List of Portuguese monarchs by age at ascension to the throne

In 1578, after the death of his grand-nephew Sebastian, Cardinal Henry of Portugal, aged 66 became the oldest man to become King of Portugal.
In 1557, 3-year-old Prince Sebastian became the youngest King of Portugal ever.

This is a list of Portuguese monarchs' ages at the time they became kings or reigning queens. For Maria II of Portugal, who was queen during two non-consecutive terms, the age at the start of the first term is given. The median age for a monarch to ascend to The Throne is 28 years and 296 days.

OO = Order of OfficeY = YearsD = DaysR = Rank

OO

Name

Y

D

Date of birth

Term began

R

17

Cardinal-King Henry

66

185

31 January 1512

4 August 1578

1

19 (18)

Philip I (II of Spain)

53

331

21 May 1526

17 April 1581

2

18

António, Prior of Crato

48
49

206
205

1531

24 July 1580

3/4

28 (27)

John VI

48

312

13 May 1767

20 March 1816

4/3

27 (26)

Maria I

42

97

17 December 1734

24 March 1777

5

11

Edward

41

287

31 October 1391

14 August 1433

6

5

Afonso III

38

183

5 May 1210

4 November 1248

7

8

Peter I

37

30

8 April 1320

8 May 1357

8

22 (21)

John IV

36

257

19 March 1604

1 December 1640

9

26 (25)

Joseph I

36

55

6 June 1714

31 July 1750

10

24 (23)

Peter II

35

139

26 April 1648

12 September 1683

11

7

Afonso IV

34

365

8 February 1290

7 February 1325

12

2

Sancho I

31

25

11 November 1154

6 December 1186

13

1

Afonso I Henriques

30

0

25 July 1109

25 July 1139

14

10

John I

27

360

11 April 1357

6 April 1385

15

29 (28)

Peter IV (I of Brazil)

27

149

12 October 1798

10 March 1826

16

3

Afonso II

26

338

23 April 1185

26 March 1212

17

13

John II

26

118

3 May 1455

29 August 1481

18

25 (24)

John V

26

48

22 October 1680

9 December 1706

19

34 (33)

Charles I

26

21

28 September 1863

19 October 1889

20

14

Manuel I

25

359

31 May 1469

25 May 1495

21

31 (30)

Michael I

25

259

26 October 1802

11 July 1828

22

33 (32)

Louis I

23

11

31 October 1838

11 November 1861

23

9

Ferdinand I

21

79

31 October 1345

18 January 1367

24

20 (19)

Philip II (III of Spain)

20

152

14 April 1578

13 September 1598

25

15

John III

19

189

7 June 1502

13 December 1521

26

35 (34)

Manuel II

18

78

15 November 1889

1 February 1908

27

6

Denis

17

130

9 October 1261

16 February 1279

28

32 (31)

Peter V

16

60

16 September 1837

15 November 1853

29

21 (20)

Philip III (IV of Spain)

15

357

8 April 1605

31 March 1621

30

4

Sancho II

15

260

8 July 1207

25 March 1223

31

23 (22)

Afonso VI

13

77

21 August 1643

6 November 1656

32

30 (29)

Maria II

7

28

4 April 1819

2 May 1826

33

12

Afonso V

6

237

15 January 1432

9 September 1438

34

16

Sebastian

3

142

20 January 1554

11 June 1557

35

See also

  • List of Portuguese monarchs
  • List of Portuguese monarchs by longevity