24th July, 1567. Today in history, James VI became king of Scotland aged 13 months.
James acceeded after the abdication of his mum Mary Queen of Scots, (and the earlier murder of his dad, Lord Darnley) and became James I, the first Stuart king of England, in 1608 as a result of an alliance with Elizabeth I against...the French. His reign was highly successful (commissioning the King James Bible, surviving Guy Fawkes' Night, etc).
For a Scottish angle on James's life, follow this link to Scotlandspast.org
For today's post, here is a starter list of other infant kings and queens in history who started young:
1. Mary, Queen of Scots (James VI's mother)probably holds the record, becoming Queen of Scotland aged 6 days old in 1542.
2. James II became King of Scotland aged 6 yrs in 1437
3. Louis the Child became King of Germany, aged 6 yrs, in 899.
4. Richard II became King of England , aged 10, in 1377. See previous post on the Peasants' Revolt.
5. Ethelred the Unready became King of England, aged 10, in 978 (according to one account he pooed in the baptismal font, a bad omen). He also makes it into a previous post on monarchs with odd names
Can reader's add to this list?
24 July, 2006
James VI becomes King of Scotland (aged 1). 24th July, 1567
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3 comments:
Well, there are a couple of Edwards -- VI at age 9 and III at age 14. Things worked out better for the latter than the former.
Poor Ethelred Unraed. He wasn't unready, he just got bad advice! ("raed" = advice)
Dont forget John the Posthumous - King of France - whose father died whilst his mother was still prgnant with him.
That must be a record - thanks.
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