While I didn't expect that kings had, as a practical matter, a kind of absolute, aut sequii aut mori thrall over their people, such that it was a case of "the King says jump, and his subjects say how high?", I was honestly surprised by many of the things in this article.  I just skimmed it, but I promise you, at my leisure I shall read it much more carefully.

Even the skim I gave it was quite the education.