Edward the Black Prince Edward the Black Prince, 1330–76, eldest
son of Edward III of England. He was created duke of Cornwall in
1337, the first duke to be created in England, and prince of
Wales in 1343. Joining his father in the campaigns of the
Hundred Years War, he established his reputation for valor at
the battle of Crécy (1346). It was apparently the French who
called him the Black Prince, perhaps because he wore black
armor; the name was not recorded in England until the 16th cent.
In 1355 the prince led an expedition into Aquitaine, and in 1356
he defeated and captured John II of France in the battle of
Poitiers. Edward became ruler of the newly created English
principality of Aquitaine in 1363 and, with his wife Joan of
Kent, maintained a brilliant court at Bordeaux. In 1367 he went
to the support of Peter the Cruel of Castile and temporarily
restored him to his throne by the victory of Nájera. However,
the expenses of the war compelled Edward to levy a tax in
Aquitaine that was protested by his no