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> Newton saw what was happening ... and somehow intimidated and pushed Neale aside in a bloodless coup, and took over the Great Recoinage himself. Or more cha

> Newton saw what was happening ... and somehow intimidated and pushed Neale aside in a bloodless coup, and took over the Great Recoinage himself. Or more charitably, Neale didn't fight too hard for his prerogatives when he saw that one of the most competent men in the history of western civilization was trying to solve his biggest problem.

thsksbd 3y ago
Good management gets out of the way of its star worker.
- sirspacey 3y ago
  Amen
- taberiand 3y ago
  Especially when getting in their way gets you hung drawn and quartered
  - denton-scratch 3y ago
    "Hung" is what you do to a side of beef. TFA said it right; criminals were hanged. "You will be taken from this place to another place, and thence to a place of execution, where you will be hanged by the neck until dead." The penalty for common traitors was to be hanged, drawn and quartered. The hanging was not until death; after dangling for a while, you were cut down and your limbs were attached to horses, which were then driven apart, causing all of your joints to be dislocated. You were then cut into four pieces, which were carried to the corners of the realm, and displayed as a warning to others not to engage in treason. High-born traitors had it easy; they had the privilege of being beheaded instead. If they were lucky, they got a skilled executioner, who could strike off their head with a single blow. Lady Jane Grey was not lucky.
    - taberiand 3y ago
      Pedantry will get you hung
    - thsksbd 3y ago
      Of course they were hanged, quartered and their pieces hung.
    - toyg 3y ago
      I mean, one is already dead after hanging; everything else is just some extra burden on state finances. Your body will become dust anyway, quartered or not quartered.
      - denton-scratch 3y ago
        Being hanged didn't make you dead. Not reliably. It's kind of a science; what happens when you drop depends on your weight, and the length of the drop. If you're too heavy, or the drop is too long, then your head gets yanked off, which is generally considered a bad result. On the other hand, if you're light or the drop is too short, you get slowly strangled, which is also an undesirable outcome. So sometimes hangees would pay people to swing from their ankles after the drop, until they were really dead. For hanging, drawing and quartering, you weren't supposed to die from the hanging bit. [Edit] The quartering part wasn't some kind of superfluous state expense; it was the whole point of the exercise. HDQ was only performed rarely - it was reserved for the (commoner) leaders of rebellions against the monarch. Common criminals were just hanged.
        selimthegrim 3y ago
        Cf. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Greene https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Greene
AceJohnny2 3y ago
> when he saw that one of the most competent men in the history of western civilization The thing, this is only decidable in hindsight. Many a confident person has declared themselves to be "the most competent" and proven to be... not that. (competence & confidence are perhaps entirely uncorrelated)

thsksbd 3y ago

Good management gets out of the way of its star worker.

sirspacey 3y ago
Amen
taberiand 3y ago
Especially when getting in their way gets you hung drawn and quartered
- denton-scratch 3y ago
  "Hung" is what you do to a side of beef. TFA said it right; criminals were hanged. "You will be taken from this place to another place, and thence to a place of execution, where you will be hanged by the neck until dead." The penalty for common traitors was to be hanged, drawn and quartered. The hanging was not until death; after dangling for a while, you were cut down and your limbs were attached to horses, which were then driven apart, causing all of your joints to be dislocated. You were then cut into four pieces, which were carried to the corners of the realm, and displayed as a warning to others not to engage in treason. High-born traitors had it easy; they had the privilege of being beheaded instead. If they were lucky, they got a skilled executioner, who could strike off their head with a single blow. Lady Jane Grey was not lucky.
  - taberiand 3y ago
    Pedantry will get you hung
  - thsksbd 3y ago
    Of course they were hanged, quartered and their pieces hung.
  - toyg 3y ago
    I mean, one is already dead after hanging; everything else is just some extra burden on state finances. Your body will become dust anyway, quartered or not quartered.
    - denton-scratch 3y ago
      Being hanged didn't make you dead. Not reliably. It's kind of a science; what happens when you drop depends on your weight, and the length of the drop. If you're too heavy, or the drop is too long, then your head gets yanked off, which is generally considered a bad result. On the other hand, if you're light or the drop is too short, you get slowly strangled, which is also an undesirable outcome. So sometimes hangees would pay people to swing from their ankles after the drop, until they were really dead. For hanging, drawing and quartering, you weren't supposed to die from the hanging bit. [Edit] The quartering part wasn't some kind of superfluous state expense; it was the whole point of the exercise. HDQ was only performed rarely - it was reserved for the (commoner) leaders of rebellions against the monarch. Common criminals were just hanged.
      - selimthegrim 3y ago
        Cf. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Greene https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Greene

AceJohnny2 3y ago

> when he saw that one of the most competent men in the history of western civilization The thing, this is only decidable in hindsight. Many a confident person has declared themselves to be "the most competent" and proven to be... not that. (competence & confidence are perhaps entirely uncorrelated)