Queen of Air & Darkness (IV)
The Black Prince was said to have earned that nickname for two reasons.
First, he often wore black armor.
Second, he had ravaged the Duchy of Aquitaine and allowed his soldiers to commit atrocities, so the people of France considered him black-hearted and called him the "Black Prince."
Blackening was a common surface treatment that kept iron goods from rusting. The armor produced in Siena was blackened.
In 1330, Edward III overthrew the rule of his mother, Isabella, queen of France, and her lover Mortimer, taking real power for himself. In 1328, the Capetian dynasty of France died out. As the grandson of Philip IV of France, known as Philip the Fair, Edward III demanded the throne of France. In 1346, he marched into France, with the sixteen-year-old Black Prince fighting alongside his father. During that campaign, the famous Battle of Crécy took place. The cavalry of France launched fifteen charges, all of which were repelled by the longbowmen commanded by the Black Prince, and the English won a resounding victory. While clearing the battlefield afterward, Edward III and his son found the body of John of Luxembourg, the aged king of Bohemia and an ally of France. He had been blind, yet had fought with exceptional bravery. Moved by his spirit, the prince took the feathers from his helmet and placed them on his own, while adopting his motto, "Ich dien," as his slogan.
It was German, meaning "I Serve," and later became the motto of the Prince of Wales.
The current Prince of Wales was no longer built for wearing armor and fighting on horseback, though he was only seven years older than Napoleon. But because George III's illness had always fluctuated, he had considerable experience serving as regent. He had also