Hereditary Nobility: Monarchs, Earls, and Barons

The Nobility:

The hereditary nobility are the ruling class of Hârn, they make and enforce the laws, and have many rights and privileges based on their noble rank and any offices the may hold.
All nobles are to referred to as my lord or my lady by persons of non-noble rank, only the monarch may be referred to as Highness or Lordship. Nobles generally refer to each m'Lord or m'Lady and either their rank or sir name name in public gatherings, it is considered very rude to refer to someone's first name.
The hereditary nobility on Hârn consists of four major groups:

• King or Queen, the Monarch, The Crown, the head of state, and the highest-ranking hereditary noble able to levy taxes, make and enforce laws, grant or revoke charters and royal offices, hear petitions, sit in judgement of cases, manage disputes between nobles, raise troops, start and end wars etc. Typically, addressed as your Grace, Highness, my Lord King, etc
• Earls and Countesses, are high ranking nobility who owe fealty directly to the Monarch, typically they have large estates and lower-ranking nobles who in turn owe them fealty. Earls and Countesses are responsible for upholding the King's Law, managing disputes between lower-ranking nobles, sitting in judgement of offences to the law, hearing lesser petitions, paying taxes to the monarch, levying and providing troops to the monarch when called upon, and managing their hereditary estates. They are generally referred to as My Lord / My Lady or M'Lord / M'Lady
• Barons and Baronesses, these are the lowest-ranked of the hereditary nobles, though a Baron can have a non-hereditary title. Barons typically oversee the running of their manors and are responsible to pay taxes to their lord, maintain the King's Peace, provide direct military service, scutage, substitutes, to their lord should it be required. Typically addressed as M'Lord or M'Lady or My Lord Baron, or My Lord Baroness.

Players must recognize and show deference to nobles of rank, especially nobles of high rank or office. Mouthing off to or seriously disrespecting a high ranking noble can result in dire consequences such as; public humiliation in the stocks, a drubbing, fines, imprisonment, banishment, or worse. Dueling is an option, but generally only between nobles of similar of rank.  A peasant laying hands on a noble is considered a serious breach of the peace and may result in execution.

Social Norms of Hârn

Type

Nobility, Hereditary