Nobility

To assist in ruling such large domains, kings head organizations of barons who receive ruling rights over lands sufficient to support a small local army. The feudal system is an entirely different pyramid of authority than the king’s courts. At its base, the commoners pay their render and rent to their baron, not the king. The baron has his own court, the seigniorial court, which takes care of certain legal recordings and minor judgments, and collects the fees.

One critical rule of the barons is important to state: Any feudal nobleman who receives a writ for a hundred or county court can just pay a reasonable fee (60 pennies) and transfer his case to the Court of the King’s Bench.

Fiefs are not based on Ancient Law and Custom, but are instead determined by Aurelius Ambrosius’ Feudal Law. He imposed them upon the ancient ways in order to finance local armies effective enough to destroy raiders. To settle public demands, Aurelius Ambrosius made a single set of rules for all rulers, nearly all of whom agreed. The few who did not were crushed by young Sir Uther and soon everyone agreed to it.

About forty noble families are called tenants-in-chief, because they hold their land directly from the king. Some of them are legal heirs of ancient British families, some are scions of old Roman families, some are appointees of Vortigern and Aurelius Ambrosius, and some just seized their lands by strength of arms. Prince Uther is the king’s firebrand warlord.

The barons acknowledge their feudal obligations and rights, and support the king. Their holdings are of unequal size, but all of them are large, sufficient to supply at least a conroi (company) of cavalrymen. They are all, equally, barons to the king.

Eight nobles and their families are significantly richer than the others. These form the greater nobility or upper baronage, while the rest are the lesser baronage.

## Noble Titles

### Cavalry (Milites)

Cavalry are not noblemen, but are mentioned here because they are the class from which true knights are drawn. The single most important difference is that a cavalryman swears loyalty as fealty, a temporary promise, while knights swear homage.

### Knight

Knight is a new terminology, used by Prince Uther to signify his selected men from the larger number of cavalry, who are armored horsemen in general. Knights pay homage to their lord, and in return the lord provides protection and leadership, food, shelter, weapons, and status.

### Baron

Fifty-five barons are the warlords of Logres. They are the backbone of the feudal system. They are called tenants-in-chief, with “tenants” in the sense of occupant, and “chiefs” in the sense of leaders.

### Count

Only two counts exist currently: of Salisbury and Caercolun. The title comes from Roman times, comes, which roughly means “regional leader.” Long ago, Emperor Maximus created the office of comes, and made him responsible for local military defense. More recently, Aurelius Ambrosius recognized the remaining counts with their ancient privileges, within his new standards of law.

### Duke

Six nobles hold this title: Sir Ventrius, the Duke of the Saxon Shore; Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall; Corneus, Duke Lindsey; the Duke of the Vale; Edaris, Duke of the Marche; and Eldol, Duke of Glevum.

The office as set up by High King Aurelius was supposed to be temporary, but through political machinations the Dukes of Lindsey and Caercolun both managed to hand it off to their sons, and the Duke of Cornwall has become disturbingly popular with the men of his “temporary” holdings. Only Silchester was appointed by Uther.

### Vavasour

Vavasour means “vassal of a vassal.” A starting Player-knight who is a landholder of Count Roderick is a vavasour. It is not an official title like “knight,” but an exactly correct descriptive term.

## Administration

Several special terms define the holdings of feudal lords.

### Manor

A manor is an estate usually worth £10, the value required to field a knight and three foot soldiers. Still, valuations range from £4-16.

### Estate

An estate is a grant of arbitrary size and resources that is both contiguous and is always held as a single unit from owner to owner. It is usually centered upon a great manor, a castle, abbey, or an ancient holding, and includes various rights and licenses perhaps to a nearby lake, mine, forest or chase, or an additional hundred.

### Honour

An honour is a large grant of land and rights that a king bestows on a baron ~ his barony. Its several separate parcels are always kept together as long as the honour exists (it may disappear if it returns to the king). A typical honour has:

* An estate with a caput major, or chief manor, which usually gives its name to the honour (each barony is also an estate).
* A castle at the caput major, whose upkeep is maintained by the baron.
* An abbey closely attached to the local ruler, (small compared to the barons of the robes).
* Other manors specified by name, usually in distant counties
* Private hundreds to provide rent income to maintain the baron and his following of knights, usually in other counties.

It is impossible to create a neat and accurate map of all the baronial holdings, as if they were little castle-states. They are often interspersed among each other’s territories