Medieval Affinity a door to peerage and nobility for an adve
Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 11:44 pm
Since looking at Medieval city guilds, I’ve had more free time (boy there is lots of free time when you have to rely on 3 other people to do their job well and quickly, and they tend to not do their job in anything other than first gear & still mess things up), so I have done some more looking and kicking around ideas
As I listened to some lectures about England leading up to the War of the Roses, and read more about late medieval society and the transition to more renaissance/early modern I came across something interesting
A Nobel/Lord’s Affinity … I understood earlier feudal society’s retainers etc and the tie between King, Duke, Earl, etc down to the common ‘knight’ , and the common laborer, all tied together by land grant and obligations of service labor etc. However, I had never thought about how that morphed in the late medieval era.
In a role playing game context I could really never see how an adventurer could fit into the feudal fief system. Sure easy enough in the beginning, when to be a noble meant you were effective at the skill of arms and had others willing to follow you – how may famous Vikings were first farmers or sons/grandsons of farmers. So, it is easy enough to see an adventure and his friends killing some orcs, getting their loot, killing a troll, finding a magic sword, winning a bit of fame, and shouldering their way into the local aristocracy. (I remember reading in some novel about a local hero knight pointing out that his grandfather had been little more than a skilled brigand who got lucky and ambushed some Moors. Then from their loot bought his group better armor, and then was able to lead bigger and better raids and get more wealth. Then after 2 generations the family is considered ‘noble/genteel’ and he is a knight in service of the king (maybe duke I can’t remember), but just a few generations earlier …)
However after the late 1000 - 1100s that system became more structured and stratified and harder to enter or move up the ladder. With that, yes the adventurer just may be able to beat up the local monsters and get all the loot and magic weapons, but they will still more than likely be barred from being a peer, or if they are allowed in even as a knight, they will still be outsiders in the nobles’ clique.
But as I read about the medieval English Affinity, I saw a good option to put lowly adventures back into the strata of the nobility – maybe still not at their level, but not as outside as they would be in high feudal settings. Also, it looks like existed earlier than the normal ‘late medieval’ society – mentioned specifically in writing as early as late 1100s, so could exist earlier than that – and it would exist alongside standard feudalism. SO that is even better to allow adventures to rub shoulder with the manor born.
The big difference is that with feudalism the lord had his household knights and retainers, and the peasants serfs and laborers working the land, and it was all a semi closed circle. Plus they were all tied together by land grants and usage. With the affinity, it could include knights retainers etc, but also had other jobs and social standing in the affinity – a knight errant could be in a lords affinity, but so could a lawyer, a magistrate, a town mayor, and even more lowly yeoman and the like. For them instead of land usage, it was money, influence, prestige, etc that tied them to the noble lord
The lord did not have to parcel off a sliver of land to bring the knight errant into his circle of supporters. In the affinity, some payment (money always helps tie individuals together), a little authority or duties the knight would not have without the patronage of the lord (a knight errant could hardly afford his own arms armor and horses etc, but in an affinity, he could be leading a troupe himself, or be the lords representative with the local town’s magistrate, represent the lord in a neighboring earls court, or even be in the capital to help support all the other members of the lords affinity in and around the king’s court and capitol city. All things on his own that a lowly knight errant would never achieve on his own.
Similarly, other lawyers, professionals, etc would be included in the affinity – how do you make sure the local merchant guild plays nice, have 3 or 4 members in the circle of affinity ; the local town goes easy on fines on the son of a favored retainer knight, have some of the town’s lawyers and the bailiff in your affinity. How do you make sure your manor lands are well protected, have some of the extra sons of the local yeomen in your affinity.
Plus, it is a 2 way street. If things in the realm are going sideways, and the lord needs extra power, the affinity is there to become an instant army. However, the affinity would also expected to come together with the lord to be advisors and supporters and give him information that his classic feudal household knights and retainers may not have. In a true feudal set up, no Duke would be expected to listen to the advice of a common yeoman (a wise one may but noble and wisdom don’t often go hand in hand), but if the yeoman is a trusted well serving member of the affinity, not only can he advise, but he is expected to!
Another difference between the feudal retainer and the affinity is that the affinity relationship can easily start, stop, and then start again. If you are in Duke X’s affinity, but then he has less need for you, it is perfectly acceptable, to gravitate to Duke Y’s circle of supporters, but then if Duke X needs you again, you could return back to his affinity. This is especially true with the knight errant types. A warrior knight that is in the affinity of Duke X, but that Duke has no big pressing need for extra swordsmen this season – those pesky Scots to the north are behaving for once – can easily join another duke’s forces (normally fighting in a different area). Of course, the knight should not switch to Duke X’s main enemy (being in the Affinity of a Lancaster but then changing to be in the Yorkist Affinity would make you a traitor to the Lancaster nobles and their supporters – then joining the Tudor Affinity would make you a common mercenary sell sword ! )
Oh yeah, for an affinity, it was more of a legal bargain / indenture arrangement. Some had true, in-depth legal contracts with specific duties, actions, tasks that were expected, with a specific fee for each. Sometimes the contract was even specific on how the person was to act and behave in public (to make sure they upheld the respect and dignity of the lord they were representing). However, it does sound like many affinities were more on a verbal hand shake relationship and were more loosely defined.
Plus the monies on the contract may not seem like they give the retainer a prophet, but remember, there were other ways for the underlying to make a prophet instead of just off the contract. ‘Greasing the skids’ was not only acceptable, but expected. So a contract that was for only 4 L per year for the underlying to act on the behalf of the Lord may actually result 8 L additional a year in payments on the side. On the other side, some contracts (written or verbal) could give the underling a handsome profit for the job required, maintenance fees etc. This ensured the loyalty of the contracted member of the affinity, and gave the noble a reputation for being good & generous, and cultivating a significant affinity.
However, with a lower paying lord, and with the associated ‘greasing of the palm ‘ again it is expected, but when taken to an extreme it can be an issue. Some families could be notorious for requiring more than the acceptable ‘bribe’ . This can cause issues for the ones requiring excessive bribes, or if they are an underlying, it can be an issue with making the lord whose affinity they are in look bad. Which, no surprise here, can result in more bad things. Again, a family tied to a king that was notorious for reuired excessive bribes was one of the main reasons that one of the latter iterations of ‘The War of the Roses’ kicked off.
Another interesting tidbit is that Affinities were not just tied to noble men. Queens, duchesses, bishops and the like also had affinities of their own. On the surface that doesn’t sound that important. However, a King / Duke etc would have their Affinity, and the Queen / Duchess would have their Affinity, and these different Affinities could be working at cross purposes (behind the scene of course) while everyone puts on a show of being one big happy family
Oh yeah, the Affinity was to be support for the noble, but at the same time, but reading between the lines to me, it offered a layer of plausible deniability for the noble. Where in more classic feudal set up, (crud I can’t think of the English King’s name) a King was having issues with the Bishop of Canterbury, so 2 of his ‘drunken over enthusiastic’ retainer knights went and killed the bishop, which tied the murder painfully close to the king. “I swear the 2 knights were in their cups and I have no idea why they went and killed the one man that I said I wish was DEAD while we were at my royal feat table”. However, with a tie through an affinity, there is a much less direct line … “The 2 knights errant did what ??? Oh of course they had been on campaign with me against the rebel Welsh lords, but that was 2 years ago and the contract ended. I thought they had traveled to Bristol, or was it out to the Hanse League cities … I’m not sure. I’ll have my steward check to see if there is any official notes on them. I am so sorry for your loss … ”
Now for the Affinities to be useable in a setting, the setting has to be more developed than a standard hack and slash, raid the dungeon, loot the monster setting. It implies a well-developed social structure with multiple players and each player having desires goals etc of their own.
I almost went down the path that a world like Middle Earth wouldn’t have affinities, but then I thought about Rohan …. The king was dominated by the evil whispers of Wormtongue, some of the kings retainers remained loyal, other retainers were tied to Wormtongue, but other retainers had left and were following the King’s nephew and raiding fighting the orcs etc despite the kings (well Wormtongue’s orders through the king) orders to not attack them. So there is at least 3 Affinities, and you could argue that the nobles in the outlying areas had their own affinity, so yeah it works even in ME.
As I listened to some lectures about England leading up to the War of the Roses, and read more about late medieval society and the transition to more renaissance/early modern I came across something interesting
A Nobel/Lord’s Affinity … I understood earlier feudal society’s retainers etc and the tie between King, Duke, Earl, etc down to the common ‘knight’ , and the common laborer, all tied together by land grant and obligations of service labor etc. However, I had never thought about how that morphed in the late medieval era.
In a role playing game context I could really never see how an adventurer could fit into the feudal fief system. Sure easy enough in the beginning, when to be a noble meant you were effective at the skill of arms and had others willing to follow you – how may famous Vikings were first farmers or sons/grandsons of farmers. So, it is easy enough to see an adventure and his friends killing some orcs, getting their loot, killing a troll, finding a magic sword, winning a bit of fame, and shouldering their way into the local aristocracy. (I remember reading in some novel about a local hero knight pointing out that his grandfather had been little more than a skilled brigand who got lucky and ambushed some Moors. Then from their loot bought his group better armor, and then was able to lead bigger and better raids and get more wealth. Then after 2 generations the family is considered ‘noble/genteel’ and he is a knight in service of the king (maybe duke I can’t remember), but just a few generations earlier …)
However after the late 1000 - 1100s that system became more structured and stratified and harder to enter or move up the ladder. With that, yes the adventurer just may be able to beat up the local monsters and get all the loot and magic weapons, but they will still more than likely be barred from being a peer, or if they are allowed in even as a knight, they will still be outsiders in the nobles’ clique.
But as I read about the medieval English Affinity, I saw a good option to put lowly adventures back into the strata of the nobility – maybe still not at their level, but not as outside as they would be in high feudal settings. Also, it looks like existed earlier than the normal ‘late medieval’ society – mentioned specifically in writing as early as late 1100s, so could exist earlier than that – and it would exist alongside standard feudalism. SO that is even better to allow adventures to rub shoulder with the manor born.
The big difference is that with feudalism the lord had his household knights and retainers, and the peasants serfs and laborers working the land, and it was all a semi closed circle. Plus they were all tied together by land grants and usage. With the affinity, it could include knights retainers etc, but also had other jobs and social standing in the affinity – a knight errant could be in a lords affinity, but so could a lawyer, a magistrate, a town mayor, and even more lowly yeoman and the like. For them instead of land usage, it was money, influence, prestige, etc that tied them to the noble lord
The lord did not have to parcel off a sliver of land to bring the knight errant into his circle of supporters. In the affinity, some payment (money always helps tie individuals together), a little authority or duties the knight would not have without the patronage of the lord (a knight errant could hardly afford his own arms armor and horses etc, but in an affinity, he could be leading a troupe himself, or be the lords representative with the local town’s magistrate, represent the lord in a neighboring earls court, or even be in the capital to help support all the other members of the lords affinity in and around the king’s court and capitol city. All things on his own that a lowly knight errant would never achieve on his own.
Similarly, other lawyers, professionals, etc would be included in the affinity – how do you make sure the local merchant guild plays nice, have 3 or 4 members in the circle of affinity ; the local town goes easy on fines on the son of a favored retainer knight, have some of the town’s lawyers and the bailiff in your affinity. How do you make sure your manor lands are well protected, have some of the extra sons of the local yeomen in your affinity.
Plus, it is a 2 way street. If things in the realm are going sideways, and the lord needs extra power, the affinity is there to become an instant army. However, the affinity would also expected to come together with the lord to be advisors and supporters and give him information that his classic feudal household knights and retainers may not have. In a true feudal set up, no Duke would be expected to listen to the advice of a common yeoman (a wise one may but noble and wisdom don’t often go hand in hand), but if the yeoman is a trusted well serving member of the affinity, not only can he advise, but he is expected to!
Another difference between the feudal retainer and the affinity is that the affinity relationship can easily start, stop, and then start again. If you are in Duke X’s affinity, but then he has less need for you, it is perfectly acceptable, to gravitate to Duke Y’s circle of supporters, but then if Duke X needs you again, you could return back to his affinity. This is especially true with the knight errant types. A warrior knight that is in the affinity of Duke X, but that Duke has no big pressing need for extra swordsmen this season – those pesky Scots to the north are behaving for once – can easily join another duke’s forces (normally fighting in a different area). Of course, the knight should not switch to Duke X’s main enemy (being in the Affinity of a Lancaster but then changing to be in the Yorkist Affinity would make you a traitor to the Lancaster nobles and their supporters – then joining the Tudor Affinity would make you a common mercenary sell sword ! )
Oh yeah, for an affinity, it was more of a legal bargain / indenture arrangement. Some had true, in-depth legal contracts with specific duties, actions, tasks that were expected, with a specific fee for each. Sometimes the contract was even specific on how the person was to act and behave in public (to make sure they upheld the respect and dignity of the lord they were representing). However, it does sound like many affinities were more on a verbal hand shake relationship and were more loosely defined.
Plus the monies on the contract may not seem like they give the retainer a prophet, but remember, there were other ways for the underlying to make a prophet instead of just off the contract. ‘Greasing the skids’ was not only acceptable, but expected. So a contract that was for only 4 L per year for the underlying to act on the behalf of the Lord may actually result 8 L additional a year in payments on the side. On the other side, some contracts (written or verbal) could give the underling a handsome profit for the job required, maintenance fees etc. This ensured the loyalty of the contracted member of the affinity, and gave the noble a reputation for being good & generous, and cultivating a significant affinity.
However, with a lower paying lord, and with the associated ‘greasing of the palm ‘ again it is expected, but when taken to an extreme it can be an issue. Some families could be notorious for requiring more than the acceptable ‘bribe’ . This can cause issues for the ones requiring excessive bribes, or if they are an underlying, it can be an issue with making the lord whose affinity they are in look bad. Which, no surprise here, can result in more bad things. Again, a family tied to a king that was notorious for reuired excessive bribes was one of the main reasons that one of the latter iterations of ‘The War of the Roses’ kicked off.
Another interesting tidbit is that Affinities were not just tied to noble men. Queens, duchesses, bishops and the like also had affinities of their own. On the surface that doesn’t sound that important. However, a King / Duke etc would have their Affinity, and the Queen / Duchess would have their Affinity, and these different Affinities could be working at cross purposes (behind the scene of course) while everyone puts on a show of being one big happy family
Oh yeah, the Affinity was to be support for the noble, but at the same time, but reading between the lines to me, it offered a layer of plausible deniability for the noble. Where in more classic feudal set up, (crud I can’t think of the English King’s name) a King was having issues with the Bishop of Canterbury, so 2 of his ‘drunken over enthusiastic’ retainer knights went and killed the bishop, which tied the murder painfully close to the king. “I swear the 2 knights were in their cups and I have no idea why they went and killed the one man that I said I wish was DEAD while we were at my royal feat table”. However, with a tie through an affinity, there is a much less direct line … “The 2 knights errant did what ??? Oh of course they had been on campaign with me against the rebel Welsh lords, but that was 2 years ago and the contract ended. I thought they had traveled to Bristol, or was it out to the Hanse League cities … I’m not sure. I’ll have my steward check to see if there is any official notes on them. I am so sorry for your loss … ”
Now for the Affinities to be useable in a setting, the setting has to be more developed than a standard hack and slash, raid the dungeon, loot the monster setting. It implies a well-developed social structure with multiple players and each player having desires goals etc of their own.
I almost went down the path that a world like Middle Earth wouldn’t have affinities, but then I thought about Rohan …. The king was dominated by the evil whispers of Wormtongue, some of the kings retainers remained loyal, other retainers were tied to Wormtongue, but other retainers had left and were following the King’s nephew and raiding fighting the orcs etc despite the kings (well Wormtongue’s orders through the king) orders to not attack them. So there is at least 3 Affinities, and you could argue that the nobles in the outlying areas had their own affinity, so yeah it works even in ME.