> The king was the ruler, yes, but he wasn't able to rule against the wishes of the nobility or the high clergy; the risk of being deposed or killed in a rebell

> The king was the ruler, yes, but he wasn't able to rule against the wishes of the nobility or the high clergy; the risk of being deposed or killed in a rebellion was just too big. At the very least, his vassals could just abandon him and withdraw into their own castles, and there wasn't any easy way to force them out. The French solved this problem, partially, simply by having a sizable domaine royal (“demesne” in CK terms) in Île-de-France and Orléanais. While they were still subject to Godly edict, they certainly had a more tug-of-war relationship than Kingdoms more subject to their vassal’s whims.