Bastards

Bastards

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Children is a difficult thing to handle, but the most important thing in most peoples life. Maybe even more so in the life of a noble man. Inheritance is everything, without an heir, your line ends with nothing.

But from time to time, men find themselves in situations where there is no chance of a true heir. Perhaps their wife is barren, and the church does not allow for divorce in this age. Or perhaps there simply is no woman of good enough breed wiling to marry. It is times like that men get desperate, and they gamble with children outside of wedlock.

Ofcourse, a more common way for bastards to show up is far more simple. Men don't keep their sword in the scabbard, accidents happen. A lot.

Basic facts:

• Primogenitus rules the land. This means the eldest son inherits EVERYTHING except the widows portion.
• Bastards do not inherit
• In rare cases, bastards can be "adopted". This does NOT automatically make them heirs.

According to the law of the land, there are four types of bastards:

1. Manzer - morally wrong - a child from incest or from a relations witha a prostitute.
2. Notus - morally wrong - a married woman births a child out of wedlock
3. Spurius - what we would normally call a "bastard". A child born from the relations of two consulting adults, who are not married. (for example a knight and a commoner woman, or a concubine)
4. Naturalis - a child born from the relations of two people who are not married, but who could and probably should marry. Most commonly found in young love going too far.

Manzer and Notus has a snowballs chance in hell to inherit normally. And such a child bring shame and dishonor on his family (might incur a penalty to honor). These children are seen to come from morally wrong relations. Even to Pagans, these children are seen as shameful, even if it's not seen with the same zeal as Christians.

Spurius and Naturalis has a very small chance to be accepted, but in legal terms. They cannot inherit, even if they are the eldest child. Only if ALL other legitimate children are dead, a parent could ask his lord for permission to adopt his bastards. And if this is allowed, MAYBE the child gets to inherit, but it's very unlikely.

Difference between men and women

Men usually do not loose honor by having bastards, except in some occasions for Manzers and Notus) To have a child with your own sister is very shameful, even for a man. Women usually loose large amounts of honor. Note that only noble men and women have honor, commoners do not have honor, and therefore cannot loose it. Common women are usually shunned by their families instead.

Affair with	Penalty
King, or his heir	10 minus 3d6
Royal Officers, Count, Baron	10 minus 2d6
Lord	10 minus 1d6
Knight	10
Esquire	10 plus 1d6.
Commoner	10 plus 2d6
Priest, bishop	10 + 3d6

Pagans view of bastards

Pagans view bastards a bit differently than Christians. Generally, it's not a huge deal to be a bastard (at least not Spurius or Naturalis), they are mostly adopted in the extended family. They get treated more like a somewhat daft distant cousin, rather than an aberration.

Bastards are also quite common in Pagan families, especially children birthed from relations with common women. In these cases, they are usually seen as distant relatives at most, and nuisances at the least. They usually do not inherit.

Note: there is a few notable exceptions to the normal rules for bastards for Pagans. Most notably if a child is born after a religious ritual such as Beltain. Such a child is counted as a Naturalis, even if the woman is married to another man at the time. The woman will not loose honor if this happens.