This is the Tudor's Dynasty podcast.

And now, Ask the Expert with Steph.

Welcome back to Ask the Expert on Tudor's Dynasty.

I'm your host, Steph Store, and we are here to talk about a Plantagenet King that has the most confusing family tree that I've ever seen, and therefore unwittingly kicked off the dramatic, intriguing, and bloody 32-year-long fight for the English throne that we now know as the Wars of the Roses.

Who is that king?

Edward III, of course.

And of course, it's not a Wars of the Roses chat without our friend,

author historian Matthew Lewis.

Welcome to the show, Matthew.

Thank you so much for having me back, Steph.

It's always a pleasure to come and talk to Tudor's dynasty.

Well, I admit that I'm sitting here staring right at a printout of this family tree,

and no matter how many times I go over it, I always seem to forget or miss something. So,

anyway, today's discussion is going to focus primarily on Edward III's children and the, quote, problems they caused.

So although I'll want to get to the listener questions in just a moment, let's give you the floor first so that you can give us a little Edward biography, if you will.

Certainly. So Edward III quite often build as the perfect medieval king.

He was born in 1312, the son of Edward II and Isabella of France. He becomes King of England

in 1327, while he's still 14 years of age, so before his 15th birthday.

And that's the result of his mother falling out with his father.

And together with Roger Mortimer invading England and deposing Edward II in favour of his son,

he then becomes King Edward III.

And because he's a child, you have this minority period,

...