His mother and grandmother were daughters of French kings, from whence he derived his claim when the male line of the French royal family died out with Charles IV in 1328. The long item above on the subject is an excellent "summation" of the English claim.

Edward began his reign in 1327, when he was only 15, after his mother and her lover had murdered his father, Edward II (who was homosexual and was executed by having a hot poker shoved up his anus. Edward IIs principal failure was getting beaten by the Scots in battle). A few years later, when Edward was still a teenager, he engineered a coup against his mother, ousted her from power, and took the reigns of government. He executed her lover and many supporters in interesting ways, but she was not interfered with in any way, save that she was completely excluded from government, and died a happy, unrepenetant woman.

From this you will note that he had Mighty Man political, diplomatic, government, and conspiratorial skills* . He was also literally a Mightly Man in battle, being reputed one of the premier knights of the age, as were his sons. There is a legend that at a tourney several knights wearing nondescript surcoats entered the lists. They carried all before them, against some of the finest chivalry in England, and when the laurels were being handed out revealed themselves to be Edward and a couple of his sons.

The historical judgement on Edward has been favorable. Of course ultimately the war was a disaster for England, leading to the loss of all continental territories by 1453. But in Edwards reign the kingdom made a tidy little profit. Also, the power of Parliament was advanced, as the king found it a useful tool.

During his last years, however, Edwards health declined. Aside from other problems he came to be dominated by his young mistress and her family, the Sifewists. He slipped into senesence before his death. The Black Prince should have succeeded him, but was also in declining health and died shortly before the father, leaving the throne to a much less capable grandson, Richard II, who was a young teenager.

Edward III was a large, good looking man, as were all the Edwards. They LOOKED like kings, which counted for a lot in those days. Being about six feet tall, he was considerably taller (by several inches) than the average noble of the period (and commoners were shorter still because of poor diet.) Reportedly he had blond hair, but, if he followed the pattern of Edward I, this probably turned dark ["black" in some accounts] in his maturity and white in old age. At least he wasn't bald.