[pyrale]

> e.g. Richard Lionheart spent more time out of England than in it

To be fair, most of his prize holdings were also out of England.

[gherkinnn]

> To be fair, most of his prize holdings were also out of England.

To be fair, he wasn't really English and didn't speak the language either. It wasn't until Henry IV (reign 1399 - 1413) that a post-invasion King's mother tongue was English. Most people don't realise that for over 300 years the (language at) court was Norman French.

[IAmBroom]

If you want to talk about competent governance, look to William II, the "Hammer of the Scots" villainized in Braveheart. He made it law that legally binding contracts must be written in plain English, so that both parties would (most likely) be able to understand what they were agreeing to...

Even though he did not speak it, himself.