King Me

In more time-travel-related musing (after last month's speculation on how well one might do if dumped 300-500 years into the past), Erich Vieth at Dangerous Intersection wonders whether a king from the Middle Ages would take the opportunity to live a middle class life in the modern day U.S., with our health care and casual luxuries, or would prefer the personal power of kingship in his own time.

Not being a king from the Middle Ages, or having much insight into the time, I can't say much about that, but I certainly wouldn't want to try it the other way.

Even if I could be a king, I'm not going back to then! I imagine the social conventions would be nearly incomprehensible, and often practically intolerable to me. (Plus I don't really want to be a man, thanks. Although I guess I might be better suited to manhood if I did have to live in the time period, what with all my thinking I have a right to opinions and what-not.)

Thinking about the differences in societies does make me wonder if, even if he felt himself objectively better off today with all the cool stuff we have to offer, an old-timey king might prefer to stick with the world and the society he understood.

I guess that would depend on his personal adaptability and tolerance for change. Which just goes to show that when we invite a king to make that choice, we'd better think carefully about which one.

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