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.

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Boy Kings of Medieval Europe 37:56 Share

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Boy Kings of Medieval Europe