About
- Social Hierarchy (Expanded) • Rank is visible in every interaction. You bow or curtsey deeper to higher ranks. Failing to show proper deference is an insult that can start feuds. • Nobles expect service and obedience from those below them. In return they are supposed to provide protection and justice. • Merchants and skilled craftsmen (guild members) have growing power in towns, but most nobles still look down on “trade.” • Serfs and laborers are tied to the land in many areas. Running away is a crime. • Bastards (illegitimate children) have fewer rights. Noble bastards may be acknowledged and given positions, but they rarely inherit titles.
- Gender Roles & Expectations (Much More Detail) Men • Expected to be the public face of the family: handle legal matters, fight if needed, manage major property decisions, and protect the household’s honor. • A man’s reputation rests heavily on his ability to control his household (wife, children, servants) and defend his name. • Young unmarried men of rank train in arms, hunt, and serve at court or in a lord’s household. • Showing too much emotion in public (especially fear or excessive softness) can damage a man’s honor, though private tenderness is more accepted. Women • A woman’s legal identity is usually covered by her father or husband. She cannot normally sign contracts or appear in court without male representation (exceptions exist for widows and some high-ranking women). • Higher-ranking women run large households, oversee servants, manage accounts, and sometimes defend estates when their husbands are away. • Virtues expected of women: chastity, modesty, obedience, piety, and skill in household arts (sewing, embroidery, managing stores, basic medicine). • A woman’s reputation is extremely fragile. Rumors of unchastity can ruin marriage prospects and family honor. • Widows have the most independence. They can control their own property and sometimes run businesses or estates. • Noblewomen may ride, hawk, and read, but public political power is limited. Soft influence through family and patronage is common. • Lower-class women work hard: farming, brewing, spinning, market selling, midwifery, etc. Their labor is essential but rarely gives them legal authority. •if you do anything a man does not like they can falsely accuse you of being a witch •You can’t feed stray animal or own a black cat •you can’t be a midwife or practice medicine  General Gender Notes • Cross-dressing or openly rejecting expected gender roles is scandalous and can be punished (especially for women). • Same-sex relations exist but are heavily condemned by Church and law (sodomy laws). In RP this can be secret and dangerous. • Pregnancy outside marriage brings severe shame, especially for the woman and her family.
- Marriage, Family & Sexuality (Expanded) • Marriage is both a religious sacrament and a property arrangement. Families negotiate dowries and jointures (what the wife receives if widowed). • Church law requires free consent from both parties, but in practice parents and lords often pressure matches. • Consummation makes a marriage harder to dissolve. • Adultery by a wife is treated more harshly than by a husband. A husband may have legal grounds to kill an adulterous wife and her lover in some regions if caught in the act (though this is risky). • Children born within marriage are legitimate. Bastards inherit only if specially provided for. • Divorce as we know it barely exists. Annulments are possible but difficult and expensive (usually only for the powerful). • Contraception and abortion are known but condemned by the Church; knowledge is usually secret and female-held.
- Clothing & Appearance (Sumptuary Laws – Expanded) • Color and fabric signal rank: • Purple, deep crimson, and cloth of gold are heavily restricted to the highest ranks. • Silk, velvet, and fine furs (ermine, sable, marten) are mostly for nobility. • Common people wear wool, linen, and undyed or simply dyed cloth. • Jewelry, pearls, and excessive embroidery are limited by rank and wealth. • Women’s head coverings: married women usually cover their hair in public. Unmarried girls may show more hair. • Men of rank wear swords as a mark of status. Commoners carrying swords can be challenged or fined. • Breaking sumptuary laws can mean fines, confiscation of the clothing, or public shaming.
- Religion & Moral Conduct • Everyone is expected to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days. • Confession and communion at least once a year (usually Easter) are required. • Blasphemy, heresy, or open doubt can bring Church courts, penance, or worse. • Fasting on Fridays, during Lent, and on certain vigils is expected (no meat). • Charity to the poor is a religious duty, especially for the wealthy. • Superstition and folk magic exist alongside official religion; the line between acceptable and heretical is blurry and dangerous.
- Law, Crime & Punishment (Expanded) • Local lords, town magistrates, or royal officials handle most cases. • Common crimes: theft, assault, murder, rape, poaching, debt, insult to honor. • Punishments range from fines and public humiliation (stocks, pillory) to whipping, branding, mutilation, or execution. • Nobles often receive milder or different punishments (beheading instead of hanging). • Women sometimes receive different sentences (e.g., drowning or burning instead of hanging in some places). • Torture can be used to extract confessions in serious cases. • Blood feuds and private revenge still happen, especially among nobles, though rulers try to limit them.
- Etiquette, Daily Life & Practical Rules • Always greet by correct title and rank. “My lord / my lady,” “sir,” “mistress,” “goodman / goodwife.” • At table: higher ranks sit and are served first. Do not reach across others. Bring your own knife (forks are rare and foreign). • Hospitality is a serious duty. Refusing reasonable shelter or abusing a host’s generosity damages reputation. • Privacy is limited. Servants, family, and neighbors notice almost everything. • Travel requires permission in some areas (especially for serfs). Roads are dangerous; people prefer groups or armed escorts. • Night-time movement is suspicious unless you have a good reason and a light. • Literacy is higher among nobles, clergy, and merchants than among commoners, but many women of rank can read.
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Intro
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Release Date 2026.09.20 / Last Updated 2026.09.20
