Noble Retainers, Common-born Servitors, and Peasant Servants

…Since generosity is one of the marks of true nobility, supporting a large household brings status to the lord of the household. The lord will maintain as many people as he can feed, far more than necessary to do the actual work….

The most important members of this crowd are the retainers and officials of noble rank. In medieval society, there was absolutely no shame attached to performing the most menial services for a person of higher rank—to the contrary, it was an honor to be chosen for the task. Likewise, having retainers of noble blood increases the status of the castle’s lord. It is the goal of powerful lords to have as many noble retainers as possible, even for such mundane jobs as falconmaster. Exactly how many castle officials will be noble-born depends of course, on the castle-holder’s wealth and reputation….

Among the ranks of common-born servants in the castle there is a further distinction—between servitors, who have a certain amount of respect and position, and the crowd of peasant servants who do the actual daily labor. The servitors have a craft to offer, such as blacksmithing, cookery, or hunting technique. These skilled laborers hold their positions by hereditary right, passing the job down to their sons or daughters as long as they have heirs. Servitors are generally proud of their position and very loyal to their lord if he’s any kind of a decent man at all.

The servants, recruited from the peasantry on the manor, are treated like valuable farm animals. Kicks and curses are their daily lot from those above them in the hierarchy. They sleep wherever they can find a spot usually on the floor or on a table in the lord’s hall, or out in the stables. For wages, they receive food, one suit of clothes a year, and a few small coins at Christmas. Yet, odd though it seems to modern minds, being a servant in a castle is a sought-after job. Since status demands that the lord have more servants than are necessary for the work, no single servant works more than three or four hours a day—a much better lot than breaking one’s back on the farm. Servants are also assured of getting enough to eat, which is not the case for other peasants.

— Who Lives In That Castle?, Dragon Magazine, issue 80

My first magazine excerpt, and from the first issue of Dragon Magazine I ever owned.