Westerland Social Castes

The Westerlands have a number of different social castes, which are a staple of Westerland Society and Culture, particularly in prior to the Colonial Era. Some of these social castes a direct result of the Westerland Peerage, and primarily exist to support the Westerland Feudal Traditions that were particularly important during the post-imperial era. 
== Defining membership ==
One did not hold a membership card that marked on as a member in the exclusive social-caste club of choice - it was something a person was born into, and it all came down to recognition. For more information on how such things were recorded, see Westerland Dynastic Traditions. 
=== Proletarians ===
Proletarians were those in society who had no recognition and were, for the same reason, not permitted to own property. It was actually quite simple - if no one could vouch for you, and your identity was not recorded anywhere official, you couldn't own land, as your name on the deed would mean nothing. 
* Proletarians were most commonly serfs, but some were slaves or thralls, which was arguably worse. 
* Typically, especially toward the mid and late post-imperial periods, the first generation of a settling family were always serfs, but then the following generation were recorded and regarded as commoners. 
* Slaves and thralls were most commonly found in Freeholds, as slavery was generally prohibited in the King's Lands - this went for almost all Countries universally. Even then, the Imperial Laws forbade most kinds of direct slavery, making thralldom much more common. 
=== Commoners ===
Commoners are recorded and documented individuals who are recognized, but do not own their residence. This is, as indicated by the name of the social class, very common. 
* Commoners are typically tenant farmers, and quite a few of them actually own the houses they live in due to the way the law works, but the land surrounding the house is not theirs - to be regarded as burgess, a certain amount of land must be owned in the vicinity of the residence (~5 acres, or ~0.02 square kilometers).
* Commoners often lived an existence very closely related to that of serfs - unlike serfs, they were required to pay taxes, but could often get out of this by performing work duties for the local authority when requested, and as such, their existence did not differ much from that of a serf, and they were often equally land-bound as the land they rented was often given on a lease that contracted them to tend that land, and pay a certain percentage of the yield in rent, for a specific amount of time. 
* Commoners were regarded as residents, and did not have all the same rights that a proper citizen would have. 
* Commoners did not have any outright military obligations, but could be conscripted (or allowed to volunteer) for the Watch, and this was usually the case - but they did not have the right to keep or bear arms, excepting certain weapons that were legally regarded as tools. 
* The Guilds did not typically take commoners into their ranks, though there was nothing that legally prohibited them from doing so. This did mean that commoners had very few options in life, often forced to be either farmers or laborers. 
=== Burgess ===
The Burgess were those who owned their own land, and generally came in three variants; the low-burgess, the burghers and the free farmers - in all circumstances, apart from large trading companies, the vast majority of all business owners were of the burgess. 
* The low-Burgess were those who did not own a full plot of land, and thus still typically had to rent land, or were rural craftsmen or rural business owners. 
* The burghers are those who own a residence inside of a settlement that has a bailiff, and they were typically business owners or craftsmen of some sort. 
* Free Farmers were those who owned at least a plot of land. They were typically distant relatives of the Gentry. 
* Common for all burgess, was that they were not only documented, but owned a certain amount of land (~5 acres or ~0.02 square kilometers) around their primary residence OR owned a house inside of a settlement that had a bailiff appointed. 
* The Burgess were regarded as citizens, and they had many rights that those below their station did not have. 
* The Burgess, as citizens, had a right to bear arms in self-defense, for instance - this was limited to certain weapons, however - namely dueling swords. 
* The burgess had military obligations - typically requiring one man to serve in the citizen militia at any given time, but in some places, all members of the burgess had to at least receive military training. 
=== Gentry ===
Those related to Nobility, but not immediately so, were regarded as the Gentry. The blood relation was thin enough that they were not trusted in the same way as actual nobility - at least not in theory - but the Gentry were still related to important people, albeit perhaps distantly so, and they were afforded many rights that others did not have. 
* Because the Gentry were dangerous to the nobility, as they could in theory push their relations as claims, it was important to control them, and this was done by actually raising their children at the courts. 
* The children of the Gentry were required to report as Junior Paiges at the local court, and the women would continue after that, as handmaidens whereas the men would continue as valets. 
* They functioned as hostages, but were also educated and brought up to be loyal and close to their lieges, and so instead of being threats, they became friends and supporting elements of the feudal hierarchy. 
* Many lords required that at least one man from each gentry household had to serve as a Gendarme, a professional soldier of rather elite status, but he was in turn rewarded with a plot of land of his own. 
* The Gentry, because of having been raised in the way they were, could be appointed to Offices and could also work as courtiers, making them very useful. 
* The upper crust of Gentry, those not very far removed from their Noble relatives, are usually called the "low nobility" or the "high gentry", but they are in reality still members of the Gentry. 
* The lowest reaches of the Gentry were typically just not acknowledged as Gentry anymore, and were typically excluded from the Gentry traditions, but could in theory claim membership. 
* The Gentry had extended rights to bear arms, typically extending to rapiers (in the late post-imperial era), longswords and sometimes other weapons as well. 
=== Nobility ===
The Nobility is the most confusing social caste, as it refers to Knights (as defined by Westerland Chivalric Traditions), Westerland Governors, Westerland Earls, Westerland Freeholders and the immediate relatives of those mentioned. 
* Not everyone who was the immediate relative of a title-holder of some sort would themselves inherit a title. Members of the nobility could count on varied careers and life-paths. 
* To gain influence with the church, the nobility would often send their youngest son to a monastery to study for priesthood, though he was forbidden from taking vows of any kind until such a time as the appointed heir had sired potential heirs of their own. 
* It was typically the oldest son who was meant to inherit the fiefdom, and depending on what kind of fiefdom, the tradition for what this son was often pushed to do with their lives differed - a low-ranking freeholder would often send the oldest son to be a Knight in service, as a Knight-at-Arms, to their overlord, whereas an Earl or high-ranking Freeholder would often send their oldest son to study at a university.