It’s not like these Kings or Generals really saw someone swing a sword at them or needed actually functional armor.
You might be surprised there. Many of the best historical commanders led close enough to be in serious danger. Pelopidas, who led an elite unit of all-male lovers, the Sacred Band, died in combat attempting to slay a prominent foe. Alexander the Great regularly risked his life and was dependent on his personal bodyguard to keep him from getting his ass killed. Caesar famously took up arms several times in the front lines to inspire his men. Even Augustus, who was not a particularly soldierly sort, was wounded in combat.
I’m not saying all kings were like this. I’m saying some kings, and some real armor, was like this. That’s the difference.
And since we have at least an entire century where codpieces were in fashion, it’s possible that that particular era was more about just wearing normal looking armor. Because obviously codpieces are normal in that weird time and likely weren’t seen as a sex symbol. So my statements don’t even generalize to all codpieces.
Many of these commanders had to work their way up the ranks too! They proved themselves in combat. This isnt always true, but many great commanders did.
You might be surprised there. Many of the best historical commanders led close enough to be in serious danger. Pelopidas, who led an elite unit of all-male lovers, the Sacred Band, died in combat attempting to slay a prominent foe. Alexander the Great regularly risked his life and was dependent on his personal bodyguard to keep him from getting his ass killed. Caesar famously took up arms several times in the front lines to inspire his men. Even Augustus, who was not a particularly soldierly sort, was wounded in combat.
History is big and it’s hard to generalize.
I’m not saying all kings were like this. I’m saying some kings, and some real armor, was like this. That’s the difference.
And since we have at least an entire century where codpieces were in fashion, it’s possible that that particular era was more about just wearing normal looking armor. Because obviously codpieces are normal in that weird time and likely weren’t seen as a sex symbol. So my statements don’t even generalize to all codpieces.
Many of these commanders had to work their way up the ranks too! They proved themselves in combat. This isnt always true, but many great commanders did.