why I was so surprised. But I‘m further along now and from 74% on is various appendices (with their own end notes!) 2y
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Lcsmcat
Edward III | W Mark Ormrod
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“The whole affair had served to confirm the contemporary belief that closed political systems had a tendency to implode, and that the ultimate effect of faction was simply to produce a paralysis of the state.” (Painting of Alice Perrers with Edward III) So, we have learned nothing politically since 1373, apparently. 🙄

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Lcsmcat
Edward III | W Mark Ormrod
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“Nothing, it seemed, quite became Queen Isabella's performance of queenship like the leaving of it.”

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Lcsmcat
Edward III | W Mark Ormrod
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“And in 1336, on a campaign in the north, Edward managed to break a nacker (the shallow kettledrum used by mounted musicians in medieval armies) belonging to one John Pot, presumably in an over-enthusiastic display of his percussion skills.”
It‘s sentences like this that make this an enjoyable read. @GingerAntics @Graywacke

Graywacke 😂 😂 2y
Graywacke I had to share that around the family (my son is in high school percussion) 2y
GingerAntics 😂🤣😂 2y
Lcsmcat @Graywacke I hope it amused him as it amused me. 2y
Graywacke @Lcsmcat I think he was as charmed as I am by it. 🙂 2y
38 likes5 comments
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Lcsmcat
Edward III | W Mark Ormrod
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A rainy Saturday seems like as good a time as any to start a biography of a monarch who just may be an ancestor. #currentlyreading

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