I have been watching through my Netflix subscription a BBC series on the English monarchy entitled Monarchy. It starts with the very beginnings of the concept of the English monarchy and covers each successive monarch. While I consider myself a bit of an Anglo-phial, I am learning a lot of new things by watching this series. It's really more of a lecture series than a television series. The same scholar hosts the entire series and he is the only voice that it heard. I didn't think he would keep my attention but he does a pretty good job. He reads from original texts and gives a lot of behind the scenes tidbits.
One thing I will say about the English monarchs, they were definitely not saints. They were corrupt and power hungry. Even the kings who were considered good leaders were also ruthless and ruled with an iron fist. They were also involved in more scandals than Jerry Springer could ever come up with. They were conniving and deceitful and down right mean.
One of the points that the series tries to make is that English monarchs were different from the beginning. They did not embrace the ideal of unquestionable supreme ruler in the same way that other monarchs did in Europe. They instead had to deal with the English people who often rebelled and kept their rulers' power in check. The successful kings and queens figured out a way to win popular support and use it to maintain their power.
I'm sure there are lessons for leadership in all of this. I certainly agree with Shakespeare when he wrote "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."
I hope you have a great weekend. Busy Saturday ahead for me. I'm attending a wall raising service in Oxford, Ohio in the morning and then a wedding and reception in the afternoon. Thanks for being a part of my journey!
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