In the early middle ages, at least, quite likely. Anglo-Saxon kingship and generalship is based very heavily in martial traditions and culture that demand a leader lead his men from the front and fight alongside them. One of the most annoyingly pervasive pop-culture myths of King Alfred is his continual representation as a small, weedy man, as fits modern sterotypes of the bookish, 'nerdy' types when according to both the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Vita Ælfredi, he personally led the charge in battle on many occasions. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle provides a litany of kings, ealdormen and thegns who fall in battle against their foes. Alfred's own brother, King Æthelred, was killed in battle against the Vikings in 871, and his son-in-law Æthelred died in 911 likely of wounds sustained during his victory at the Battle of Tettenhall. The ASC records with glee the number of Viking kings, princes and ealdormen who are killed in their attempts to invade England, particularly after Æthelstan's victory at Brunanburh. Of course, perhaps the most famous example is Harold I, who dies at the Battle of Hastings.