He died before his father and so his son, Richard II , succeeded to the throne instead. Edward nevertheless earned distinction as one of the most successful English commanders during the Hundred Years' War , being regarded by his English contemporaries as a model of chivalry and one of the greatest knights of his age.
He was guardian of the kingdom in his father's absence in , , and He was created Prince of Wales in and knighted by his father at La Hougue in He offered terms of peace to King John II of France , who had outflanked him near Poitiers , but refused to surrender himself as the price of their acceptance.
The year after Poitiers, Edward returned to England. He was created Prince of Aquitaine and Gascony in , but his suzerainty was not recognised by the lord of Albret or other Gascon nobles. He was directed by his father to forbid the marauding raids of the English and Gascon free companies in He entered into an agreement with Kings Peter of Castile and Charles II of Navarre , by which Peter covenanted to mortgage Castro Urdiales and the province of Biscay to him as security for a loan; in a passage was secured through Navarre.
However, after a wait of several months, during which he failed to obtain either the province of Biscay or liquidation of the debt from Don Pedro, he returned to Aquitaine. Prince Edward persuaded the estates of Aquitaine to allow him a hearth tax of ten sous for five years in , thereby alienating the lord of Albret and other nobles. Prince Edward returned to England in , and the next year resigned the principality of Aquitaine and Gascony.
He led the Commons in their attack upon the Lancastrian administration in He died in of dysentery [ b ] and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, where his surcoat , helmet, shield, and gauntlets are still preserved. England and France's relations quickly deteriorated when the French king threatened to confiscate his lands in France, beginning the Hundred Years War. His father on 10 September allowed five hundred marks a year from the profits of the county of Chester for his maintenance; on 25 February , the whole of these profits were assigned to the queen for maintaining him and the king's sister Eleanor.
