Authority and discipline are cheap to enforce, when allowed, as they were then. Rulers must have been cheap, too.
Rulers? Were you a naughty boy? I was a well-behaved little girl whose mother would have given her what-for if I had misbehaved in school. You and I can remember the days when children were expected to be respectful of authority figures and adults in general. Today, coming across a child with good manners is such a rare treat.