Edward the Black Prince

Edward of Woodstock was born 15 June 1330, made Duke of Cornwall at seven, and knighted by his father at sixteen before commanding the vanguard at Crécy that same year. In 1356, after a chevauchée through Auvergne and Limousin, he crushed King John II's army at Poitiers and took the French king prisoner — a feat that cemented his reputation as one of the era's greatest knights. Named Prince of Aquitaine in 1362, he campaigned in Spain, defeating Henry of Trastámara at Nájera in 1367, but the venture left him broke and his attempt to levy a hearth tax alienated the Gascon lords he governed. He…