The Second Estate, Part I

As Skerples has written over on Coins and Scrolls one fact consuming Medieval culture is that God put upon the Firmament three Estates of Men.  The First Estate, the Church, are charged with prayer for all.  The Second Estate, the nobility, are charged with the Defense of All.  And the Third Estate, the peasantry and other common folk, are charged with toiling for all.  A lot of this is just background nonsense in your vanilla D&D world but in the setting I'm working up here, it's very front-and-center.  I'm going to start with describing the Second Estate because that's what I was reading up on last night. I'll eventually do the First and Third Estate and the Outlaws.

The first part of this post is about the noble ranks and their import in the setting.  Then in Part II we will talk about the pros and cons of holding any particular rank. 

Noble Ranks of Peerage: Peers of the Realm include all the ranks of nobles. Each one of Gentleman rank and above has his own coat of arms and titles. Usually titles are derived from the names of the lands they hold but sometimes they are last names or colorful sobriquets given at Court.

King

The King is legally such a complicated mess that I may write a whole post just for him.

His Royal Majesty is the embodiment of the will of the Realm. He is the head of state and the head of the military. His pure is the Treasury and the budget, his expenditure. He calls upon the Legislature at times to counsel him and he himself is not above all Law.

In theory and legally, only the sovereign may endow any rank of peerage. However in practice, higher ranks endow lower ranks and the Crown usually just signs off on the endowment.  The sovereign himself has no noble rank.  As the King is superior to all nobles, he cannot also be a noble and be subordinate to himself. He sits outside of and above the Three Estates. A particular King may also be recognized as the Duke of This and the Prince of Thus-and-Such but such titles are those given to him by a previous monarch.

Marquess Hugh Kevelioc (1147-1181)
Famous for his Really Bendy Arm

The ranks of Prince and Duke are just below the King and are essentially interchangeable. Prince in this setting refers to the King's heir and Dukes are other key leading nobles. The Prince and Duke may create any rank of Peerage. Marquesses (March Lords or Earl-Marche) may create Barons and below. 

Marquess: In the early 12th c., before pacifying all the lands of the Realm, the Norman kings of England set aside lands on the Welsh border for their most trusted allies.  These men were endowed with the title of Marquess or Marcher Lord. Marquesses were largely autonomous, and were charged with the defense of the Realm and further the pacification, rulership and incorporation of the Welsh tribes.  As you well know, Wales is still a cultural and semi-autonomous political entity today, so the real Marcher Lords were clearly not completely successful!

These Lords did owe tribute to the Crown but were otherwise a law unto themselves in their Realms. And while technically these lands were gifts (eg they reverted to the Crown at death) they became functionally hereditary over time.

Earls, Viscounts and Barons may create Lord Knights and below.

Viscount is a non-hereditary title granted to the heir-apparent to any of the higher ranks via primogeniture. Lands associated with these titles are Viscounties and sit outside the normal feudal order as the "purse privy" of these types. Sometimes a very wealthy noble with extensive lands will have two or even more Viscounties beneath him, the balance given to his other sons or even other relatives like daughters or brothers. The drawback of creating a Viscounty is that the Viscount creates no wealth for his Lord, which can be a very expensive proposition. They are known as Viscount [X] where the X is their land holding, last name, or nickname.  Edward Chatterton, an imaginary first son of Duke of Lancaster would then be called Viscount Chatterton or Viscount Lancaster.  Or maybe Viscount Poopypants if he smelled bad all the time because he pooped himself.

Viscounts do not have vassals, but rather a Household (Knights, etc) and tenants, the peasantry of his lands.

Lord Knights and Knights are the elite soldiers of the Realm. Lord Knight is a hereditary title. Knight would sometimes be hereditary. Over time, the Lord Knight would pay someone else to serve in his stead, but the Knight would always do his own fighting. Each is given enough land for himself and pay for his equipment, staff, and war expenses. Lord Knights receive a grant (permanent demesne) but Knights only receive a gift (use for life), but that was transferable to the first son if he was to be a Knight as well. Up to 80 peasants would be sworn to each Knight or Lord Knight.  These ranks are called Sir.

Gentlemen are ostensibly small landowners who receive their income from tenant laborers. In reality, it is fairly easy to buy a fraudulent coat of arms and on that strength gain access to the bottom rung Second Estate. Coats of Arms cost about 100-200 GP (CuS), a very tidy sum indeed! Some Gentlemen also serve as cavalry* and they are charged with the defense of their lands and tenants. the Gentleman has no vassals, but his tenants are tied to him financially. Squires would also fit into this rank, and the title for Gentlemen is given as Esquire. 

L-R: Chick, Chick, Chick, Trap

Bastards are men who come from royalty but have been reduced to working for a living. The category includes illegitimate noble issue. It also includes ennobled household help such as an exemplary butler or stable man. A Duke who lost his estate but still lived would be a bastard as well. Bastardy is not hereditary. A man could be the grandson of a king and still be a peasant mud farmer!

*Not all elite soldiers fought from horseback; some knights and gentlemen preferred to fight on foot.  But the large majority did fight from horseback.