Book contents
- Royal Childhood and Child Kingship
- Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought
- Royal Childhood and Child Kingship
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Genealogies
- Chapter 1 Royal Childhood and Child Kingship
- Part I Royal Childhood and Child Kingship: Models and History
- Part II Royal Childhood: Preparation for the Throne
- Chapter 4 Familial Education
- Chapter 5 Loyalty, Diplomacy and (Co-)Kingship
- Chapter 6 The Royal Deathbed
- Part III Child Kingship: Guardianship and Royal Rule
- Bibliography
- Index
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
- Royal Childhood and Child Kingship
- Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought
- Royal Childhood and Child Kingship
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Genealogies
- Chapter 1 Royal Childhood and Child Kingship
- Part I Royal Childhood and Child Kingship: Models and History
- Part II Royal Childhood: Preparation for the Throne
- Chapter 4 Familial Education
- Chapter 5 Loyalty, Diplomacy and (Co-)Kingship
- Chapter 6 The Royal Deathbed
- Part III Child Kingship: Guardianship and Royal Rule
- Bibliography
- Index
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 KingshipBoy Kings in England, Scotland, France and Germany, c. 1050–1262, pp. 147 - 168Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022