AcolyteSo I'm kind of spitballing ideas for different types of governments for a medieval fantasy setting and I'm kind of curious on the idea of nobility that is very tightly controlled with most nobles only owning small pieces of land and perhaps only a few Wardens that are a step below an emperor. Are their any real world parallels to this?
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Nobles and such.
- Thread starter RyuRed
- Start date
CupofJoe
Myth Weaver
Who owns the rest of the land? What do the Wardens do?
From what I remember, in some medieval European societies, all land was a grant of the King/Big Kahuna. You had to swear fealty or it wasn't yours any more. The church also confused the issue by saying it worked for a Bigger Kahuna and that all taxes etc. went to them.
From what I remember, in some medieval European societies, all land was a grant of the King/Big Kahuna. You had to swear fealty or it wasn't yours any more. The church also confused the issue by saying it worked for a Bigger Kahuna and that all taxes etc. went to them.
- Thread starter
- #3
The nobles swear fealty directly to the emperor of Ernstrom, or to a Warden who rules in the emperor's name. The idea is I have a neighboring region, Arthen, that has a king and the nobles in that country have alot more power. The big difference is Ernstrom has several state regulated armies and the nobles are only allowed to field city guards for defense against bandits. Arthen relies on its noble houses to supply troops for it's liege lords.
CupofJoe
Myth Weaver
From this, I'm getting a slight Roman vibe. It differed with time, but there was the Emperor in the centre and the regions were ruled by governors. I think all the armies were controlled by the Emperor in name if not in reality or directly. I think that only city guards, auxiliaries and the like could be raised by the governors, to keep the peace and regulate trade. If there was a war to be fought, that was the Emperor's job.
I'm sure there are people around here that are far more learned than me about Rome.
