Medieval Justice?

[Ovinomancer]

I'm working on a homebrew setting, and was toying with the idea of using a feudal system. The whole nine yards, like nobles and knights having absolute authority over peasants and such. The PC's would likely fall into the peasant bracket for the early half of the campaign. Has anyone tried this in their games? What were the drawbacks? I can see a few, but would like to try the flavor.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I'd definatly suggest having players who don't mind being ordered around and treated like dirt.

 

[Wombat]

Actually you might be surprised just how many rights peasants have -- mostly via local tradition, rather than statute. No, peasants did not have glorious lives by any modern standard, but the number of holidays they had was quite wide (days off for farmers and craftsmen significantly dropped when the Protestant Reformation came through, since most saints days were dropped from the calendar) and various villages have odd prerogatives, such as the right to hunt on one given day, communal crop rights (thus the poorest of the poor still would get something). Many peasant uprisings began over the infringement of "traditional rights".

And, just so this is taken out ahead of time, no, there was never a "First Night" privilege for nobles when peasants got married

 

[S'mon]

And, just so this is taken out ahead of time, no, there was never a "First Night" privilege for nobles when peasants got married

Not even in France?

Re justice - in medieval England generally the Lord of the Manor (a landed knight or noble) adjudicated disputes and assigned punishments at a moot court, but for serious crimes like murder that carried a death penalty, generally judgement had to wait until one of the king's judges came round on circuit. There were cases of peasants taking their lords to court, too.

 

[Gez]

Not even in France?

Nope.

 

[Dirigible]

Are you saying they made 'prima nocte' up for Braveheart? That can't be right, I've heard it elsewhere.

 

[Bagpuss]

Some stuff on first night it wasn't made up for Braveheart but there isn't a lot of evidence for it existing.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

As Wombat said the life of a peasant wasn't as dire as it's sometimes made out to be - It wasn't a exactly a bed of roses, but they did have certain rights and priveleges - often by tradition. Suffice to say, a nobleman who mistreated their peasants horribly often found it difficult to get anyone to work their land. There was a certain amount of give and take with the situation.

There was also a great deal of difference between a peasant, villens, serf and so on. Guild members also had a separate and weird status. Just wish I could recall my school history lessons better! Alish2o's Monday History threads have probably hit the subject along the way. Well worth a look.

There were also 2 entirely separate justice systems in place... Normally you were subject to the kings law (meted out by a nobleman), however, if you managed to reach a church before being aprehended then you could demand trial by the church authorities. IIRC, they would never sentance you to death. Though they often handed out some pretty nasty punishments - pilgrimages to the holy land, serving on their land or fines.

 

[Agback]

in medieval England generally the Lord of the Manor (a landed knight or noble) adjudicated disputes

Nope. The lord of the manor's right of [low] justice was actually the right to receive the revenue of the fines. It was far more likely to be the bailiff than that lord himself who presided at the court, and the verdict and penalty in manor court were assigned by the jury.

Regards,


Agback

 

[Agback]

There were also 2 entirely separate justice systems in place... Normally you were subject to the kings law (meted out by a nobleman), however, if you managed to reach a church before being aprehended then you could demand trial by the church authorities. IIRC, they would never sentance you to death. Though they often handed out some pretty nasty punishments - pilgrimages to the holy land, serving on their land or fines.

The privilege of trial in the ecclesiastical courts was not available to just anyone. In England you had to be a clergyman, a member of the household of a clergyman, or a noble. And you could only make use of the privilege once. On being punished by an ecclesiastical court a perppetrator was branded on the right thumb as a sign that their one chance had been used.

It is worth saying again that 'mediaeval Europe' stretched from Ireland to Russia, from Malta to Norway, and from AD 476 to AD 1453. It therefore encompassed a huge range of diversity. But nothing so cut-and-dried as the feudal system they tauught us about in school ever existed.

Regards,


Agback