Whilst researching my new biography of Henry III, a tantalising thought began to emerge from bits of evidence.
Was Henry III autistic?
https://mattlewisauthor.wordpress.com/2016/10/17/was-henry-iii-autistic/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Henry-III-Son-Magna-Carta/dp/1445653575
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Having read Matt’s theory, I have to agree with him. My grandson is high-function autistic, and I recognise a number of the symptoms that apparently upset/afflicted Henry III. Excellent work, Matt.
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I wonder if quite a few of our sovereigns had undiagnosed ‘issues’. Easy to forget that many of these syndromes have only really been recognised and understood in relatively recent years. The middle ages understood sane or insane, and they understood when someone had what we would call severe learning difficulties, and that was about it. That leaves a whole lot of scope.
In addition, medieval kings were brought up believing they had God-given power and authority. Generally people deferred to them and flattered them. That would be enough to give even a fully ‘normal’ person – if there is such a thing – psychological issues
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