Edward III

Edward III

By William Shakespeare.

Table of Contents

1. Titlepage
2. Imprint
3. Dramatis Personae
4. Edward III
   1. Act I
      1. Scene I
      2. Scene II
   2. Act II
      1. Scene I
      2. Scene II
   3. Act III
      1. Scene I
      2. Scene II
      3. Scene III
      4. Scene IV
      5. Scene V
   4. Act IV
      1. Scene I
      2. Scene II
      3. Scene III
      4. Scene IV
      5. Scene V
      6. Scene VI
      7. Scene VII
   5. Act V
      1. Scene I
5. Endnotes
6. Colophon
7. Uncopyright

Imprint

This ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain.

This particular ebook is based on a transcription produced for Project Gutenberg and on digital scans available at the HathiTrust Digital Library.

The writing and artwork within are believed to be in the U.S. public domain, and Standard Ebooks releases this ebook edition under the terms in the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. For full license information, see the Uncopyright at the end of this ebook.

Standard Ebooks is a volunteer-driven project that produces ebook editions of public domain literature using modern typography, technology, and editorial standards, and distributes them free of cost. You can download this and other ebooks carefully produced for true book lovers at standardebooks.org.

Dramatis Personae

• Edward the Third, King of England

• Edward, Prince of Wales, his son

• Earl of Warwick

• Earl of Derby

• Earl of Salisbury

• Lord Audley

• Lord Percy

• Lodwick, Edward’s confidant

• Sir William Mountague

• Sir John Copland

• Two Esquires, and a herald, English

• Robert, styling himself Earl, of Artois

• Earl of Mountford (or Montfort)

• Gobin de Grey

• John, King of France

• Charles, his son

• Philip, his son

• Duke of Lorraine

• Villiers, a French lord

• King of Bohemia, Aid to King John

• A Polish Captain, Aid to King John

• Six citizens of Calais

• A Captain, and a poor inhabitant, of the same

• Another Captain; a mariner

• Three heralds; and four other Frenchmen

• David, King of Scotland

• Earl Douglas

• Two messengers, Scotch

• Philip, Edward’s Queen

• Countess of Salisbury

• A French woman

• Lords, and divers other attendants; heralds, officers, soldiers, etc.

Scene: dispersed; in England, Flanders, and France.

Edward III

Act I

Scene I

London. A room of state in the palace.

	Flourish. Enter King Edward, attended; Prince of Whales, Warwick, Derby, Audley, Artois, and others.
King Edward	Robert of Artois, banish’d though thou be From France, thy native country, yet with us Thou shalt retain as great a signiory; For we create thee Earl of Richmond here. And now go forwards with our pedigree; Who next succeeded Philip Le Beau?
Artois	Three sons of his; which all, successfully, Did sit upon their father’s regal throne, Yet died and left no issue of their loins.
King Edward	But was my mother sister unto those?
Artois	She was, my lord; and only Isabel Was all the daughters that this Philip had: Whom afterward your father took to wife; And from the fragrant garden of her womb, Your gracious self, the flower of Europe’s hope, Derived is inheritor to France. But note the rancour of rebellious minds. When thus the lineage of Le Beau was out, The French obscur’d your mother’s privilege; And, though she were the next of blood, proclaim’d John, of the house of Valois, now their king: The reason was, they say, the realm of France, Replete with princes of great parentage, Ought not admit a governor to rule Except he be descended of the male; And that’s the special ground of their contempt Wherewith they study to exclude your grace: But they shall find that forged ground of theirs To be but dusty heaps of brittle sand. Perhaps it will be thought a heinous thing That I, a Frenchman, should discover this: But Heaven I call to record of my vows; It is not hate nor any private wrong, But love unto my country and the right, Provokes my tongue thus lavish in report: You are the lineal watchman of our peace, And John of Valois indirectly climbs: What then should subjects, but embrace their king? And wherein may our duty more be seen, Than striving to rebate a tyrant’s pride And place the true shepherd of our commonwealth?
King Edward	This counsel, Artois, like to fruitful showers, Hath added growth unto my dignity: And, by the fiery vigour of thy words, Hot courage is engender’d in my breast, Which heretofore was rack’d in ignorance, But now doth mount with golden wings of fame, And will approve fair Isabel’s descent Able to yoke their stubborn necks with steel That spurn against my sovereignty in France.⁠—Sound a horn. A messenger?⁠—Lord Audley, know from whence. Exit Audley, and returns.
Audley	The Duke of Lorraine, having cross’d the seas, Entreats he may have conference with your highness.
King Edward	Admit him, lords, that we may hear the news.⁠—Exeunt Lords. King takes his state.
	Re-enter Lords; with Lorraine, attended.
	Say, Duke of Lorraine, wherefore art thou come?
Lorraine	The most renowned prince, King John of France, Doth greet thee, Edward: and by me commands, That, for so much as by his liberal gift The Guyenne dukedom is entail’d to thee, Thou do him lowly homage for the same: And, for that purpose, here I summon thee Repair to France within these forty days, That there, according as the custom is, Thou may’st be sworn true liegeman to our king; Or, else, thy title in that province dies, And he himself will repossess the place.
King Edward	See, how occasion laughs me in the face! No sooner minded to prepare for France, But straight I am invited, nay, with threats, Upon a penalty, enjoin’d to come: ’Twere but a childish part to say him nay.⁠— Lorraine, return this answer to thy lord: I mean to visit him, as he requests; But how? not servilely dispos’d to bend, But like a conqueror to make him bow. His lame unpolish’d shifts are come to light, And truth hath pull’d the vizard from his face That set a gloss upon his arrogance. Dare he command a fealty in me? Tell him, the crown, that he usurps, is mine, And where he sets his foot, he ought to kneel: ’Tis not a petty dukedom that I claim, But all