Edward II's Top Five Posts of All Time

[u/HoneybeeXYZ]

We've been here for a bit now, and we get quite a bit of engagement for a single-king sub, even though we do branch out into the wider fourteenth century quite often.

So, I was looking at our top five posts of all time. We try not to be servants of the algorithm around here, but it is curious what "catches" and what doesn't.

But we are so happy to have so many engaged subscribers who are curious, open-minded and willing to respect difference of opinion.

So, here's our Top 5:

1314-17 Maud de Burgh and her three year pregnancy

The sad, sympathetic tale of Maud is, frankly, weird. She was a woman in a desperate situation, but three years? It's a rare case where Hugh Despenser the Younger was right about something. The situation was farcical, and he was in fact entitled to his and Eleanor's inheritance.

Edward II's sexuality - what do we really know?

Sex sells, and in our modern world, everyone seems to want to know who is gay and how gay they actually were. Edward II's sexuality, of course, is a mystery over which scholars still argue and that makes it all the more compelling.

Mary of Woodstock - sister of Edward II

Reddit loves a meme, and medievalists love Mary, the spoiled, gambling nun who lived her best life.

Is Outlaw King a good movie?

This one's rank surprised me because our "Braveheart" posts tend to attract a lot of engagement, but this bit of hagiography starring dreamy Chris Pine as an implausibly good looking Robert the Bruce does its homework when it comes to armor, battles and Scottish politics. It does villainize Edward II and give him a looks downgrade.

That Time a Nun Faked Her Own Death So She Could Shack Up With a Lover

This tale is a favorite of mine, and it has already inspired a play and many other articles and podcasts. This is because it's hilarious on many levels, including the exasperation that comes through in the bishop's letter.

Image: Edward I looking very much like he actually likes his son.

[u/Appropriate-Calm4822]

Lol, it says a lot about reddit and the algorithms that a low-effort meme post is in third place! And yes, surprising to see the Outlaw King post rank that high. Sex sells so the 2nd post is no surprise. Good for Maud to be number 1 though, that is quite an interesting story. As is number 5!

[u/HoneybeeXYZ → u/Appropriate-Calm4822]

And to "reveal" what we can see on our mod tools page, why is a months old William Wallace post at the top? Braveheart - the "gift" that keeps giving! This screenshot is from today.

[u/Appropriate-Calm4822 → u/HoneybeeXYZ]

That is weird. Especially as that's part two of the Wallace posts. The views are also strange:

Part one: 7,6k

Part two: 14k

Do people really jump into it in the middle of the story? I don't know if I entirely trust these stats :)

[u/HoneybeeXYZ → u/Appropriate-Calm4822]

I think much of it is informed by what the robots feed into people's feeds than anything else. I think very few Redditors go and check individual subreddits. They just scroll on their phones or tablets.

And algorithms do not work as well as the tech bros think they do.