kingdoms

i am thinking about writing a story that involve two kingdom.

my first question is: how does a kingdom work?

and my second question is: does an Elven Kingdom work the same way?

thanks.

Well, do you want it to be, like, feudal?

Haruno Sakura wrote:Well, do you want it to be, like, feudal?

middle ages type.

Then you wouldn't only have kings, but there would be lords as well.

The serfs were the poor people who lived under the lord and had to give him ludicrous amounts of their crops in exchange for protection. The lord didn't do much.

ah. okay. thanks. the structure of my kingdom is going to like how Tamora Pierce has hers. Lower city, and palace at the center.

thanks, Rosey.

Middle age classes:

Nobles
Church
middle class (rich people,)
towns folk
lower class (peasants.)

Nobles: Emperor & Empress
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King & Queen (A king is a head of state, who may or may not, depending on the style of government of a nation, exercise monarchal powers over a territory, usually called a kingdom or a realm. A king is the second highest noble title, surpassed only by emperor)
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Grand Duke & Grand Duchess (or grand prince)
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Archduke & Archduchess
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Prince & Princess
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Infante & Infanta (son of prince or princess)
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Duke & Duchess (A duke is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy or a dukedom)
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Marquess & Marchioness (basically the same as Margrave... only higher in rank than him/her)
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Margrave & Margravine (A Markgraf, or margrave, originally functioned as the military governor)
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Count & Countess (or Earl by other name) referring especially to chieftains set to rule a territory in a king's stead.

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Viscount & Viscountess (About the same as the feudal age Lord. A root of the non-nobiliary, royal-appointed office of sheriff also is a debuty count.)
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Baron & Baroness (Lowest nobility rank)
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Lesser lord (Normally a knight but not necessarily. Appointed by a count or a viscount [normally, but can be appointed by about anyone over his rank.])
(lesser lords aren't nobility.)
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thanks. Lord Anzius.

if you guys have any more info for me, please feel free to post or pm me about it.

Not all Kings were absolute. In England Kings were tempered by a powerful council of barons, left over from the old Anglo-Saxon tradition of elected Kings. Later English Kings were bound to parliament by treaty (magna carta) and then constitution.

France however, had an absolute monarchy; where the King was seen as a divine being.

The ranking of nobles also differs country to country. The English/British system is very similar to the French system ( enherited from the Normans) and it goes like this:

King/Queen (Sovreign)
Crown Prince ( Heir)
Grand Duke/Grand Duchess(Ruler of a nation within a Kingdom eg. Grand-Duchey of Cornwall is in England.
Arch Duke/ Arch Duchess (Brother or sister to the King/Queen)
Prince/ Princess ( Son's Daughters of King Queen)
Duke/ Duchess
Marquis/ Marquiness
Margrave/ Margravine
Earl/ Countess
Viscount/ Viscountess
Baron/ Baroness
Kinght/ Dame


In respect to an elfish kingdom... I guess you can do what you like. Though typically elves are seen as hierarchical, so a structured caste or feudal system would work well.

Don't forget that even Kings were subject to religious law for many ages. If the Kings disobeyed the power of the church and its ways they tend to lose favor, it was only after the systematic weakening of the church did the separation become measurable. Yet even today it is not a large gap, even in the US we see this religious chain of bred men to fill the position.

Much of the other issues of the middle ages can be cleared up locally by some research at the library.

Regarding Elf/Elven/Elfkin it depends on your sources.

Tolkien style was graceful and almost divine elves, they were peace loving and did not possess a large standing army, yet had plenty for conflicts when they did arise. Heavy research into Tolkien notes will help you most with this.

True lore has a bunch of conflicting points. That the demi-races came in many shapes and forms, humanity was just the most undesirable and destructive one, hence our rallying together in communities and wide-scale abuse of natural order. In folklore many of the elves and dwarves once lived with us, some of these elves would be more similar to fairies though.

In exchange for some bits of food they would help with the housework or crops or simply finding your way home. Others would be malicious and were to blame for a lot of misfortune, disappearances and even death. The key idea with all these folklore, most live in small communities or families with lords and kings/queens being outside human knowledge.

Take this route opens up a lot of options for storylines, but some historical evidence, going as far back as the Roman era tell of elves as they were rare, but benevolent diminutive people.

If you ever played Magic: The Gathering you would see a lot of elves of all kinds, but lately they have taken on a shape much more dangerous breed. Hunting down things that are not as beautiful or perfect as they are. Training wolves as pets, protecting gargantuans, general druids and savage warriors with power and flexibility.

Just go the way you want, plenty of source material out there.