When people declare that ‘children have to grow up so quickly these days’, they should pause and reflect on this fact. Medieval boys are expected to work from the age of seven and can be hanged for theft at the same age. They can marry at the age of fourteen and are liable to serve in an army from the age of fifteen. Noblemen might hold office or be given command of an army before they are twenty. At the battle of Crécy (1346) the command of the vanguard – the foremost battalion of the army – is given to Prince Edward, then just sixteen years of age. It is unthinkable that we would put a
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