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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yabanjin" data-source="post: 5103310" data-attributes="member: 87099">The legal rights of nobility depends upon the feudal system in use. Each region of Europe had its own system; the English system is distinct from the French system, which differs from the German system, which is wholly unlike the Russian system. Feudal rights were pretty complex, so I'll paint in broad strokes here.At a basic level the Feudal system was a means of rewarding those who performed services for a monarch. The monarch was sovereign, meaning that he had absolute ownership over his lands. It was difficult at the time for a monarch to administer such a large area of land, so he rewarded loyal subjects with control over some aspect of the kingdom's administration. Those subjects would swear an oath of fealty, to "love all that [he] loves and to hate all that [he] hates". The control bestowed was called a "fief", and although the most commonly recorded fief was a parcel of land, other fiefs were possible, such as the right to collect taxes, or to operate a mill. These subjects could thereafter subdivide their own fiefs to their subjects, in a process called subinfeudation. In exchange, the subject swore to aid the monarch militarily, and was usually required to keep a certain number of knights on retainer.The English system required all subjects to remain loyal to the English monarchy, no matter their level along the feudal hierarchy, but this was by no means universal. French feudalism required only fealty to one's direct lord, so a Marquis may not have any particular duties to the king. This resulted in a fair bit of instability, and is a large reason why the current French state is so centrally controlled. Put another way, the English king remained sovereign over the entirety of England, whereas the French king was sovereign over the rulers of that territory. These differences directly caused the Hundred Years' War, so it's not just a fiddly little point of history, and I recommend you discuss the system with your DM.As a marquess, I imagine you'll be using the British peerage system, and that you'll be inferior to a duke, who in turn will be inferior to the king. Therefore you should ask your DM what oath you swore to the duke, and what obligations you have. These would be very specific, and you and your duke would both have those obligations in writing. It's likely that you also have a number of earls inferior to you, who in turn have a number of viscounts, who in turn have a number of barons. Determine with your DM what obligations your earls have to you, how many there are, and so forth. At the least, you would be obliged to keep a sizeable militia and retinue of knights trained and at the ready to come to your duke's service, and your earls would be obliged to serve you in the event of war.Probably you collect taxes from your fief--after all, that's how you pay your knights. Tax collectors were a for-profit service, and incidentally, many historians believe the entire system sprung up from the Roman system of dividing parts of the empire into taxable regions. It's likely that you collect your taxes from your earls, rather than sending out your own tax collectors. Tax collectors were notoriously brutal and corrupt, often taking up to 30% extra from the peasantry to enrich themselves. Generally a lord would have a set amount that he'd ask his tax collectors to collect, and leave the methods to their discretion.As a marquess, I doubt you'd hear many legal disputes from common folk. Most likely you would be responsible for settling disputes between your earls, and they might ask your advice on legal disputes regarding their subjects.Doubtless other posters familiar with feudal systems will find large holes in the above, because it's painted in very, very broad strokes, but I hope that gives you enough to consider. My expertise is deeper in the early modern period, when feudalism was giving way to a powerful merchant class, but if you have other questions on the subject, I love to geek out about historical economic systems.</blockquote>

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