Edward, Prince of Wales and Aquitaine: A Biography of the Black Prince

by Richard Barber

Book Overview

...excellent study of the prince's career. A first-class synthesis of the entire literature of this subject.' BRITISH BOOK NEWS

Edward, prince of Wales and Aquitaine, known as the Black Prince, is one of the legendary figures of English history, victor of three great battles and a model of chivalry and courtesy. Behind this image, which many of his contemporaries accepted and eagerly believed in, it is difficult to get at the realities of his character and of the life that he led. Most of his biographers have based their work on the splendid vision of chivalry conjured up by Froissart, but the present book deliberately shuns this approach, to see what can be found in official records, particularly from the prince's household and those who campaigned with the prince. Special attention has been paid not onlyto the confusing and confused accounts of the great battles, but also to the prince's early years, his close companions who contributed so greatly to his successes, and to his government of Aquitaine, an obscure but very importantpart of his career. A number of minor but persistent errors in early histories, deriving from Froissart, are corrected. A concluding chapter examines how the legend of the Black Prince (and his curious nickname) came into being.By separating the image and the reality, a clearer picture of the prince emerges. Dr RICHARD BARBER is the author of The Arthurian Legends, King Arthur: Hero and Legend, Tournaments, a biography of Henry II, The Penguin Guide to Medieval Europe, and the recently revised seminal study of The Knight and Chivalry.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 085115686X
• ISBN13: 9780851156866
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: Boydell Press
• Length: 330 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable and Medieval fun

Richard Barber's biography of the Black Prince is the best of its kind. It gave a informative insight into a man who can not easily be analyized because a legend has built up around him in the last 650 years. But Barber did his best, and his best was surely enough. First off is the looking into of the Prince's childhood. In all the books I've read on him, Barber's account of the young prince's childhood was the most detailed account of the household, and it clearly showed the Prince's upbringing as a war leader: he had horses by the age of four and armor by the age of seven. This is clearly a preview of his later military success. Another thing Barber brings across is the relationship between the Prince and his father, Edward III. It showed a great father son love/respect for each other. It is also a huge impact on the Prince's career; he learned everything from his father, from warfare to leadership. Hugely important, and Barber clearly makes the relationship known. I particularly liked the battles: Crecy, Poitiers, Najera, and Limoges were very well descriped. Barber has a talent for writing an account of a battle that really takes you back to the battlefields of the Prince's incredible victories. Another thing about the battles is that Frossait is absent from the records, usually. Barber cleary states that he doesn't use Frossait's chronicle is that it doesn't present the facts in a scholarly way, but in story form. Good move for Mr. Barber. This book is very detailed and an incrediable good study and biography of a famous legend of someone like the Black Prince

Excellent material, if a bit dry

If you're looking for an upbeat, easy-to-read history of Prince Edward, look elsewhere. This is definitely NOT the book for you. If you are looking for a book that details the life of a great leader, and digs deeply into the machinations behind the events of his times, this is definitely the book to get. So, point of the review: Armchair historians beware! This is a deep, quite dry history of the Black Prince.