I can't remember where I read this*, but back in the 1400s, in what is now Germany there was a very fat prince, who was overthrown by his younger brother. The younger brother imprisoned the prince in a cell without a door : But the doorway had been partly bricked up so thin and average sized people could get through it, but only if they turned sideways. And the servants were going in and out all day, bringing the prince whatever he wanted to eat in any quantity he desired. The prince was way too fat to walk through, but technically he was not imprisoned as there was no door, which is what the usurper said to the priests who came to him remonstrate over his treatment  of the prince : "It's not MY fault if my brother cannot stop eating "  Eventually that country's noblemen tried to start a rebellion using the imprisoned prince as a figurehead, so the usurper had a little poison added to his favorite food, and then reigned happily ever after (or until he was overthrown and executed in his turn).   It MIGHT have been A Distant Mirror , by Barbara Tuchman.