Why did the rulers exit the battlefield unscathed most of the times? Were they good fighters or was there more cavalry protecting them?
>>927822
because you can't control a battle effectively from the sharp end
As a leader at a high level, getting yourself killed is utterly fucking stupid. You need to keep yourself alive to conduct your plan.
In periods where rulers often fought with their men, rulers died in battle relatively commonly (middle ages in particular), and in periods where rulers stayed back and issued commands, they were less likely to die.
They were usually good fighters but being a good fighter is not going let you survive a rout.
You don't lead from the front. You lead from the rear and you have divisionsal commanders personally lead each part of your army.
How can you read the situation from the worst point view on the battlefield? How are you going to issue orders when you're balls deep in the enemy?
>>927860
Alexander.
Explain that.
Rulers didn't fight battles, generals did.
>>927863
>Oh I fight a bit :3
>And then pull out and assess what the fuck is happening.
>Leaders always surrounded themselves with their best troops as a form of elite lifeguard
>Leaders rarely led frontal assaults. They would chill back and let their cannonfodder troops get chewed up, notice an opportunity or a break in the enemy lines, and then lead an attack there (together with their elite lifeguard of course)
You also have a confirmation bias. You talk about the great leaders who led from the front and survived every charge but you don't talk much about all the leaders that were brave and led from the front but died in their first battle, because those leaders were forgotten by history. Only the ones who went out and conquered the world are widely remembered.
Richard the 3rd was killed in the battle of hastings.
Despite being a king, they buried him under a car park for some reason, never really understood why.
Henry V took an arrow in the cheek fighting the Welsh Revolt.
He stood over his wounded brother, fighting off French Knights at Agincourt
>Honourable Mention: Richard III dying for his claim at Bosworth Field
>>927895
Did laugh.
>>927876
Uh, Leonidas I, Frederick Barbarossa, William I and Harold II are some of the most discussed leaders in history.
>>927822
>protip: they did not exit unscathed
go read a book anon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpLtXIlkyYA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMhVh6edP_k
How accurate is this /his/?
Who was the greatest king warrior, then?
>>927927
Harald Hardrada
>>927927
Pyrrhus "I fucking love starting fights and getting personally involved in combat that I get KIA'd" of Epirus.
>>927896
>Henry V took an arrow in the cheek fighting the Welsh Revolt
He wasn't the commander though.
>>927904
>Leonidas
died, didn't have any command and control to do
>William 1
Only actually committed himself to battle if necessary, and again in circumstances where he didn't need to issue more orders
>Harold
Lost the battle because he was in the middle of the fighting and couldn't effectively control his men. Had he been at the back he could have ordered his men not to charge down the hill.
