For works with similar titles, see Edward III.
The Raigne of King Edward the Third (1596)
William Shakespeare (attributed) and Thomas Kyd (attributed)

The Reign of King Edward the Third, commonly shortened to Edward III, is an Elizabethan play printed anonymously in 1596 attributed in part to William Shakespeare. It has frequently been claimed that it was at least partly written by William Shakespeare, a view that Shakespeare scholars have increasingly endorsed. The rest of the play was probably written by Thomas Kyd.
The play contains several gibes at Scotland and the Scottish people, which has led some critics to think that it is the work that incited George Nicolson, Queen Elizabeth's agent in Edinburgh, to protest against the portrayal of Scots on the London stage in a 1598 letter to William Cecil, Lord Burghley. This could explain why the play was not included in the First Folio of Shakespeare's works, which was published after the Scottish King James had succeeded to the English throne in 1603.

This transcription is of the first edition, and the typesetting of it is not very good. Issues, and how they have been addressed, are included on the 'Discussion' tab. Details of the inadequacies of the printing of this edition can be found in King Edward III (1998), edited by Giorgio Melchiori (part of the 'New Cambridge Shakespeare'), particularly pages 171 to 177.
1780716The Raigne of King Edward the Third1596William Shakespeare (attributed) and Thomas Kyd (attributed)

THE

RAIGNE OF

KING EDVVARD

the third:

As it hath bin sundrie times plaied about
the Citie of London
.

LONDON,

Printed for Cuthbert Burby.

1596.

Acts (not listed in original)

This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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