"If you had been a Medieval Baron..." Topic

…would you have been kind to your serfs?

In my case, there would been a whole lot of droit de seigneur goin' on.
There is the possibility that the pulchritudedness of Medieval peasant babes would have been low, and so, maybe not so much.

Yes. I would call it enlightened self interest.

No way – kindness would be taken as a sign of weakness & they'd only start an uprising. Gotta keep 'em oppressed.

I like the Charlemagne model. Swift certain justice, pick of the ladies and pull them into the 9th Century kicking and screaming.

Unfortunately I had pneumonia in the summer between 4th and 5th grade so if I had been a medieval baron I would have been dead.

Being a just lord and being a kind lord are different things. Once I figure out which is which, I'll let you know.

If I had been, from birth, a medieval baron, I doubt it – it wouldn't be in the upbringing. If I were to somehow become a medieval Baron (and gain the knowledge of how to saty alive for more than 10 minutes), I think I would be. First, however, I'd need to become a powerful baron. Establish a chartered town somewhere inside my lands, and cultivate a reputation for fairness, and all the escaping peasants and serfs from other baronies will come to me.

I doubt ideas like emancipation and fairness had been invented yet. At best I might try to be fair wearing my medieval christian upper class goggles and attitude coat. At worst, squeeze the peasants if crap hits the air displacement serf.

Also from what I hear stuff like Prima Noctis is a Victorian invention etc.

I'd believe in the "natural order" (peasants are supposed to be peasants, don't be cruel to them, they can't help it) and be in constant violent conflict with at least 1 of my neighbors.

Fear of excommunication would probably curb my urge to commit atrocities.

Not pretty.

I'd like to think I'd be kind, if by that you mean not eating up their seed or slaughtering productive milk cattle for an unnecessary feast.

I would not begrudge them a roof over their head if they were productive hard working types who could make such a thing.

I wouldn't burn their villages or beat up the old ones just to show off.

Still, prosperity simply attracts brigands which would require more soldiers and the taxes to deal with which scares the paranoid neighbors. Thus it is important for their opwn safety to keep the peasants miserable.

Nope. No kindness.

As a medieval baron, I'd be behind the 8 ball for compassion. The water wasn't safe to drink unless it became a part of the local alcoholic beverage. Therefore, my mother probably drank, so I would most likely have FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder). Sufferers of FASD are notable for a lack of compassion (specifically empathy) for others and having poor emotional control. Sound familiar. If it doesn't, read Tuchman's "Distant Mirror".

link

So, nope, I wouldn't be capable of being kind to the serfs. Or even the junior sons…

SMc.

Justice, I always say justice. But given the mores of the time, I doubt that I would look on the "lower orders" as worthy of my charity. Justice would not let me mistreat them, though….

Probably die on a Crusade.

In my case, there would been a whole lot of droit de seigneur goin' on.

Three words – 13th Century hygiene.

Post the periodic plague cycles, labor was probably the most valuable resource available. I'd treat them borderline good and by comparison to the metal heads that made up most of the petit nobility, I'd be both awash in labor for generating wealth and knee deep in cannon fodder if the local competition got frisky.

What do you mean "if"?

I would be doing my best to train my forces so I could be ready for the questtion "what will you do now that your a medieval king?

Just do the best I can.

I think I'm the wrong sex to be a baron.

But I probably wouldn't be very nice. It's not my idiom.