The Death of Arthur •

The Death of Arthur

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Order of Precedence

“Ah, your grace, that is not well done."
"In what lacketh it?"
"These people do not call each other varlets."
"Nay, is that true?"
"Yes; only those above them call them so."
"Then must I try again. I will call him villein."
"No-no; for he may be a freeman."
"Ah—so. Then peradventure I should call him goodman."
"That would answer, your grace, but it would be still better if you said friend, or brother."
"Brother!—to dirt like that?” Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

The Wheel of Fortune has put every soul in its rightful place - some higher, some lower. And people can care a whole lot about the steps of that ranking, so here’s a broadly generalized list of the precedence and what differentiates them.

Tier 1 - Sovereigns

These are independent rulers. They have absolute authority in their realms.

In specific order, these include:

  1. The Pope, “who hath no peere”
  2. The Emperor of Rome, King of the Britons, Brytenwalda, Ard Ri of Ireland1, and other such kings-of-kings2
  3. Kings, Cardinals, the Lady of the Lake, and their equals
  4. The children of kings, Archdruids, Archbishops (aside from the Pope, above), and high-titled nobles who have royal blood3

Tier 2 - The High Lords

These are primarily nobles who serve a liege lord and are granted their position by the favor and at the pleasure of4 the sovereign - and whose position is particularly great.

In no particular order, these include:

  • Bishops
  • Abbot-bishops
  • Dukes5
  • Counts6

and their equals

Tier 3 - Baronial Lords

Barons are any lord whose liege is the sovereign and who has vassals of their own. Most characters of a higher level are also Barons - this rank is for barons who don’t have enough7 to break into Tier 2.

This tier also includes more minor Abbots, Justiciars and other high officials of the king, and the Mayor of London8.

Knights of the Round Table also count as this tier, though lower than any other in it, if they have no higher rank, and other high knightly orders may be sometimes ranked up here.

Tier 4 - Knights

  1. Knights Bachelors9, Deans, Archdeacons, Priors of Cathedrals, Druids - and their equals.
  2. Knights Banneret10, Master of the Rolls, Lower Royal Judges and Clerks, Lord Mayors - and their equals.
  3. Landed Knights11, Doctors of Divinity, Prothonotaries12, Papal Legates - and their equals.
  4. Household Knights13 and Knights Errant14

Tier 5 - Lesser Gentry

  1. Doctors of Law, Damosels of the Lake, Former Mayors of London, Masters of the Chancery - and their equals.
  2. Squires, and Ladies in Waiting, Masters of Arts, Monks and Nuns, Priests, Parsons, Vicars, etc. - and their equals.
  3. City Bailiffs, Serjeants at Arms, Heralds - and their equals.
  4. Merchants, Friars, and all Gentlemen and Gentlewomen15 and other such worthies.

Tier 6 - Major Commoners

This is the rank of “big men” - at least, the ones that don’t break into the higher ranks the way lawyers and merchants do, but who still are very powerful in their class. These may have enough money, power and influence to rival smaller gentry families, but lack any high title.

Many do get lower titles, like Bailiff, Verderer, etc. for the lords they work with.

Tier 7 - Freemen

Most commoners aren’t “big men”, though. One step down are the poor free folk. These still have all the rights of freemen, but are too poor to have much of a chance to make much of it.

Tier 8 - Serfs

Below the freemen are villeins, or serfs. While still “free” in a sense, they must serve the lands they are bound to16. Particularly poor beggars, even if technically free, also will get lumped in with this group.

Tier 9 - Strangers, Outlaws and Slaves

The law protects all above this tier, even if only weakly. To be “out-law” is to not be protected by the law (e.g. it’s not illegal to murder you, though there can be nuance to the state). This can be intentionally applied, as a punishment, or applied to strangers that society can’t place in other categories.

It can also be applied to slaves. Technically, depending on legal system, they may have some protections out of plain human rights; but broadly they fall under property rather than persons in the law’s eyes17. They still rank above animals, but depending on the exact situation it can be just barely.

Slavery has been dying out in Britain and many other formerly Roman areas for awhile18, and is often seen as a barbaric practice.

Additional Considerations of Precedence

These are some additional qualifiers:

  • Ladies of lower precedence are treated with their husband’s rank.
    • However, ladies of royal blood remain treated as having royal rank.
  • If someone is an envoy or messenger, treat them as one degree higher than their actual rank (assuming the one who sent them has higher status).
  • To break ties, first judge by bloodline. Let the more illustrious be set higher.
  • If you cannot break ties by that, then use some other concept of worthiness related to their field. For example, if they are doctors, rank them based on how many years they’ve studied. For lords, you might rank them based on their lands and properties.

Footnotes

  1. Order within this level is very much dependent on politics. Very much like how the American code requires the American flag always be higher/more-prominent than other flags it is flown with, in Britain most people would argue the King of the Britons is the highest positioned among these - but that would differ in other places (and even depending on the time). ↩

  2. I said kings are sovereign or independent… but they still sometimes have overkings. This is at least in theory a little more like a “first among equals” with some rights still practically or formally in the hands of the local king. ↩

  3. i.e. someone you might call a Duke or a Prince who is not just the king’s child (who get in this tier automatically), but who also has a really good, royal, bloodline - either a more distant relative, or sometimes respect for other royal families. This is a way to mark important allies, suggest that someone outside the obvious chain of succession is your desired heir, etc. ↩

  4. At least in theory. ↩

  5. A dux is a military role in larger kingdoms, usually granted rule over a wide region or against a specific threat or border. They have the right to act on the king’s behalf within this specific jurisdiction, in particular to gather a large enough army and march against an invader without needing to coordinate with the ruler. ↩

  6. Comitas are rulers of counties - generally remnants of older tribal kingdoms whose sovereignty was absorbed over time into the larger kingdom. They typically have some military authority, but within only the strict bounds of the county and only for its shared defense, and other various rights and privileges within the borders of the county. Generally seen as a bit less prominent than a dux, though they are orthogonal concerns. ↩

  7. That’s not to say they can’t be as powerful or more than a Count or Duke. However, barons who have enough power to aspire to that position are often at least trying to gain some position that grants them that additional prestige. ↩

  8. Other lord mayors count as lower - London is special. ↩

  9. Knights knighted by king or queen personally. ↩

  10. Knights who have vassal knights (but who aren’t barons because their liege lord isn’t sovereign). ↩

  11. i.e. the knight is directly a lord of some holding, but has no vassals. ↩

  12. First scribe or recorder of a court. ↩

  13. Knights who have sworn to a liege but are not enfeoffed with land - instead being paid and supported directly by the liege as part of their household retinue. ↩

  14. Knights who have no liege, but make a living doing mercenary or hire work, or winning tournaments and achieving adventures. ↩

  15. That is, having some degree of noble or gentry blood. ↩

  16. Freemen may not be able to move and seek fortune somewhere else, and may be practically bound by debts they can’t repay, but they at least theoretically are legally able to. Serfs are not. ↩

  17. Even the debt-controlled freeman, or the serf who must obey orders, is legally a person and has unalienable rights, no matter how limited their recourse to them is. ↩

  18. Though partially replaced by growing serfdom. It’s progress, sure, but don’t get your hopes too high. ↩