Edward III

The English king that saw no problem in supporting a war against his brother-in-law (the aforementioned David II) himself came from a complex family background. Edward was the son of Edward II, whose reign was largely a disaster and who was eventually overthrown by his own wife and her lover. The 14-year-old Edward was crowned king after his father’s forced abdication but the power remained with his stepfather-of-sorts Roger Mortimer until Edward deposed him at the age of 17 and his reign began in earnest. It would last 50 years and 147 days, if you include the Mortimer period, and was seen as a time of prosperity and stability, even though it covered both the Black Death and the start of the Hundred Years’ War. He also outlived his beloved son, the Black Prince, and so on Edward’s death, the throne passed to his grandson, Richard II. Sadly his reign would be even more turbulent than Edward II’s.