What is the oldest novel written in the English language that features a child protagonist?

"Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens was the first novel in English to feature a child protagonist, published as a serial in 1837-1839; as a book in 1838. Oliver is an orphan born into a workhouse, sold into apprenticeship, escaping into the arms of a gang of sordid criminals.

Dickens wanted people to understand the suffering and cruelty many orphans of London underwent.

Other early child protagonists are found in "Treasure Island" 1881, "Little Women" 1868, and Mowgli of "The Jungle Book" 1894. But Dickens has them beat by decades.

ehung: Here's where I got the answer to your interesting question--
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Twist_(character)
This page says at the top the novel has the earliest child protagonist, referencing Peter Ackroyd, a biographer and author with a special interest in the history of London and its writers. Ackroyd is sourced as the origin of the "first child protagonist" fact. I then checked a list of novels with child protagonists to find and date the others I mentioned.

From the wiki page: (2)The full title was "Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy's Progress." Ackroyd, Peter (January 1991). Dickens. Harpercollins. pp. 216-217. ISBN 978-0-06-016602-1.