Medieval/ Feudal Society Table

ADDITIONAL NOTES

*I will use/follow this table for more concrete details because in reality, this TABLE is far more complicated and confusing. In medieval Europe there are times when Knights have their own lands, but some don’t and there are times when a count is far more powerful than the duke, or a baron far more powerful than a count/earl, and also even have multiple titles on their name, for example, King Henry II (1133-1189) where he was a King of England and he is also Duke of Normandy & Aquitaine, Count of Maine, Anjou & Touraine, so yeah. Their society is complicated as hell.

*I did not put all ranks/titles that were used during medieval times in this table. So if you were knowledgeable in that field, you may notice and ask, “why is the blah blah not inside the Table”, that is BECAUSE I only put what I am going to use for this novel to avoid confusions, I will show this table again with its updates if I decided to add or use a title that isn’t on the table.

*Any Noble Rank/title that is below the “Dominus” row cannot be inherited. For example, a child of a Knight cannot inherit the title in the event of his/her father’s / mother’s death. He/she has to enter the process of Knighthood to gain this title.

*Any rank below the Knight is not a Title but a status because of their job or livelihood or situation or from their parents.

*Duke / Duchess were directly under the Royal family, no one is above them other than the King and Emperor. They are like personal vassals of the King or Emperor. (I searched and read some things about the society and medieval aristocracy, and it is complicated AF. The responsibilities and powers of a duke is not consistent as such I will just use this description for the sake of consistency.)

*Marquis are the 2nd highest rank after the King but don’t be confuse in thinking Marquis is equal to Duke as Marquises were outside the supervision of the Royal Family, King or Emperor, their territories is usually on the frontiers to protect that land against invaders or raiders. But they still answers to their overlord; King or Emperor (Again, this is one of the complicated parts of medieval society because sometimes/some places, Marquises were equal or even more powerful than Dukes but sometimes/some places are not. Their power and duty to the realm also varies from different countries so again for the sake of consistency, I will just use this and the table.)

*Serfs are different from slaves because they were allowed to live in good homes, have their own properties, have money, eat at their leisure, have families, but they ARE NOT allowed to change or even to choose their livelihood and occupation. They also don’t have freedom to move around and was forbidden to escape their land. There are actually laws with punishment against those escaped serfs and those who shelters them. So those who found an escape serf must immediately capture or report them and have their lord reclaim them.

*Serfs were practically the manpower to work on their lords’ lands or farms without much freedom of choice. They are essentially the source of income of every lords and the ones toiling the fields, planting the seeds, and harvest the bounties but they don’t get to eat the result of their hard work as all of it is given to their lords while serfs were given only a small share.

*And like of that of the Slaves’, the children of the serfs will also become serfs.

*(In my Novel and table) You may wonder why peddlers and travellers have lower rank in society than normal citizens, it is because they have no permanent citizenship. Most of the people during medieval era are far more cruel and close minded that what you think or see in movies or generic novels, most especially in remote areas not usually visited by merchants or away from trading hubs. Suspicions of being a spy are unavoidable. And sometimes they were regarded as greedy lying men whose only concern is money. That is why the presence of Merchant’s Guild is essential to some traders to increase their importance in the region. But it may also depend on the kingdom as some countries gave the Merchant Class a good status sometimes equal to a Knight & Lord even without the presence of a guild like those near Venice or League(s) during medieval era.

*If you think I did a mistake in the table or in my details of explanation, please don’t hesitate to send me a message in my email, patreon or Facebook. Any correction is greatly welcomed. But make sure to attach a reference also. I will ignore any corrections without any reference or proof of your explanation.

NOTE:

I will still naturally describe and add details about the tables above in between chapters and volumes. But I just want to make a table where people who will not be able to comprehend the information in between or just too lazy to understand the narrative details will still be able to know through these tables.

And if you enjoyed my series, please don’t forget to support me by donating. It really helps a lot (especially after my beloved computer just broke down recently and went to Valhalla, may we meet each other again as part of the Einherjar *sniff).