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[mastahcheese]

I have kitten claw marks in my foot. ;_;

[Lyeos]

...and I got kicked off an MvM server, by a vote.
Am I really that bad?

If it's any consolation, I've never played TF2 before, so I'm probably worse!
I'd never vote you off of a server, Cmega! You're too cool for that! And I don't know how to anyways!

[Reverie]

Most online multiplayer games have terrible playerbases. Don't be too hard on yourself, Cmega. :c

[Knit tie]

I am feeling kinda bad again because I read some history and learned that some sort of horrible thing happened to some people somewhere some time ago.

No, seriously, a bunch of random people died about 500 years ago and I feel bad for them.

So I am wondering, does anybody know any rulers or people of similar political magnitude from the middle ages or earlier who were not horrible murderers? A genuinely likable historical figure's ought to cheer me up.

[Vector]

-

[Helgoland]

Did some pretty horrible stuff, too. Example:
In his army camps, there was a strict rule about not using light after a certain time of day. One soldier ignored that rule to write a letter to his family, ending with "I'll see you all when I come home in [timespan]."
Friedrich the Great, however, was just strolling through the camp and noticed the light. He then forced the soldier to write an addendum:
"P.S. I shall not come home in [timespan], because I'll be executed in the morning."

There are some friendlier stories, too.

[Knit tie]

See, that's what I am talking about.

[scrdest]

I am feeling kinda bad again because I read some history and learned that some sort of horrible thing happened to some people somewhere some time ago.

No, seriously, a bunch of random people died about 500 years ago and I feel bad for them.

So I am wondering, does anybody know any rulers or people of similar political magnitude from the middle ages or earlier who were not horrible murderers? A genuinely likable historical figure's ought to cheer me up.

There are. The thing is, since they weren't dicks, they didn't do anything memorable.

[Helgoland]

Wait, how about Cicero? Or Pericles, maybe. Some religious figures from the bible (or even popes) may also fit your criterion. Some kings of Jerusalem too, maybe even Saladin and Richard I.

[TD1]

King David?

[Glloyd]

I am feeling kinda bad again because I read some history and learned that some sort of horrible thing happened to some people somewhere some time ago.

No, seriously, a bunch of random people died about 500 years ago and I feel bad for them.

So I am wondering, does anybody know any rulers or people of similar political magnitude from the middle ages or earlier who were not horrible murderers? A genuinely likable historical figure's ought to cheer me up.

I can vouch for Saladin, he's one of the only Muslims that both Christian and Islamic sources paint a good picture of. A ton of contemporary Christian scholars praised the guy, even as they were at war with him.

Richard the Lionheart wasn't really a good guy though. He WAS leading a Crusade... His brother John was "good", even though he was hated by his barons for losing Normandy to the French.

Knut (Cnut, Canute) the Great also wasn't that bad as far as ex-vikings go. He totally revitalized the English economy as well. From wikipedia, "Cnut maintained his power by uniting Danes and Englishmen under cultural bonds of wealth and custom, rather than by sheer brutality."

Past the middle ages, yes, but I know many people who consider Elizabeth the First to be one of the greatest English monarchs of all time. Take that as you will.

I wouldn't say anyone from the bible, because in many cases their existence is very debatable.

The way I see it, the issue with your concern is that the peaceful rulers never really got written about. I'm in school for history, specializing medieval history, and when reading old chronicles, you never really see peace written about, all you see is war. Peaceful years are mostly blank. Like the entry for 809 in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle:

A.D. 809 . This year was the sun eclipsed, precisely at eleven in
the morning, on the seventeenth day before the calends of August.

...And that's it. Compare that to A.D 825:

A.D. 825 . This year a battle was fought between the Welsh in
Cornwall and the people of Devonshire, at Camelford; and in the
course of the same year Egbert, king of the West-Saxons, and
Bernwulf, King of Mercia, fought a battle at Wilton, in which
Egbert gained the victory, but there was great slaughter on both
sides. Then sent he his son Ethelwulf into Kent, with a large
detachment from the main body of the army, accompanied by his
bishop, Elstan, and his alderman, Wulfherd; who drove Baldred,
the king, northward over the Thames. Whereupon the men of Kent
immediately submitted to him; as did also the inhabitants of
Surrey, and Sussex, and Essex; who had been unlawfully kept from
their allegiance by his relatives. The same year also, the king
of the East-Angles, and his subjects besought King Egbert to give
them peace and protection against the terror of the Mercians;
whose king, Bernwulf, they slew in the course of the same year.

So as you see, it's not that there weren't good rulers, it's that their deeds were never recorded because they were "boring."

[TD1]

I would say Elizabeth isn't wholly good. She was a good queen, but she did whatever it took. There was little compassion. In one plot, she sent her secretary to the tower for a year, for actually issuing her decree, which she gave him, that Mary should be executed.

[TD1]

No, not necessarily bad person, but she made some decisions for her own good and the good of the greater country which may seem bad.

[GiglameshDespair]

When it gets to country-level, a lot of dark deeds are down to keep the light shining. That was true then and is true now.

[alway]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_II_of_Bavaria
Dude was an eccentric patron of the arts and built tons of decorative castle/palaces. Though he was somewhat unconcerned with matters of state, ending up with him being deposed and probably murdered...