Nobility



Nobles (貴族, kizoku) are the aristocratic class of Yurgenschmidt. Despite making up a minority of the population, nobles rule over commoners and clergy with absolute authority. However, the main defining quality of nobles is not wealth or power, but rather that they possess mana.

In Yurgenschmidt, classes are separated by mana first and foremost. While all living things possess mana, commoners generally have so little that it is imperceptible. However, nobles have enough mana to use at will, allowing them to make the land fertile, battle dangerous feybeasts, and otherwise support the territory. As a result, even the lowest-ranking noble holds absolute power over any commoner.

A person is not considered a noble unless they:


 * Have sufficient mana to be baptized into a noble family.
 * Attend and graduate the Royal Academy after obtaining a schtappe.

Noble children who are born with very little mana can either be married off to lower-ranking families, sent to the temple as priests or shrine maidens, or turned into servants for the family. The latter two choices lose them their noble privileges, making them legally equivalent to commoners. All these options are well-established and accepted practices throughout noble society. Finally, a noble can renounce their status by voluntarily choosing to enter the temple, as Ferdinand did.

Once a noble enters the temple, they cannot regain their status unless they are given permission by the Aub or someone of equivalent authority. That is usually only done under extenuating circumstances. For example, after the Sovereignty civil war, an unusual number of priests were allowed to leave the temple to address the critical mana shortage.

Families so poor they can neither afford the life-saving magic tool nor the cost of sending the child to the temple have no choice but to allow to them to die of mana exposure. Since children are not considered human until their baptism, this does not have any legal consequences. This issue is usually limited to laynobles, since they do not have the option to "marry down" a child like mednobles or archnobles, and they also tend to be the poorest of nobles.

Although baptized children of nobles are treated socially as nobles, this only extends for as long as they are expected to attend or are currently attending the Royal Academy; those who ultimately do not attend the Royal Academy (or who fail to pass their classes) will simply not be accepted as nobles upon reaching adulthood.

Nobility are ranked into three primary tiers (laynoble, mednoble, and archnoble) with additional subsets in the archnoble tier. Tiers reflect average mana capacity and hierarchical status, but they do not reflect wealth, land ownership, influence or other factors.

If a child has significantly more or less mana than the rest of their family, they may move up into a higher tier or fall to a lower tier. This is usually done through adoption or marriage. (Alternatively, if the child is young enough, they can be baptized as the natural child of a new family.) The divide between each tier is almost as strict as the divide between nobles and commoners: a laynoble who shows insufficient deference to an archnoble, for example, could be severely punished.

A family that consistently displays mana equivalent to a higher tier for three successive generations may seek permission to have its status changed to the more appropriate tier. Likewise, one that displays lower mana will likely have its tier involuntarily reduced.

Titles (as opposed to noble tiers) denote governorship of land and the right to inherit that governorship. The three main titles (Zent, Aub, and Giebe) each have one or more courtesy titles associated with the position, which can be used as appropriate to the situation. For example, the "archduke of Ehrenfest" is synonymous with the title "Aub Ehrenfest". Likewise, a mednoble giebe such as Geibe Gerlach can also be correctly called "Viscount Gerlach".

The spouse of a landed noble may be referred to using the corresponding courtesy title, but not the formal title. For example, the husband of an archduchess may be referred to as an archduke, but not as the Aub. Likewise, the first wife of a mednoble giebe (viscount) may be referred to as a viscountess, but not as the Giebe. If there are multiple wives, only the first wife will receive the courtesy title; however, all spouses of a landed individual have a higher status as members of the governing family. They rank below the title holder, but above the heirs to the title.

Title holders may abdicate their position in order for their designated heir to take over the role. If they do so, they will maintain a significant level of status and authority owing to their prior position, however it will be informal in nature.

These titles do not correspond to any particular status or position, and can be used generally as a term of respect.

Each spring, the duchies of Yurgenschmidt are formally ranked based on their political influence, economic growth, contributions to new research or technology, and the performance of their students in the Royal Academy. The status of nobles within those duchies is likewise impacted.


 * Between Duchies: When nobles of similar status have a conflict, preference is usually given to the one from a higher-ranked duchy. For example, an archnoble from a greater duchy would usually take precedence over an archnoble from a lesser duchy.
 * Between the Sovereignty and a Duchy: Nobles of the Sovereignty always rank above other nobles from the same tier: That is, a Sovereignty mednoble will always rank above a Klassenberg mednoble, although Klassenberg is the highest-ranking duchy. However, a Sovereignty mednoble would still be considered lower in status than any archnoble.

Royal Academy Professors are an exception. For the sake of maintaining order, professors are always considered of a higher rank than their pupils in matters concerning education. However, this rule is often more true in theory than in practice. As Solange experienced, many high-status students will ignore the requests of a professor who is lower in status.

Students who show themselves very capable in their first two years at the Royal Academy sometimes get the option to join the Sovereignty from their third year onwards. However, archduke candidates cannot join the Sovereignty under any circumstances, because doing so could leave the Aub without a successor. The only way for an archduke candidate to join the Sovereignty is by marrying a member of the royal family.

As children, all nobles are taught to read, write, do basic mathematics, and play the harspiel. However, the quality of their education depends largely on their parents' wealth and status. Laynoble children, who come from poorer families, begin their schooling at a serious disadvantage to their archnoble classmates. Some supplementary education is available to noble children in the Winter Playroom during the social season, but it is not usually enough to bridge the divide.

At age 10, noble children attend the Royal Academy, where they learn a variety of subjects including math, history, music, whirling, and magic. In their third year (at age 12), students choose to specialize in a course that will determine their future careers. (They may also choose to take more than one course voluntarily, although this is considered uncommon.) The choices are:


 * Attendant
 * Knight
 * Scholar
 * Archduke Candidate*

* Heirs to an Aub (such as Wilfried or Rozemyne) and heirs to the throne (such as Prince Anastasius are required to take the archduke candidate course, which is not available to the general student population.

While they are still apprentices, noble children may also serve as retainers to a noble of higher status or (more commonly) a member of their family. This allows them to gain experience and build valuable social connections. However, the failure of even an apprentice to uphold their duties as a retainer is considered a stain on the reputation of the entire family, as was the case for Traugott and (nearly) Angelica.

From a young age, nobles are expected to be attentive to formal etiquette. In all social settings outside the home, they represent their family name and their position, meaning that small slips can have serious consequences.


 * Composure: Displays of strong emotion are considered unseemly. Nobles are expected to stay polished and polite in public. If necessary, they can use a hidden room to process emotions in private.
 * Introductions: When two nobles for the first time, the lower-ranking noble usually asks for permission to give a blessing. Once permission is granted, the supplicant uses a small amount of mana to give a blessing from the current season's primary deity. If both nobles are of equal rank, the guest speaks first and offers the prayer.
 * Precedence: When nobles of different ranks eat together, those of lower rank wait until higher-ranking nobles have either taken their food or given permission to eat before they can partake.
 * Tasting Food: When a noble has guests for a meal, the host drinks and eats at least one sip or bite of every item before the meal begins. This demonstrates that the offered refreshments are not poisoned.

 See "Noble Euphemisms" 

Male Nobles: All male nobles can have up to three wives at the same time. (Especially for higher-ranking nobles, having multiple wives is considered an indispensible means of securing political alliances.)


 * The first wife participates in socializing, fashion and politics and other business as a representative of the family.
 * The second and third wives rarely appear in public, and their children do not interact with the children of the other wives.

The order of wives is usually decided by status: If a nobleman marries a woman from a more prestigious family than that of his current first wife, his current wife will be "demoted" to second wife and the new one will take the position of first wife. Wives must always be nobles themselves; nobles do not marry commoners. However, male nobles may also keep commoner concubines or mistresses without causing any societal stigma.

Female Nobles: Noblewomen generally cannot have multiple husbands. In the rare cases when a woman becomes a reigning Aub or Zent, however, she too can have three husbands. By marrying an archduchess, male nobles lose the right to take any other wives.

While nobles have a much more in-depth knowledge of the gods and scripture than the average commoner, they are not generally devout worshippers in their daily lives. They invoke the names of gods in formal greetings and as required by spells; however, they don't pray often outside of ceremonial contexts. Rozemyne is considered strange for her tendency to praise the gods at unusual times; this is usually attributed to her upbringing in the temple.

Nobles view the temple with contempt and even abhorrence. The noble children who become blue priests are seen to have entered the temple as a last resort to save face for their families. Likewise, the common perception of as a place to buy servants and a brothel for idle nobles has historically not been far from the truth.