Young Warriors

When we speak of people like Edward III and Harald Haldrada being 15 or 16 years old, were they exceptions and outliers or was seeing (relative to modern) young people in war, even as commanders by noble lineage, a common thing?

A lot of media portrays commanders and warriors as these grizzled old types with beards who have seen many moons and battles, but now and again in a medieval setting is it realistic to see like straight up young dudes in armor fighting as knights, squires or nobles?

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >was seeing (relative to modern) young people in war, even as commanders by noble lineage, a common thing?
    Yes. Harsher times and shorter lives meant that people had to grow up fast. This is also why marital ages were so low in that era. As the world has gotten less likely to kill you at any given moment, we've been able to invest more time in development and education before someone has to go out into the world and start giving back to society.

  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Men aged faster back then because of how deadly the age was. They were training with weapons and hunting dangerous animals on horseback before they could fully read or write. They weren't basedboys who look like beanpoles and live in their parents house at the age of 25.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Even as late as the age of sail in the 1800's and the British empire, you had rich idiots sending their youth into the navy as ensigns at 12. And normal people had their kids in the navy, usually by pressing, also at 12, as cabin boy gofers, or as powder monkeys to service the gun crews needs for boom boom dust from the ships magazine.

      Midshipmen, the lowest rank of actual officer officer, were 14 year olds.
      And a naval left enact, just like an army leftenant, was considered old and strange if they were anywhere near 30.

      The concept of "childhood" as we understand it didn't really exist before the 1800s anyways. Once a kid could talk and was capable of physical work, he ceased being a kid and was a small adult.
      It started to change in Britain after public scandals related to dangers of child labor and child prostitution.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >training with weapons and hunting dangerous animals on horseback
      >read or write.
      This only describes the upper classes, who werent forced to grow up fast by things being hard but because being a warrior was literally their job
      >they don’t live in their parents house at the age of 25.
      Yes, they often did, it’s good to have the heir around to make sure he knows how to run things

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >They were training with weapons and hunting dangerous animals on horseback before they could fully read or write
      What are you talking about, most people before the XIX century were peasants with no military training, often illiterate. Having a horse was uncommon too, because it was very expensive. That's why the sign of aristocracy was being a knight. And hunting rights were usually restricted to the nobility, at least in Europe.

      >They weren't basedboys who look like beanpoles and live in their parents house at the age of 25.
      Most people lived in the same house with their parents and grandparents, and their sons lived there too. In fact that is still common in many parts of the world, the US is the only place where kicking your kids out when they turn 18 is considered "normal".

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    [...]

    is over there

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Even as late as the age of sail in the 1800's and the British empire, you had rich idiots sending their youth into the navy as ensigns at 12. And normal people had their kids in the navy, usually by pressing, also at 12, as cabin boy gofers, or as powder monkeys to service the gun crews needs for boom boom dust from the ships magazine.

    Midshipmen, the lowest rank of actual officer officer, were 14 year olds.
    And a naval left enact, just like an army leftenant, was considered old and strange if they were anywhere near 30.

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    You realize that child soldiers very much are still a thing in several countries and have only become less of a thing globally over the course of the last century?

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      OP never suggested otherwise, he just asked how common it was relative to adult soldiers.

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    That why you have to pick Young Adventurer's to prepare them for the lifestyle as soon as you can!

  7. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >a lot of media
    If you're talking history, there's a board for that (

    [...]

    ).
    If you're talking comics, movies, television, or video games, there are other boards for those things too; Wrong board, Wrong board, and >>>Ganker respectively.
    The "media" pertaining to traditional games is usually loosely inspired by history, rather than governed by it 1:1; this is what we call fantasy.
    In terms of what's realistic, that falls down to how consistent relevant aspects of the game are with themselves and each other.
    The coolest thing about tabletop games, though, is that you can just do whatever the frick you want, and you don't have to worry so much about what other people are doing. If you want your game to adhere to history, go for it; you don't need to whine about what "a lot of media" is doing, and you certainly don't need to make a thread for it.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Why not apply to be a janny? You seem to be working for free already

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        I answered OP's question.
        What the frick is your damage?

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      I answered OP's question.
      What the frick is your damage?

      imagine being even lower than a janny

  8. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Squire usually started their squirehood at 16. Before that they were usually a page and they would hopefully be knighted at 21.

  9. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Kids as young as 9-10 would often be seen in armies or war ships, often in a support role, if the kid was from an aristocratic family then they would probably also have an officers rank (lowest possible, but still above the common men) and would have been expected to command men (again, in a support role).

  10. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Children fighting wasn't particularly common in standing armies. Generally the first choice of levies would be those who had gone through male puberty. Plenty of women and children accompanied armies of course, but then so did merchants.

    People weren't moronic. They would try and recruit men after they had their growth spurt if they had the luxury. Usually they could, unless there was conflict that was particularly grueling within a generational period that left a dearth of able men.

  11. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    My fighter was conscripted at age 15 during an apocalyptic war against a lich and his undead hordes. (Major part of the DM's setting backstory.) He's now 21 and suffers from PTSD.

  12. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Starting age for being a soldier in Ancient Greece and Rome was 20yo.

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