Boy Kings of Medieval Europe

Gone Medieval

Charles III recently became King at the age of 73 - the oldest man ever to become a British monarch. That might not seem so odd to us today, but had he been a child it would certainly have raised eyebrows. The idea of a child monarch is today practically unthinkable; in the Medieval period it was relatively common. But the rule of a boy king did not necessarily mean political disorder. In fact it posed far less of a challenge than having an adolescent king.

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Cat Jarman finds out why from Dr. Emily Ward, author of Royal Childhood and Child Kingship: Boy Kings in England, Scotland, France and Germany, c. 1050–1262.

The Senior Producer on this episode was Elena Guthrie. It was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

For more Gone Medieval content, subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here.

For your chance to win five Historical Non-Fiction Books (including a signed copy of Dan Snow's On This Day in History), please fill out this short survey.

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store.