Guide on Novels and Games - FANTASY - S&R - SOCIETY SECTION

The normal society in most medieval like fantasy stories have some common element but since this change based on the author is not really possible create a single list so I'll talk about arguments that I think are logic to say.

NOBLES

In medieval epoch there were nobles and we see them in basically all the fantasy.

An important thing that I have to say is that the main purpose of nobles is that of support the ruler of a country keeping their eyes on the portion of territory they control collecting taxes, working for prosper it and control a small army for defend the borders, I don't exclude the existence of the corrupted nobles we see in stories but in reality do that go against their own interests so in reality people like that were quite rare.

Before explain how work the territory management is better list the various noble titles, please note that if I don't have particular information to say about them there will be only the title:


 * Rulers,	I use this term for indicate who rule the country and so I refer to	Kings, Queens, Emperor and Empress.
 * Prince	/ Princess, this title is used for indicate the son/s and	the daughter/s of the rulers, in ancient time there was a title	called "Grand Prince / Grand Princess" that an author can	use as a way for separate the one that will succed the throne	(normally is the first born) and the other siblings.
 * Duke	/ Duchess, various times I saw a ruler's brother/s or	sister/s use this title so it's legit suppose that whoever don't	succeed a throne can become a duke or duchess BUT in medieval	periods nobles married their sons and/or daughters into other	families and this worked for all of them, from rulers to low rank	nobles and especially women since in certain cultures noble women	were unable to inherit the title, despite this is possible that	ruler's family member will take a title forming a new household	instead get married in one that already exist. If a ruler don't	have an heir is possible that a child from a duke branch family will	be adopted or that will take the throne after the ruler's death	without adoption.
 * Marquis	& Margrave, I don't have too much to say about the	marquis rank but I have something for the margrave. It's a title	of the holy roman empire that was give to the nobles that were in	the border of the country and protect it, it said that in terms of	rank it say that it is lower respect a duke but high respect count	and from that the reason of me placing it here with the marquis.
 * Count	& Landgrave, while the rank of count have a position in	the hierarchy the rank of Landgrave is a little different. A	Landgrave was originally a title gave to counts that basically put	the noble under the direct order of the ruler's family making the	landgrave free from the authority of any other lord.
 * Viscount,	about the viscont I have to say that originally this title was a	non-hereditary administrative or judicial position, but in fantasy	stories this trait seems be removed.
 * Baron,	is basically a person who pledged his/her loyalty and service to	his/her superior in return for some territory that can pass to	his/her heirs.
 * Baronet	& Knight, they are the lowest ranks between nobles to	the point that there is no difference between them and commoners...	basically one can say that they are noble just in title and not in	reality... in various stories where this titles appears other nobles	treat them as lower considering nobles only people from baron	onwards.

There is a title that was difficult for me to place in the hierarchy that is the title "Earl".

From what I saw in my researches, originally was the same rank of a duke during the middle ages but in the later medieval britain the title was the equivalent of a count... said this I think all of you can understand why I hadn't placed it in the ranking over here.

In all of this I think that a fedual society can be divided like this:


 * The	ruler that live and mainly directly control the territory where the	capital is located.
 * The	first circle of nobles with the titles like Earl for the internal	territories and Margrave for the terrirories in the borders that	control big portions of the country.
 * The	second circle of nobles that can have various titles and control	small portions of the territories that are gave to them by the	margraves or earls.

Till now I said the ranks and hierarchy but how someone can become a noble? Here the answer:


 * Birth,	since most titles are hereditary the new born is a noble too, be	recognized by the family is another matter.
 * Adoption,	one can become a noble once adopted into a noble family.
 * Marriage,	when a commoner marry a noble, it's difficult but if the commoner in	question is someone that can give merits to the house, like is a	powerfull soldier or a famous mage, than the chance of happen go up
 * Money,	rich people can "buy" a title, they can't buy an high rank	one and normally are baronet or knight.
 * Merits,	the commoner show his value and it can gain a title, this can happen	with the king that hear about the commoner and decide to take it
 * Reccomendation,	a noble notice a commoner and propose to make it a noble, most of	the time the ex-commoner is put under the noble that made the	reccomendation.
 * Nameless	title, a ruler can give to a noble a "nameless title"	that are free to give them to whoever they feel they fit so, for	example, a king give a "nameless marquis title" to a duke	and the duke can give it to a very loyal guard or to one of his	sons. Despite this the new noble need always, like any other	noble, swear loyalty to the ruler.

After saw all of this is possible that someone can think that fantasy don't have "political quarrels" and maybe is possible BUT humans are naturally greedy beings and so have political factions in fantasy with nobles is something that is very possible.

COMMONER

This term is used for indicate all the people that are not noble.

Say what a commoner can or can't do is a little difficult because this elements change based on the choice of the author and the background of the world but let me point some of this differences:


 * Normally	the illiteracy rate is very high and nobles are mainly the one that	are able to read, write and calculate aside clericals and merchants.
 * Worlds	that were advanced in the past have people that can read, write and	calculate plus worlds like this tend to unite language and	measurement units so all talk, write and read the same language and	take measures at the same way.
 * Real	medieval like worlds don't have public schools or hospitals so all	the knowledge is basically managed by nobles and churches.
 * In	real medieval worlds you can learn things paying private teachers	but only if you have enough money to do so and for this reason that	only rich merchants and nobles can read and write.

ADMINISTRATION AND GOVERNMENT

First of all we start with the classical notion... with monarchy there are nobles but this make another problem that most people probably never though... what is the difference between a kingdom and an empire... well, for make it simple an empire is a group of countries that have an emperor and/or emperess that govern over various kings and queens while a kingdom is a nation that have only a king and/or a queen.

Don't know you but to me this definition create inside my head a couple of questions:

Q: Can an alliance of small countries be considered an empire?

A: No, since the empire have a single ruler for various nations, in this case they made an alliance where each country is on its own but that is ready to help the members.

Q: I saw a country that was called kingdom but the ruler it's elected like is some kind of president, what's the meaning of this?

A: The main concept of monarchy is based on the presence of a royal or imperial family and the presence of other nobles too, if we take into consideration this and the fact that the ruler's title is "king" or "queen" mean that that country is a kingdom, at least this is my opinion.

Q: Let's say that there is a group of small countries that lost their royal families and the nobles decide to stay divided but in an alliance, what that will be?

A:I think that this is the case of a federation, in this case the concept is quite simple... there is no ruler and the nobles create a "congress" where they decide a representative that take the decision for their territory and be a member of a council where all the representative decide about things that involve all the countries of the federation... so, in the end the positions that are held in this kind of places are the nobles ranks and the title of the representative that can be anything.

A variation of this is that each member of the federation have a royal family BUT they still form a congress with no real ruler.

Q: It's possible for a religious figure, like the head of a religion, rule a country instead of a royal or imperial family?

A: Yes, I personally saw a couple of works where a "Pope" or a similar titled man/woman rule over a nation that sometimes is named "Holy Nation X" or similar, their government is basically the highest positions that in a congress take the decision, when a "pope" die they just elect another one that will take that position.

So, in the end for what concern government we can summarize this:


 * Kingdom,	single country with a single ruler.
 * Empire,	Various countries where each one have a ruler but they take order	from the Emperor
 * Holy	Nation, the high members of a religion manage the country and there	is no
 * Federation	/ Alliance, various countries with the rulers that join in a	congress and decide for all of them.

In all of this the classical medieval fantasy have some central organization problems and this give to the authors some "holes" that they can use.


 * Absence	of Records, villages don't take note of who born, when and	the parents of such child. In some cases is possible that a local	church record it but is not sure.
 * Tax	collection, when there weren't money, taxes where payed	using food or materials like minerals. They were collected by the	village's chief and then gave to the tax collector, in this case the	opening come from the fact that without records it is not possible	say if the taxes are payed the right ammount plus for a chief was	easy to say that there were a pour harvest while keeping for himself	or the village more products.
 * Identity	Issues, anyone can say to have a name and come from a	specific place but since there were nothing for prove that the only	thing one can do is take as true what is said, for example my name	is Joshua and I'm born in village X but than I go to the capital and	say that I'm born in city Y of the kingdom Z and my name is Lucas,	as you can see from this example since there are no proof for	demostrate what I said the only thing one can do is take as true my	words. In a way can be good since this way is possible give a	chance of new life for people that may be persecuted for whatever	reason.
 * Staff,	in fantasy, most of the time, only nobles cover government's	positions and various time the thing is hereditary so if a position	is covered by someone that is not able to the work than problems	will come, in situation like this normally or the noble cover its	mistakes or the ruler give the position to someone else.
 * Partial	Covering, institutions and administrations cover only a	limited number of places, with this I don't mean that small places	are left on their own but that the physical presence is limited to	certain places like big cities and commerical cities, for example if	a small village need a judge then it's need to call one, then wait	its arrive or move the ones involved to where the judge is, most of	the time is the second option.