One of the many historic modifications of the TV series, The Tudors is that Henry VIII is shown as a comparatively young man when divorcing Catherine of Aragon, when in fact he was in his forties.
Likewise, it was not that uncommon for older monarchs to be married off to quite young women if needing a replacement queen after the previous model had been inconvenient enough to drop dead.
Here is a list of Monarchs, and their comparative ages when getting married.
King | Consort | Year of marriage | Age diff. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Age when wed | Name | Age when wed | ||
|
|||||
Æthelwulf | ? | Osburh | ? | 851(?) | ? |
50(?) | Judith of Flanders | 12 | 856 | 38 | |
Æthelbald | 24 | Judith of Flanders | 14 | 858 | 10 |
Æthelberht | – | – | – | – | – |
Æthelred | ? | Wulfthryth? | ? | ? | ? |
Alfred the Great | 19 | Ealhswith | 16 | 868 | 3 |
Edward the Elder | 19 | Ecgwynn | ? | 893 | ? |
28 | Aelffaed | ? | 902 | ? | |
31 | Eadgifu of Kent | ? | 905 | ? | |
Æthelstan | – | – | – | – | – |
Edmund the Magnificent |
Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury | – | – | – | |
22 | Æthelflæd of Damerham | ? | 944 | ? | |
Eadred | – | – | – | – | – |
Eadwig | Ælfgifu | ? | 955(?) | ? | |
Edgar the Peaceful | 17 | Æthelflæd | ? | 960 | ? |
21 | Ælfthryth | 19 | 964 | 2 | |
Edward the Martyr | – | – | – | – | – |
Æthelred the Unready | 23 | Ælfgifu of York | 21 | 991 | 2 |
34 | Emma of Normandy | 17 | 1002 | 17 | |
Sweyn Forkbeard |
Gunhild of Wenden | ? | 990 | ? | |
Sigrid the Haughty | ? | 1000 | ? | ||
Edmund Ironside |
Edith of East Anglia | ? | ? | ? | |
Cnut | 18 | Aelfgifu of Northampton | ? | 1013(?) | ? |
22 | Emma of Normandy | ? | 1017 | ? | |
Harold Harefoot |
Ælfgifu | ? | ? | ? | |
Harthacnut | – | – | – | – | – |
Edward the Confessor | 42 | Edith of Wessex | 20 | 1045 | 22 |
Harold Godwinson | 24 | Edith Swannesha | 19 | 1044(?) | 5 |
42 | Ealdgyth | ? | 1064 | ? | |
William I | 25 | Matilda of Flanders | 22 | 1053 | 3 |
William II | – | – | – | – | – |
Henry I | 32 | Matilda of Scotland | 20 | 1100 | 12 |
53 | Adeliza of Louvain | 18 | 1121 | 35 | |
Stephen | 29 | Matilda of Boulogne | 20 | 1125 | 9 |
Henry II | 19 | Eleanor of Aquitaine | 30 | 1152 | -11 |
Henry the Young King | 5 | Margaret of France | 3 | 1160 | 2 |
Richard I | 34 | Berengaria of Navarre | 26 | 1191 | 8 |
John | 23 | Isabel of Gloucester | 16 | 1189 | 7 |
34 | Isabella of Angoulême | 12 | 1200 | 22 | |
Henry III | 29 | Eleanor of Provence | 13 | 1236 | 16 |
Edward I | 15 | Eleanor of Castile | 13 | 1254 | 2 |
60 | Margaret of France | 20 | 1299 | 40 | |
Edward II | 24 | Isabella of France | 13 | 1308 | 11 |
Edward III | 16 | Philippa of Hainault | 14 | 1328 | 2 |
Richard II | 15 | Anne of Bohemia | 16 | 1382 | -1 |
29 | Isabella of Valois | 7 | 1396 | 22 | |
Henry IV | 14 | Mary de Bohun | 12 | 1380 | 2 |
37 | Joanna of Navarre | 33 | 1403 | 4 | |
Henry V | 34 | Catherine of Valois | 19 | 1420 | 15 |
Henry VI | 24 | Margaret of Anjou | 15 | 1445 | 9 |
Edward IV | 22 | Elizabeth Woodville | 27 | 1464 | -5 |
Edward V | – | – | – | – | – |
Richard III | 20 | Anne Neville | 16 | 1472 | 4 |
Henry VII | 29 | Elizabeth of York | 20 | 1486 | 9 |
Henry VIII | 18 | Catherine of Aragon | 24 | 1509 | -6 |
42 | Anne Boleyn | 32 | 1533 | 10 | |
45 | Jane Seymour | 28 | 1536 | 17 | |
49 | Anne of Cleves | 25 | 1540 | 24 | |
49 | Catherine Howard | 19 | 1540 | 30 | |
52 | Catherine Parr | 31 | 1543 | 21 | |
Edward VI | – | – | – | – | – |
Mary I | 38 | Philip II of Spain | 27 | 1554 | 11 |
Elizabeth I | – | – | – | – | – |
James I | 23 | Anne of Denmark | 15 | 1589 | 8 |
Charles I | 25 | Henrietta Maria of France | 16 | 1625 | 9 |
Charles II | 32 | Catherine of Braganza | 24 | 1662 | 8 |
James II | 27 | Anne Hyde | 22 | 1660 | 5 |
40 | Mary of Modena | 15 | 1673 | 25 | |
Mary II | 15 | William III | 27 | 1677 | -12 |
William III | 27 | Mary II | 15 | 1677 | 12 |
Anne | 18 | George of Denmark | 30 | 1683 | -12 |
George I | 22 | Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Lueneburg-Celle | 16 | 1682 | 6 |
George II | 22 | Caroline of Ansbach | 22 | 1705 | 0 |
George III | 23 | Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz | 17 | 1761 | 6 |
George IV | 23 | Maria Anne Fitzherbert | 29 | 1785 | -6 |
33 | Caroline of Brunswick | 27 | 1795 | 6 | |
William IV | 53 | Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen | 26 | 1818 | 27 |
Victoria | 21 | Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | 21 | 1840 | 0 |
Edward VII | 22 | Alexandra of Denmark | 19 | 1863 | 3 |
George V | 28 | Mary of Teck | 26 | 1893 | 2 |
Edward VIII | 43 | Wallis Warfield Simpson | 41 | 1937 | 2 |
George VI | 28 | Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon | 23 | 1923 | 5 |
Elizabeth II | 21 | Philip of Greece and Denmark | 26 | 1947 | -5 |
Date date largely via Wikipedia
So, Edward I wears the crown for biggest age gap, just beating out Aethelwulf (who?!). Certainly a fact worth slipping in, say, to the half-time conversation during tomorrow’s England-Italy match!
Gee – half the Monarchs of England/Britain are paedophiles! Ironic to have child abuse as today’s worst crime, and yet we happily erect statues to child abusers.
The majority of people in medieval Europe were paedophiles by our modern standards – to be unmarried at 16 was unusual.
I think the one that made me raise my eyebrows was the marriage between Henry the Young King and Margaret of France, aged 5 and 3 respectively.
Well, Henry the Young King and Margaret of France were only betrothed at that age, they didn’t actually marry until he was 17 and she was 14.
I think Henry the Young King deserves an article of his own.