He was more than comfortable with the language of imperious persuasion.

The king's "only interest in government was a pious but simpleminded desire for reproachment

Much of the outward business of kingship came naturally.

He wasn't an especially charismatic or commanding individual, but what he lacked in personality he emphatically made up for in diligence.

Here was a king who saw his subjects as peers and allies around whom he had growing up rather than semi-alien entities to be suspected and persecuted.

As with many tragedies, our story opens in a moment of triumph.