Social Hierarchy
From Wessexwiki
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===Peers=== | ===Peers=== | ||
A peerage means that an individual holds by name a title associated with a large tract of land, like a barony or duchy. Dukes, Marquesses, Counts, Viscounts and Barons are all considered peers to whatever king a nation has because he has taken them (or their ancestors) as personal friends whom he has bestowed grants of his land upon. A small technicality is that in formal address a duke alone among peers is not referred to as "My lord" but "Your Grace", but in all other respects a duke is considered a "liege lord". As Duke of Wessex I would fall into this category. | A peerage means that an individual holds by name a title associated with a large tract of land, like a barony or duchy. Dukes, Marquesses, Counts, Viscounts and Barons are all considered peers to whatever king a nation has because he has taken them (or their ancestors) as personal friends whom he has bestowed grants of his land upon. A small technicality is that in formal address a duke alone among peers is not referred to as "My lord" but "Your Grace", but in all other respects a duke is considered a "liege lord". As Duke of Wessex I would fall into this category. | ||
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| + | ===Bishop=== | ||
| + | In feudal times, bishops were lords who held large tracts of land in the name of the church, and also oversaw the entire operation of a district of believers and the priests that tended to them, called a diocese. | ||
===Knight=== | ===Knight=== | ||
The last category are the esquires, the lowest rank of the gentry. The difference that makes our in game duchy different from a real feudal society is that for us, the ranks of the gentry are not closed. In real life, if you are not born into the gentry, it is very difficult to get into it. Knights would never take villeins as esquires in real life - the esquires they had were the sons of other knights and lords, which is why esquires have heraldic arms. The highest rank a commoner could usually gain in real life was that of sergeant, a mounted warrior who would ride in support of a knight. However, in the Duchy of Wessex, the classes are not locked, and advancement is limitless. Knights may select two esquires from among any of the members of the Duchy to train in the arts of chivalry, including the villeins. If you do not marry a knight, the quickest way to become a member of the gentry is to become an apprentice to one. | The last category are the esquires, the lowest rank of the gentry. The difference that makes our in game duchy different from a real feudal society is that for us, the ranks of the gentry are not closed. In real life, if you are not born into the gentry, it is very difficult to get into it. Knights would never take villeins as esquires in real life - the esquires they had were the sons of other knights and lords, which is why esquires have heraldic arms. The highest rank a commoner could usually gain in real life was that of sergeant, a mounted warrior who would ride in support of a knight. However, in the Duchy of Wessex, the classes are not locked, and advancement is limitless. Knights may select two esquires from among any of the members of the Duchy to train in the arts of chivalry, including the villeins. If you do not marry a knight, the quickest way to become a member of the gentry is to become an apprentice to one. | ||
| - | But there is a tradeoff! Although an esquire does not have an oath of fealty to a knight, he is sworn to his service. This means that a knight will require his squires to carry things for him, to care for his horses, to upkeep his armor and weapons out of their own pockets, etc. The training a good knight deems appropriate to make a squire a worthy leader of this guild is also quite rigorous. The knight Lord Fishbarrel, for example, hired Protonix as a personal tutor who makes his esquires study and write essays about topics like Machiavelli! Esquires also are allowed to take the officer ranks in our military which are beyond footman, archer, man at arms, and sergeant. These ranks include cavalier and lieutenant. | + | But there is a tradeoff! Although an esquire does not have an oath of fealty to a knight, he is sworn to his service. This means that a knight will require his squires to carry things for him, to care for his horses, to upkeep his armor and weapons out of their own pockets, etc. The training a good knight deems appropriate to make a squire a worthy leader of this guild is also quite rigorous. The knight Lord Fishbarrel, for example, hired Protonix as a personal tutor who makes his esquires study and write essays about topics like Machiavelli! Esquires also are allowed to take the officer ranks in our military which are beyond footman, archer, man at arms, and sergeant. These ranks include cavalier and lieutenant. |
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= See Also = | = See Also = | ||
