3 ms·
Not a lesson I was expecting to learn today, but here we are. I always thought it was the "reign" version because monarchs can "reign freely".
by thinker5555 5y ago
Not a lesson I was expecting to learn today, but here we are. I always thought it was the "reign" version because monarchs can "reign freely".
- Zuider 5y agoGiving 'free rein' comes from the pragmatic practice of allowing a horse to chose the best path over difficult terrain on the grounds that the animal would know better than the rider.
- regularfry 5y agoYeah, the more usual wording is "given a free rein", which makes it a little clearer. A monarch isn't given their reign, it's theirs by right (well, with a bit of hand-waving. Or possibly sword-waving, but not since Henry VII).
- pasc1878 5y agoFor English kings you forgot William III
- dash2 5y agoActually I think the last king to go into battle at all was George II.
- rjsw 5y agoThe last English king to try to reign with no constraints was Charles I, it didn't end well for him.
- Zuider 5y agoJames II entertained the same delusions as Charles of being absolute monarch. He had a kinder fate, being carefully allowed to escape twice on his journey to France.