The Classes

The Highfolk

Nobility

Nobles were the highest ranking members of society after the royal family. A noble swore an Oath of Fealty to another noble and received land and lordship as a vassal, along with the duty to uphold the King's Laws, pay taxes, and answer a liege's call. Even the least of the Great Houses commanded thousands of troops. The poorest nobles wore plain clothes of good quality, and the richest wore imported cloth, silver, and gold.

Gentry

The title of Lord or Lady came from a grant of land. It extended to a spouse and to no one else, so the rest of a noble's family were gentry. Gentles had the most freedom of any group, and almost all of them could read. They could give up their status to join a guild or become a squire, and they could rise by inheritance or by a grant of land.

Knights

Knights were professional soldiers, the best trained and best equipped in any noble's army. Each had served as a squire and been knighted for an act of valor. A Knight of the Realm belonged to an order or a liege. A Knight Errant had sworn to no one, and most were poor enough to sleep in ditches between tournaments.

The Commonfolk

Guildsmen

The guilds were the Cirque, the Apotheca, the Fayne Moirai, and the Veil. Their members had more social standing than other commoners, and they kept their own ranks, customs, and laws. That sometimes caused friction when a noble or a monarch wished to make an example of one of them.

Artisans

Freemen who learned a tradecraft held the highest rank among the commonfolk. Most worked for a noble or in a town. Those without a noble's service worked under the eye of the Cirque.

Freemen

A freeman was a serf who had bought off a debt through years of service or through coin. By law, nobles had to allow it, although some set fairer terms than others. Daily life changed little, but a freeman could move away and could rise.

Serfs

Serfs were the lowest caste and the largest part of the population. They worked a noble's land in exchange for the right to live on it. They rose with the first light and lived on black bread, onions, cheese, and beer. Men and women both worked the fields, and women also ran the household and its economy. The Midlands alone had none, as its page records.

The Great Offices

The King's Council

These were the highest appointed positions in the kingdom, and they were held at the monarch's pleasure. The Chancellor sat in the King's stead and held the Royal Seal. The Exchequer oversaw the treasury. The Lord or Lady General commanded the King's army of fewer than ten thousand troops, and the Admiral commanded one of the strongest fleets in Arnesse after that of House Rourke. The Chamberlain ran the royal household and controlled who saw the King. The Master or Mistress of Shadows, a post created under King Roland Aragon, was the monarchy's eyes and ears and was seldom given to an existing noble. The Apotheca and the Fayne Moirai each held a seat, and King Giles II added one for a priest.

The Lord's Council

The Lord's Council was made up of the eight Paragons of the kingdom. It met every few years at best and was more a figurehead than a governing body. Every Paragon except the Rourke ruled a protectorate.

Local Officials

Nobles governed their lands through sheriffs, castellans, and chamberlains. A noble household might also keep a steward, a constable, a hunt master, a falconer, and a jester.