Why did a lot of Englands Kings die so young?

Question

I was reading Kings and Queens of England and Scotland and a lot of Kings have died around their 30's or 50's does anyone know why? The book doesn't say. It says when they were executed or died in war, but a few it doesn't say why they died. Like Alfred the Great, King Stephen 1135-1154, King John 1199-1216, Henry the VI and Henry the V. It doesn't exactly say how or why they died. I probably need a better book. Does anyone know any good books about this? Anyway, thank you.

Answer 1

War injuries, poison, riding accidents, living in dirty draughty castles with poor sanitation. Actually, go back a few hundred years, and 50 was old.

Answer 2

I would go with two main reasons. The time frames you are mentioning were around a time when medicine was limited, and often wrought with superstition (say an incantation over someone who has been poisoned--believing a demon has a hold of them--rather than giving them an antidote probably ended in quite a few deaths). Poor hygiene of the time (there were no toothbrushes, soap was not antibacterial, and baths usually were only taken once a week at most) probably also contributed to a few sicknesses.

And the English monarchy had a lot of inbreeding. They were only allowed to marry other royalty, and oftentimes only royalty of nations they were allied with. And sometimes if they had no allies, they went with their cousins or sisters. So when they bred with their family, the kid would come out with various inbreeding problems like mental retardation, hemophilia (a condition in which the person cuts himself and won't stop bleeding--no scab forms over the cut and with big enough cuts they might bleed to death) and other problems that probably killed some of them off as well.

Answer 3

In medieval times there was no concept of germ theory, nor was clean water readily available, as the great Thames was used for drinking, washing and flushing of sewage. There were no vaccines, antibiotics or surgery (unless you were really desparate and had it done without anesthesia). People died from influenza, plague, smallpox and tooth infections all the time. King John (the Magna Carta king) died from dysentary, a gastrointestinal illness that is treated today with antibiotics and intravenous fluids and is rarely fatal.
Most monarchs were married off as early as possible (in women, sometimes as soon as they had there first menses) so that they would have heirs to secure the royale succession. Women died in childbirth in large numbers, or soon after from puerpural fever. Men usually died from infected wounds, or typhus, or influenza.
I would check in wikipedia under the individual monarch's names to see if a cause of death is supplied. And in medieval terms, '50' was a ripe old age, and in keeping with the bible, you got your two score and ten right there.

Answer 4

Until about 100 years ago, life expectancy at birth [royalty included] was of little more than 40 years. In medieval times, it was even lower, due to widespread poor hygiene, contaminated water and food, and overabundance of disease-carrying animals like rats. Even medical doctors, nurses and midwives didn't have an idea that such a simple thing as hand washing before treating patients made a big difference in cross-contamination, disease and death rates.

Answer 5

Those are the years that they were crowned monarchs. For instance King John was actually born in 1167 but not crowned until his brother died in 1199.

Answer 6

Back in the day, it was a known fact that people did not live as long as we do.

Answer 7

Maybe they had a rare disease. If they had it, it would be like a time bomb. It kills usually around those ages too!

Answer 8

They were killed.