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But Lot of Orkney had a wife, a dark one;    
And rumor says no man who gazed at her,    
Attentively, might say his prayers again    
Without a penance or an absolution.
I know not about that; but the world knows    
That Arthur prayed in vain once, if he prayed Edwin Arlington Robinson, Lancelot

A bastard is a child who was conceived by two parents who were not a married couple. While “trueborn” children are expected to inherit by default and to be “part” of the family in terms of who gets its protection under the law and under arms, bastards only get this when legitimized or formally declared as having the same rights. They also tend to be viewed more negatively¹ when known²; though this varies to degree and is rarely as severe as the modern depictions can put it.

Roughly speaking, we can divide bastards into the following kinds:

Naturalis

An illegitimate child born of two unwed parents who could have been married³⁴, the most socially acceptable form of illegitimacy.

These kinds of bastards are often legitimized and grow up more or less coequal with their trueborn counterparts.

Spurius (Noble Father)

Obviously the next distinction would be if the parents were unmarried but there was some obstacle to marriage - and the mildest of these is probably the class divide.

And of that, the most usual case is a noble father and a common mother. These children are not often legitimized⁵ and put in the main line of inheritance, but are commonly recognized and looked after.

Typically these children will live a common life with significant perks passed down to them from their relatives. They’re often the right-hand-man or woman for their trueborn siblings, especially if the bastard is older and more experienced. They have the first pick of good positions of power… within their class.

Spurius (Noble Mother)

This is a rarer and more scandalous case, usually unacknowledged and covered up⁶, with the child and sometimes the mother sent away to a convent or other refuge, usually.

Nothus

Now we get to bastards where one or both parents have committed adultery⁷. This adds an additional shadow of scandal and criminality in society’s eyes, but alone it’s not enough to fully demote the child… depending on the status of the parents.

Who is Committing Adultery?	Common Societal Expectation
A common woman	Eh, it’s effectively Spurius (Noble Father) - aside from presumably upset husband.
A common man	Again, fairly similar to Spurius (Noble Mother). It’s a bit of extra gossip, but not a huge add-on to the scandal.
A noble woman	Extremely scandalous, with the woman risking annulment of the marriage and being disowned by husband’s family and her own family alike. Still, there are plenty of cases where the risk of hiding the affair is taken. If, after the marriage is broken up, the affair partner was willing and able to take in the mother, the baggage on the child can sometimes be significantly reduced - people can see it as more like a Naturalis birth.
A noble man	Generally considered to have a similar status as their trueborn siblings - much like a Naturalis birth - but almost never legitimized or in line to inherit.

Mamzer

The most shamed bastards are those born out of already dark circumstances - rape and incest. Any other kind of scandalous parentage can be brushed aside over time, but these relationships carry no excuses - and society tends to see the children as forever marred by the same stigma.

These children almost never⁸ inherit or see any special favor from their parentage, and recognition only by rumor.

Footnotes

1. Despite, to be clear, having done nothing to choose or deserve the circumstances of their births. ↩

2. Because, at least in some situations, it’s possible to conceal the true parentage of a child. ↩

3. i.e. there’s no other obstacle that would separate them, aside from impatience or disinterest ↩

4. For societies without formally established marriages, you could argue all children start out in this state until recognized. For ones where formal marriages are limited in spread, the official ceremonies just entrench and secure the children born that way. Even when the ceremony is common and expected and there’s strong taboos against sex out of wedlock, these kinds of children are easily excused as merely rash decisions, especially if the couple marries afterwards. A scandal at the time, but not a permanent stain. ↩

5. Though may be if legitimate heirs are lacking or they make a great name for themselves. ↩

6. If possible. Passed off as a child of a loyal and discreet servant, for instance. ↩

7. That is, they are married and having sex outside of it. ↩

8. As a bit of a twist, King Arthur notably falls within this category (though without a full picture of the situation there’s at least wiggleroom for society to see him as Nothus), as does the grail knight Sir Galahad. And, yes, treacherous Mordred, but the point is there’s still room to rise despite the stigma. ↩