Social Hierarchy
From Wessexwiki
The member base of Wessex is divided into five social classes. Villeins and the Gentry have a special relationship and are bound to each other. Villeins are bound to collect resources and the Gentry are bound to protect them in return for it by administering, regulating, and providing a stable society. Freemen and Paupers exist outside of this bond and are therefore "free" of it, though they contribute their services toward both sides of that bond. The Clergy has its own ecclesiastical hierarchy, but contains elements paralleling gentry, freemen, and villeins.
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Trial Members
People who have not yet completed or are not accepted at the end the month are trial members. These members are treated as villeins, and their acceptance as villeins is dictated by their contributions to the clan and character. Trial members should display enthusiasm and maturity, as well as consider their career once they're formally accepted into Wessex.
Paupers
Neither possessing the status of freemen nor even the holdings of villeins, paupers are drifters with no home and no permanent employment. They often make their way through begging, small jobs, or mercenary work.
Villeins
The basic full member begins as a villein. Being a villein means he or she is a villager and therefore bound to a liege lord like a peer or a knight. Most members of Wessex will likely be villeins. Being a villein doesn't require too much commitment - just a certain portion of time or income must be devoted to harvesting for the clan, or more directly, their liege lord. (This may even be automatically deducted in Darkfall)
As a Soldier
Some villeins may elect to become soldiers. Soldiers will have special breaks in their harvesting requirements for the clan which will be less than other villeins'. They will make up for this contribution by regularly drilling and practicing combat, formations, and field commands with our garrison. We aim to have a very disciplined fighting force, and we are going to need soldiers who will be there to train with us regularly. Those soldiers who do not show up for our scheduled drilling very often will go back to being regular villeins.
The benefit to being a soldier is first that less personal income is contributed to the clan than villeins. Secondly, you will have firsthand combat experience and will be there at all of our battles, trained to win and there to take the loot from your kills. Thirdly, you will have the chance to gain in rank in our military, becoming a sergeant, possibly being taken as an esquire, and later even being granted a knighthood.
Becoming a Freeman
Once a villein saved enough, hr or she can contact the Chamberlain and buy a building in one of our towns where they may set up their own trade. Soldiers can save their loot money too, but a villein may be able to gain money sooner and will have the time for the perfected tradeskills to be ready to open shop. Once owning a building in a town, a villein will be relased and will become a "burgess", a freeman.
Freemen
Freemen are neither gentry nor peasants, but true "citizens" of the Duchy who may come and go as they like. They do not have such a large portion of their income flowing to a liege lord like a villein or soldier does.
Burgess
The first kind of freeman is the burgess. A burgess lives and works in a "Boroughs". Almost all of the towns in the Duchy of Wessex will be "Boroughs". Granted, the clanstones all of our members including villeins are bound to will lie within our towns, but only burgesses, who actually own buildings within the town will be considered to "live" there.
A Boroughs is a fief granted not to a vassal, but to a collective bunch of citizens who form a town. Burgesses are still my subjects, but they do not individually owe their service and income to a liege lord. We afford them this to stimulate the trade, services, and industry they will provide as merchants and craftsmen. They might pay a tax on their profits and an upkeep fee for the city and their buildings - but this is being paid collectively to themselves and other burgesses in the Boroughs in which they live. The Boroughs then collectively contributes to the government the same way an individual knight or fiefholder with villeins serving him does. A burgess can do as he like, go where he pleases, and only needs to worry about his assets and the trade he chooses to run.
Question: What are the trading policies for Wessex merchants, who are they allowed to sell their wares to ? Answer: That will be decided on a case by case basis. Usually, at the kingdom level. In terms of trading and dealing with foreigners, there is a house of communes in the royal court. The house of communes is made up of lower level gentry, like Knights, and burgesses, from all the shires of Hyperion. They will be setting the policies for that. Of course the Lord Exchequer and our individual Wessex Exchequer also have a great deal of sway over who individual burgesses trade with.
As a crafter possessing a skill, your duties are for you to decide. Right now you are a villein, so if you wanted to work out a plan with your liege lord wherein you got to run a village shop or smithy for him, you'd be able to do that. Otherwise, if you saved up and bought a building of your own in a city you would be a burgess, and again, your "duty" would be to do whatever got you a profit and let you pay the rent to the boroughs you lived in. You'll definitely be protected, as everyone in Hyperion will be.
Aldermanship
Becoming an alderman means getting elected to the town council of the Boroughs. Boroughs town councils are small, usually only a mayor and 1-2 aldermen. Along with the mayor, aldermen decide town policies and allocate town finances where they are needed. In the future one alderman and one mayor from every Boroughs will be the "two burgesses" sent to help make policy in a national legislature, and these will also be elected by the Boroughs.
Mayoralty
Being elected mayor of the Boroughs by other burgesses is a great honor, and one that can attract attention. It is the mayor that I will deal with personally as representative of the Boroughs, and who will liaise with the Exchequer and his reeves in collecting the Boroughs' taxes. Serving a term as a mayor, especially of a large Boroughs like our capitol city, Win-caster (Ouentus-Castrum) will often earn one a squirage or even a baronetcy.
Yeoman of the Court
The other kind of freeman is the yeoman of the court. This kind of person can come from any stratum of our society, even trial members. The yeoman of the court are free without feudal obligation. They are awarded this position for success in the examinations provided by the Ducal Court, and they work for it not as bondsmen but as employees. Once a subject has passed the yeoman exam AND been offered a position as a yeoman of the court, he or she is considered a freeman, and his income contribution is reduced well below a villein's.
The villein is released at the moment he or she makes the oath of office in the Cathedral forum. They are afforded this privilege because of the work and services they provide to the government. Some, like heralds, will even make a little bit of money from charging a fee for services they provide, like commissioning arms.
Special Condition Freeman
These members are still considered freeman but technically speaking are neither Burgesses or Yeoman of the Court.
Franklin
I expect that there may be some plots of buildable land in wayward places that are just too small to support a knight and his full complement of villeins. As a duke, I have two options with spaces of land like this. My first option is to grant this small land not as a knight's fief, but as a sergeant's fief or grand sergeanty to a small group of 1-5 villeins who are direct vassals of mine, with the main recipient taking the rank of sergeant. My second option is to allow an interested individual to purchase a building for that land, which a villein with saved money might do instead of buying space in a Boroughs or full town. Such a person purchasing a building for this place would not be considered a burgess, but would still be considered a freeman - the technical title would be franklin. The type of establishment they might run might, for example, be the typical wayside inn along a remote road.
Sinecure Yeoman
The absolute masters in their field of craftsmanship may find themselves approached by noblemen with an offer to take up a sinecure yeoman position in a noble court such as "house weaponsmith", "house painter", etc.
Ranger
The Rangers of Wessex will be released from villeinry upon appointment from the Forester.
Gentry
From Fireside Chat 1
The Gentry is the aristocracy with Lords at the highest rank. It also contains two other classifications other than the lords: knights/baronets and esquires.
Family to an Equite
Gentlemen receive no special title, but are referred to as "Mr. X of Landname". They therefore get the form of address of a squire, but without the squire's title, and are the lowest ranking form of gentry. In much the same way that brothers of peers become lords with no land or title, brothers and sisters are gentry. They may use their sibling's arms as an avatar, but wear them in battle the way a footman would.
Esquire
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 one 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.
Equites
Both knights, baronets, and thanes will be "barons in training" with their own feudal crests and designs that their hired yeomen and villeins wear to identify themselves. Those who have been afforded this honor will have the right to induct members into the Duchy as villeins sworn in fealty to them without the application process that goes through our clerks. They do this because they are essentially growing subguilds for Wessex whom will extend our feudal structure and domain. When Wessex conquers a clanstone, it will likely go to the knight or baronet with the most followers to hold as a fief, and he will be made into a baron sworn in fealty to the Duke of Wessex.
Knight
Knights hold a title of knighthood. This is earned usually by those who pursue the soldier route and who have perfected the skills of mounted melee combat, as it says in the ducal court document. A knight is privileged with the style of "Sir" or "Dame", and this sort of honor will be earned by the real PVP heroes of this guild. However, a knight is not a freeman. Sometimes a grant of a title of knighthood is merely an honor, as is the case of a knight bachelor. However, a knight bachelor is something of a free agent, and should he swear himself in fealty to a liege lord like a baron or myself, then he is no longer free, but bound back into the feudal structure. Fortunately, he is not just a villein again, but is allowed to have villeins of his own. Also, the baron or liege lord will likely also grant him some form of benefice, like a portion of land containing resources that he will be responsible to farm and provide a portion of to the baron.
As soon as we have more than one it needs to be dedicated to a knight. I can't imagine that we would be able to have a single partition of Wessex controlling more than one place. Really, the whole reason for different fiefdoms is that we can develop a localized feel, and allocate different parts of the map to different groups. Just to be sure, our clanstones don’t go to knights. Our clanstones go to become boroughs, and boroughs are made out of burgesses. Knights get fiefs of land that don’t have clanstones but can still be built upon. So knights are in charge of harvesting resources, and they use all of their villeins to that end. You can expect to find the knight’s areas in the vicinity around a clanstone, geographically speaking. We will also have trouble binding everyone to clanstones, as clanstones are very limited and we will not be able to bind everyone to our clanstones unless we plan to take over the whole of Mercia. We will have people bound to our clanstones who are primarily of importance for the defense of the clanstone.
To become a knight you only need exceptional pvp skill, and specifically in heavy melee and riding. To become a landed knight you require management and leadership skill as well.
Knights are gentlemen and lesser nobility, privileged with the prefix "Sir" or "Dame" throughout the kingdom of Mercia. Rather than for their skill at scholarly examinations, the Duke will elevate a soldier to knighthood because of his or her valor and extreme accomplishments in warfare.
Recognition of the potential knight usually requires he or she have achievement in the arts of chivalry, which specifically means skill in melee combat, heavy armor, and horsemanship. The duke often grants rights to land and farming resources to a new knight, but he has been known to create knights bachelor, (that is, knights who bear the title without a grant of land or an oath of fealty). The duke, like most lords, recognizes that the military power of knights is the most valuable asset he has as a nobleman. Naturally, becoming a knight means one can commission arms from a herald. Most of the duchy's current cabinet officers are in fact also knights. Knights have the power to sponsor or induct foreigners into the duchy as villeins sworn in fealty to the knight. As lesser nobility, knights in Wessex also have the power to sponsor one villeins or soldiers as their personal esquires to impart the necessary training in the arts of chivalry. In this way these esquires may more easily be recognized by the duke or even the king on their way to knighthood. Knights can also be made into peers by the king if their achievements are great enough, and this sort of benefice is what even the first Wessex dukes owe their seisen to.
Baronet
A baronet has the same rank and style as a knight except he or she will not be skilled in heavy mounted combat. Some baronets will come from the ranks of soldiery who are heroic rangers or even magicians. However, although almost all knights will have been soldiers, some baronets will have been outstanding yeomen or merchant burgesses as well. Baronets too may become vassals of liege lords and may hold land and castles in their names just like knights. Baronets won't be able to train esquires as apprentices, however, the way knights can.
Thane
A thane holds the same rank and style as a knight or baronet, except he or she is an outside clan leader who has sworn fealty to the Duke of Wessex. Thanedoms are expected to write a hierarchal structure conforming to the greater Hyperion hierarchy in order to be eligible for fealty.
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.
Family to a Peer
Lord M. Aeneas, Constable of Wessex plays my brother in this clan. There is only one in the family who may hold the title and be the "Duke of Wessex", however, another member of the family is still called a "lord". He is not lord OF anything, but his blood signifies him as being of a "lordly" class. Lord M. Aeneas roleplays as my brother because he has been guild leader to this clan on occasion in previous years and other incarnations, and I've always had the pleasure of working on it with him.
Those who marry a baron or baroness, for example, may be styled as "lord" or "lady". As with siblings, they do not hold the title "baron" in their own right; their spouses are the peers, but out of courtesy they are styled lord or lady. The courtesy of being styled "lady" is also extended to wives of knights. Unfortunately, husbands of female knights are not traditionally extended the courtesy of being called "lord".
To gain the style of lord/lady in Wessex one must fall into one of the above categories. Unfortunately, category number two is closed for the Dei family for now (but may be opened in the future for special circumstances such as someone playing our mother Sophia ), but it is open to others who establish beforehand their blood relation. For instance, if Gerhard Sigismund became a marquess, then his brother Fenris Sigismund would be styled a lord and their sister, Lady Moira. Anyone marrying one of them would also gain the appropriate style of lord/lady. Those of you who wish to establish and roleplay as family for this possible future benefit may do so anytime before you become freemen.
Bishop
His Excellency Theodroric, whom some of you have had the pleasure of meeting, plays the role of Bishop of Wessex. He too may be referred to as "my lord". 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. As such a high ranking clergyman, Theodoric is not a baron or lord temporal, but a bishop or lord spiritual. I have given him the honor of roleplaying in this position because he's been a "spiritual" leader of this clan in years past and really fits the role impeccably!
