Nesarian Traditional Social Structure

The traditional social structure of Nesarian society is one that closely mirrors European feudalism, and when translated into English the different ranks in the social hierarchy are given the names of their rough European equivalents. This social hierarchy is substantially less influential and noticeable in the modern day, and some ranks are no longer applicable at all, but they have governed Nesarian society for most of its existence.

The ranks in the Nesarian social structure are listed here in order from lowest to highest.

## Serfs

Serfs were defined as tenant farmers who, unlike renters and tenanters, did not merely rent their land, but were bound to it in perpetuity. Serfs were only tenants of noble lords; common gentry could not, by law, preside over serfs. A serf could pay their rent in money if the lord agreed, but more commonly they would earn their property through labour, working in the lord's household or on their farms. Serfs required their lord's permission to travel long distances away from their land, and had to pay a substantial fee if they wished to move away (usually because they married someone from outside the estate) as compensation for lost labour.

Although serfs were not slaves - they were not owned by their lord and had many rights over their lord which prevented abuse - they were bound to their lord due to being bound to the land, and legally speaking all of the serf's property belonged to the lord. However, a lord was forbidden from infringing upon a serf's "personal property" even though he legally owned it; he could not, for example, confiscate a serf's clothes, tools, deadwood, food, animals or money.

Serfdom ceased to exist after the reforms made by Emperor Mathados IV when he abolished the Republic of Nesaria in 58BC. All serfs were freed and promoted to the rank of tenanters.

## Renters

Renters are defined as tenant farmers who do not own the land they work and do not have perpetual rights to their land. They are similar to tenanters in that their landlord has very little power over them, but the crucial difference is that a renter can be evicted from the property they live on. A renter and their landlord may come to an agreement as an alternative for rent if it cannot be paid, but the landlord is at liberty to evict the renter if they wish, whereas this is legally impossible for a tenanter.

Renters used to be rare, and the practice of a landlord having renters rather than tenanters was greatly frowned upon, but the urbanisation of Nesaria has led to a significant increase of renters in the cities. This is to be expected, since renters are no different from those who rent property elsewhere in the world.

## Tenanters

Tenanters, also known as free tenants or simply as peasants, are defined as tenant farmers who do not own the land they work but have exclusive and perpetual rights to live and work on it. Compared to serfs, the landlord who owns their land has very little power over them. Unlike renters, tenanters cannot be evicted from their land; if for whatever reason the rent is unable to be paid, the tenanter is obliged to pay with their labour instead, with a great many restrictions surrounding what labour they can actually do and what a single work hour of a given job is worth in terms of rent. Tenanters do not require the landlord's permission to move away from their land, but they do lose their perpetual right to the land if they do so.

Under Nesarian law, a noble who grants some of their estate to a tenant must make them a tenanter and not a renter - but the gentry have no such restrictions.

Although tenanters were once the majority of Nesarians, they are now very rare, and are mostly farmers. The majority of people who rent property are instead renters.

## Rentworkers and Freeworkers

Rentworkers and Freeworkers are two uniquely urban social classes which describe employed craftsmen or artisans who do not meet the definition of urban yeomen - in other words, they do not sustain themselves off their own property. Freeworkers are higher in status, and they are freeholders who own the property they live in but rely on employment to sustain themselves.

Rentworkers are lower than freeworkers, and they are those who do not own their property, but rent it. Rentworkers may be additionally classed as renters or tenanters, with tenanters having perpetual rights to the property they live in. Historically, it was a common practice for rentworkers to work for their landlord, receiving only a meagre wage in return for not having to pay rent, but in modern times this is not standard practice.

## Yeomen

Yeomen are defined as independent freeholders whose estates are not great enough to raise them to the status of gentry. They can also be alternatively defined as independent freeholders who own and work all of their land directly and do not rent any of it to tenants. The term also applies to urban freeholders who own the property they live and work in and all the tools of their trade, and sustain themselves with their own labour and property - in other words, they are self-employed.

## Gentry

Gentry are independent freeholders who are not aristocrats by blood but nonetheless occupy an aristocrat-*like* position in society. They are defined as landowners who rent their estates to tenants and make enough from rental income to sustain their family without having to work the land themselves.

Though the term is still used in modern Nesaria to refer to rural landowners who live exclusively off the rents of tenants, it is not used for urban landlords who make their money by renting out apartments and such.