Myth: "Mad Kings" Actually Rule

If you read historical books, once in a while you stumble upon stories about some “mad kings” or “mad emperors” or whatever. They do some crazy stuff because they are insane. They give crazy orders and everyone follows them because, well, it’s an order.

That’s a myth. It is usually a lazy explanation or a direct disinformation by the historians and nothing more. It is just easier to say that a certain person is insane than to actually try to objectively explain his or her actions.