Quick Update

Due to the wonderful weather, family functions and various other procrastinatory media, I did not do much research this weekend. 


What little I've done (on the same book) have not done much to support my previous idea that monarchies were run by the King's desire to give their kingdom to their offspring.


My research has gone a bit into difficulties over the Lancastrian kings, and whether the female line should play any role in hereditary rights. It has also delved a little into when a king should give up control. Or when they should get it. Henry VI was a baby when he was made king, and other kings were deemed senile and unable to rule. 


Those are just some monarchy-related issues I've encountered. It seems like a lot of Kings (Ahem, Edward I) left a bit of a mess for their sons to clean up, and the new kings were not always up to the task. 


Whenever I read a brief page description on a king, it usually details how his father screwed up royally (hah), and then how he managed to continue this chain of bad leadership. To follow with my example of Edward I, his son Edward II was left with a mess. He was still at war with Scotland, and was losing battles, which discredited his rule. On top of this, he was a little too friendly with a Gascon noble, and was overthrown multiple times. First the earl of Lancaster and some nobles overthrew him, but that didn't stick too well.


Then his wife, Isabella did, and this time, he was forced to give the throne to his son. But again, I'm sure the mess Edward II left for Edward III was not pretty, though I haven't gotten to that yet. 


What appears to be a big theme now is a king's relationship with nobles, and how that dictates his rule. The will of the people does not seem to matter as much, nor has it been mentioned in the text in much detail. It's mostly about how the nobles don't like how the king is doing things, and then decide to take things into their own hands.


Is there a potential thesis out of this? King vs nobles, and the effect it's had on England? Possibly, though more research is definitely required.