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Chapter 6 - The Royal Deathbed

Preparing for Child Kingship

from Part II - Royal Childhood: Preparation for the Throne

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2022

Emily Joan Ward
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
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Summary

When grave illness compelled rulers to plan for the likelihood of a child’s succession, their chief concern was not that their young son would be passed over as king. Instead, most dying rulers focused on making collaborative arrangements for protecting the kingdom and supporting the child in rule. This chapter examines some of the evidence for the preparations dying kings made as they gathered to their side men and women whose involvement would be crucial for the child’s continuing education and the realm’s administration. The first two sections draw attention to shifts over time in familial attendance at royal deathbeds and in the testamentary records of rulers’ intentions. The actions of kings and queens both before and at their deathbeds suggest hesitancy to impose a wardship model upon royal children, especially upon the new boy king, and this royal reluctance is examined in greater detail in the chapter’s third and final part. Even when it became apparent an infant or child would succeed, kings eschewed entrusting their sons and kingdoms to the care of individual magnates, preferring collaborative arrangements in which the queen often took a prominent role.

Type
Chapter
Information
Royal Childhood and Child Kingship
Boy Kings in England, Scotland, France and Germany, c. 1050–1262
, pp. 147 - 168
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • The Royal Deathbed
  • Emily Joan Ward, University of Edinburgh
  • Book: Royal Childhood and Child Kingship
  • Online publication: 04 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108974516.007
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  • The Royal Deathbed
  • Emily Joan Ward, University of Edinburgh
  • Book: Royal Childhood and Child Kingship
  • Online publication: 04 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108974516.007
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Royal Deathbed
  • Emily Joan Ward, University of Edinburgh
  • Book: Royal Childhood and Child Kingship
  • Online publication: 04 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108974516.007
Available formats
×