Character guide

King Edward III

major

Also known as Edward, Ned, King John Edward, John of, black Edward, King John of

Edward begins as a monarch secure in England but ignorant of the strength of his own blood-right, until Robert of Artois lays out the tangled line of Philip Le Beau and the Valois usurpation. The Duke of Lorraine's summons to do homage for Guyenne arrives as both insult and opportunity, and Edward's answer — that he will come to France, but not servilely — reveals a ruler who converts provocation into purpose. His hunger for legitimate glory, and his willingness to be taught by a banished Frenchman, set the engine of the play's campaigns in motion.

Countess of Salisbury

major

Also known as Countess, Salisbury

As Salisbury's wife, she occupies a position of trust in the English court, which makes the king's growing fixation on her both politically dangerous and personally corrosive. Her resistance is not merely modesty: it is a defense of rank, marriage, and the feudal bond that ties her husband to the crown. Her steadfastness forces Edward to confront whether a king's will can override the very codes of honor his wars are fought to defend, making her the moral counterweight to the play's martial energy.

Prince Edward

major

Also known as Edward, Prince, black Edward

Prince Edward enters the play as the hope of England, the 'flower of Europe's hope' whose lineage justifies the French claim. Separated from his father and surrounded by overwhelming French forces, he must prove that the Plantagenet name is worth the blood it costs. His survival and eventual triumph at Crécy transform him from heir into legend, and his petition for future English princes to win 'like victories' reveals a young man already thinking in terms of dynasty and national destiny.

Robert of Artois

supporting

Also known as Artois, Edward Robert of Artois

Artois arrives at Edward's court as a man without a country, rewarded with the earldom of Richmond for services not yet rendered. He recites the genealogy of Philip Le Beau with the precision of a man who has studied his grievance, framing the Valois succession as usurpation and Edward as the 'lineal watchman' of peace. His motives are deliberately ambiguous — he swears by Heaven that love of country and right, not private hate, drives him — and that ambiguity makes him both indispensable and untrustworthy, a counselor whose fiery words engender courage in a king who was 'rack'd in ignorance.'

King David of Scotland

supporting

Also known as David, King David, Ignoble David

David of Scotland gambles that Edward's absence in France leaves England vulnerable, a calculation that proves disastrously wrong. Defeated at Neville's Cross by the queen's forces and taken prisoner by John Copland, he becomes a bargaining chip and a symbol of the realm's resilience under pressure. His capture, reported to Edward at the siege of Calais, demonstrates that the home front can hold while the king pursues his continental ambitions — and that even a king can be brought low by a common squire.

Charles Villiers

supporting

Also known as Villiers, Charles

Villiers is a captive in Salisbury's custody when he is offered a chance at liberty: carry a passport request to the Duke of Normandy, his old fellow-student, and return if the mission fails. His agreement to swear by his faith and 'unfeignedly perform the same' makes him a small-scale experiment in honor, a Frenchman whose word must hold where armies have failed. Salisbury's aside — 'This once I mean to try a Frenchman's faith' — frames Villiers as a test case for whether the enemy can be trusted at all, a question that shadows the larger diplomacy of the play.

Duke of Lorraine

supporting

Also known as Lorraine, Charles Duke of Normandy, Philip, young Philip, gentle Philip

Lorraine arrives at Edward's court as the living voice of French authority, delivering his master's demand that the English king kneel within forty days or lose his claim. He is courtesy weaponized: every gracious phrase carries the weight of a threat, and he must stand in the room while Edward decides whether to answer with obedience or with war. His embassy is the spark that turns a genealogy dispute into an invasion.

Lord Audley

supporting

Also known as Audley

Audley serves as Edward's trusted eyes and ears — it is he who is sent to learn who approaches the court, and he who rides at the Prince's side against the French. His cry of 'O joyful sight! victorious Edward lives!' reveals a man who measures his own worth by his sovereign's survival. He anchors the play's martial world, embodying the older generation of nobles whose faith in the Plantagenet line makes the coming war possible.

Earl of Warwick

supporting

Also known as Warwick

Warwick moves through the play as Edward's companion and honest counselor, the man whose report on the Countess of Salisbury's fallen fortunes inadvertently ignites the king's desire. He is caught between duty to his sovereign and the uncomfortable knowledge that Edward's longing threatens both honor and campaign. His presence in the Salisbury scenes makes him a quiet moral barometer for a court drifting toward private passion and public war.

Lodwick

minor

Messenger and attendant to King Edward.

Earl of Derby

minor

Also known as Derby, Copland

English nobleman who captures John Copland.

King John of France

supporting

Also known as King John, John, John of Valois, Valois

John of Valois sits on a throne that Artois insists belongs by blood to Edward, having been raised there on the argument that France cannot admit a ruler descended through the female line. From his first summons demanding homage for Guyenne, he treats Edward as a vassal rather than a rival sovereign, a posture that guarantees war. His claim is the play's central grievance, and his pride the engine that drives English armies across the sea.

Lord Percy

minor

Also known as the Lord Percy, Percy

English nobleman involved in Scottish affairs.

John Copland

minor

Also known as Copland, John

English squire who captures King David of Scotland.

Queen Philip

supporting

Also known as Philip, Queen

Queen Philip stands at the edge of the play's political storm, her name itself a reminder of the Le Beau lineage that Artois uses to argue Edward's claim. As consort she embodies the domestic stake in a war fought over inheritance and legitimacy, and her eventual role as intercessor for mercy places her between her husband's ambition and the lives it costs. She matters because the play's argument about blood and right runs directly through her.

Edward Plantagenet

minor

Also known as Edward

Son of King Edward, possibly a minor prince.

Lord Salisbury

minor

Also known as Salisbury

English nobleman, father of the Countess.

Sir William Mountague

minor

English knight and messenger.

Philip Le Beau

minor

Also known as Le Beau

French nobleman, possibly a herald.

Gobin de Grey

minor

Also known as Gobin, Gobin Gobin de Grey

French prisoner who betrays his countrymen.

Lord Mountford

minor

French nobleman loyal to England.

Isabel

minor

Woman mentioned in passing, possibly a historical figure.

Sara

minor

Minor character, possibly a servant or attendant.

Captain of Calais

minor

Also known as Captain The burgesses of Calice

French captain who surrenders Calais to the English.

First Frenchman

minor

French soldier or citizen in Calais.

Second Frenchman

minor

Also known as Second Frenchman Tush

French soldier or citizen in Calais.

Third Frenchman

minor

Also known as Frenchman

French soldier or citizen in Calais.

Douglas

minor

Also known as Douglas Jemmy

Scottish nobleman fighting against England.

Old Jacob

minor

Elderly character, possibly a biblical allusion.