Post by Khalid ibn Walid on Apr 13, 2007 17:07:02 GMT -5
OK, another thread asking for suggestions. I don't believe I didn't create this before.
What I have need for here are 'court cases' for our count to make a judgment on. The cases are between two people, each drawn from one of the following eight classes:
(1) Major noble
(2) Minor noble
(4) Major burgher
(5) Minor burgher
(6) Major cleric
(7) Minor cleric
(8) Major peasant
(9) Minor peasant
You can invent the personages, give him/her their own names, and invent the case completely from scratch. The case need not be complex. Just something simple - y'know, theft, assault, murder, etc. Quantity is preferable to quality.
Presiding in judgment over the case is you (i.e. the count). You are to decide for one or the other, mildly or with extremity. Also present is a learned jurist who will give an opinion (usually favorable to the smaller party) and a city consul (who will interject with an opinion usually favorable to the greater party).
The structure of the dialogue is simple. Say you pick the case of a major cleric against a minor burgher.
1 - The major cleric presents his side of the story.
2 - The minor burgher presents his side of the story.
3 - The learned jurist defends the minor burgher
4 - The consul defends the major cleric.
5 - The count is presented with four possible verdicts (w/punishments):
(i) For the major cleric in extremis (high punishment)
(ii) For the major cleric (mild punishment)
(iii) For the minor burgher (mild punishment)
(iv) For the minor burgher in extremis (high punishment)
And that's all there's to it.
Here's an example:
------------------
CASE OF MAJOR CLERIC vs. MINOR BURGHER:
(1) Major Cleric (Padre Vettori): "Most beloved {count/countess} and {lord/lady}. I, by the grace of God a priest in the service of the Church, bring forth before your court a case against Zaira Ghinetti, a candlemaker. For many years, I have dealt with her father and he has supplied our parish church with a plentiful excellent candles.
When her father passed away, I presumed she would continue on the family tradition. Instead, from the start, she immediately withheld supply and forced us to pay a higher price than we normally pay. Moreover, I understand she is charging less to churches in other parishes than she is charging me.
That is clearly against guild rules. I demand she be brought to account."
(2) Minor Burgher (Zaira Ghinetti): "Begging yer {lordship's/ladyship's} pardon, but I have done no crime, {m'lord/m'lady}. As my father before me, and my daughters shall be after me, I have sought to become a renowned candlemaker. I can tell yer lordship that the quality of my work exceeds that of any man. Quality work takes time, and the supply is inevitable smaller. Moreover, when looking through my late father's books, which I have brought with me today for examination by the court, I realized that the reverend had been cheating my poor father for years and paying below just price for the candles he supplied. My father was a pious man, so he didn't complain, but it is my inheritance he squandered. By charging more to the reverend, I am making up for years of losses. He thinks just because he is a great priest and I am a lowly woman, he can bully me. But I am not a fool nor will I be intimidated by his robe."
(3) Jurist opinion: "The notary had me look at the books beforehand, and I can confirm she is correct. A scoundrel in a robe is still a scoundrel. You should not let his status protect him from the laws of the city."
(4) Consul interjection: "What? Chastise a renowned priest over a handful of wax? For all we know, she could have forged those entries. Her continued breaking of the guild rules should not be tolerated just because her papa might have made some bad business deals in the past."
(5) Count's verdicts & punishments:
(a) For the major cleric, the Priest Vettori, in extremis:
"Since you like bending the guild rules, Mistress Ghinetti, let me bend some as well. You shall not only compensate the Priest Vettori for the overcharging you have already done, but you will be compelled to supply his church with candles at half-price for the next two years."
(b) For the major cleric, the Priest Vettori:
"Two wrongs don't make a right, Mistress Ghinetti. You shall repay the reverend father the amount you've been overcharging him. And if I catch whiff of your overcharging anywhere again, I shan't be so lenient."
(c) For the minor burgher, the candlemaker Zaira Ghinetti:
Eye for an eye, Padre. You overcharge her father, she overcharges you in compensation. That is justice. But no more. The court notary shall look over her books to assess the exact amount you cheated her father out of. Once that is compensated for, Mistress Ghinetti will charge you no more than the fair price she charges others."
(d) For the minor burgher, the candlemaker Zaira Ghinetti, in extremis:
"She is not only right to overcharge you Padre, I order her to continue to overcharge you until you have paid back triple the amount you hoodwinked out of her father all those years. Maybe then you will learn not to cheat honest tradesman again."
---------------------------------
We already have 23 cases and need at least 9 more to round off a complete set. The missing cases are:
CASE #6 - major noble, major peasant
Case #9 - minor noble, minor burgher
case #11 - minor noble, minor cleric
case #13 - minor noble, minor peasant
case #18 - major burgher,major peasant
case #21 - minor burgher, minor cleric
case #23 - minor burgher, minor peasant
case #25 - major cleric, major peasant
case #28 - minor cleric, minor peasant
But we can add more and more and more. The more, the better.
---------------------------------------------------
SOME GUIDELINES & SUGGESTIONS:
- Keep in mind the court cases are just a means to allow the Count player to "adjust" internal balance in the city towards certain parties. The details of the court cases are not that important in and of themselves, so they don't have to be that complex. Since court days will be pop up at repeated intervals, the preference is for quantity rather than quality, a lot of simple cases, rather than a few very complex ones.
- Most minor disputes were resolved by lesser authorties - consuls, town & village mayors, nobles (if the parties were feudal subjects), etc. Cases were only kicked upstairs to the Count's court if loss of life or property worth more than 20 denars was at stake. So, no cases about a thief who stole five denars.
- There was no police force. So avoid dialogues that say "cops nabbed me when I..." Civilians were expected to conduct their own arrests, typically by "raising the hue and cry" (mob grabs suspect). Some towns might have a few patrolling sergeants, but they were usually just preventive not arresting agents, sort of like nightclub bouncers (broke up fights & stuff).
- There were such things as lawyers, but people presented their own cases. In the courtroom, there are two people who chime in with their opinions: the jurist & the consul.
- The jurist is a refined legal scholar trained at the great university of Bologna. He is there to 'help' the Count make a decision by offering his careful legal opinion when asked. His opinions are usually biased towards the minor party.
- The Consul, a blustering nobleman, is motivated by emotion more than reason. He is not supposed to intervene, but he speaks his mind anyway. His disdains the jurist and his opinion is biased towards the major party.
PERSONAGES:
The player is the Count (Podesta) of the city and will be the judge. He is addressed as "Your Excellency" or "Your Honor" or "Your Lordship", but never "Your Majesty" nor "Your Highness" nor "Your Eminence". Or you can address it with adjectives before the title, e.g. "most honorable lord/count/podesta" (or "most noble", "most illustrious", "most strenuous", "most excellent", "most magnificent", but never "most serene" nor "most reverend" ).
Major Nobles - known collectively as "Capitani" (Captains) in Lombardia - would be great lord, usually a holder of large feudal estates (directly under the monarch or the bishop) or even allodial land (owned for himself), but would usually live within the city walls. It is best not to give them a specific title, but you can flavorly refer to them as "signore/signora" (lord/lady) (as in "the honorable signore", the "illustrious signore", the "strenuous signore", etc.).
Minor Nobles - known as "Valvassores" - were the vassals of a captain, i.e. a sub-lord or knight. You can refer to a sub-lord also as "signore", but a knight should be referred to merely as "cavaliere" (sir/gentleman) or "dama" (dame). Gentleman/gentlewoman ('Gentil'huomo' & 'Gentil' donna') can be used for any noble.
Major Burghers - would be the Masters (magistri) of the Great Guilds. The Great Guilds would be the principally the merchant guilds, e.g. venturers (merchants engaged in overseas trade), drapers (textile merchants), grocers (foodstuffs), haberdashers (petty wares), ironmongers. The drapers were particularly high up in the pecking order since they were also involved in textile manufacturing, "the" major industry in Lombardia. Other great guilds would be the bankers (although don't push that too hard since I am focusing the banking in the fairs), goldsmiths, armorers, physicians, apothecaries, lawyers and notaries.
Minor Burghers - would be the members of the Lesser Guilds. The Lesser Guilds were typically artisanal/crafts guilds, e.g. weavers, fullers, potters, blacksmiths, bakers, shoemakers, carpenters, candlemakers, etc.
You should never refer to burghers by "signore" or "cavaliere". They should be addressed as "good man" or "good woman" ('buon' huomo' and 'buona donna'), although I suppose the great masters could be referred to more exaltedly as honorable patricians (Patrizio) and, at a stretch, if particularly rich & well-connected, even "gentleman".
Suggestions: Besides the regular gamut of crimes (theft, murder, etc.), burgher disputes would be typically about illegal trading. The Merchant guilds had a legally-sanctioned complete monopoly on commerce in a city and sometimes even outside of it. Craftsmen couldn't buy from or sell to anybody but the merchant guilds at a set (usually unfair) price. A blacksmith caught selling a nail to a carpenter or a baker buying flour directly from the countryside, would be in serious violation of the law.
But merchants could also be in violation if they engaged in illegal price-gouging or buying/selling out-of-market. The craftsmen could also lodge complaints if the merchants sold them sub-standard or low quality raw materials. Or if the merchant set up secret manufacture workshops or commissioned manufacturing in countryside cottages (both very illegal).
Since Counts were particularly concerned that the city had adequate provisions (don't want riots by hungry people or an underequipped army), the burghers should appeal to his sympathy by saying that the other guy's actions "will inevitably cause shortages" of this or that.
Major Clergy - Priests.
Minor Clergy - Deacons.
Suggestions: Not sure what kind of disputes they would have. But in the parish division of labor, priests concentrated on the religious stuff (said mass, heard confessions, etc.), leaving the deacons to do most of the grunt-work of administering the parish institutions (churches, schools, poor relief). The disputes could be about lazy priests overburdening deacons, forcing them to work beyond their duties (e.g. deacon required to do private errands for the priest or even work on the priest's land). Priests could be accused of neglecting their sacramental duties in the parish ("the people can't get confessions cause the priest is always playing golf"), misusing church property (e.g. leasing church land to capitalist farmers, allowing terrible things to go on there like evictions & industry).
Conversely, deacons could be accused of stealing church property, embezzling funds, performing illegal sacraments (deacons are only allowed to perform baptisms & marriages), perhaps taking bribes or extorting cash from people they are supposed to be ministering.
Major Peasants are rich tenant farmers (farmers who rent farmland owned by the church are likelier to be richer & have grander farms than tenants leasing from noblemen; leases can be quite long, 100 years sometimes). Yeoman (farmers who own their own property) are very rare.
Minor Peasants Three types, poor tenant farmers, feudal serfs (farmers who are tied to a particular piece of land by feudal contract and cannot lease or legally work anywhere else and owe feudal obligations to their masters) and the most miserable of all, farm laborers (bulk of them vagabonds or squat on common property and may be intermittently hired by tenant farmers or serfs on a day-to-day basis for crappy wages (maybe just a meal).)
Issues: Besides regular crimes, very numerous issues involve the peasantry. Feudal abuses, lease abuses, unpaid wages, violations of old customs (closing off common pasture or a public well), being bad neighbors (e.g. digging irrigation ditches that deprive others of water).
If you want to pick & choose your names, scroll down to find some Medieval Italian names (or here. High nobles can have Germanic-sounding Frankish or Lombard names. Here are some fancy forms of address.
Reactions Once the verdict & sentence are pronounced, the case is over. But if you really want, you can add reactions to the verdict by the parties.
If dissatisfied with the verdict, nobles theoretically had the right to appeal to a higher court, i.e. the Emperor himself. But in the era of self-ruling communes, the Emperor felt he really didn't have the obligation to indulge them and so such appeals were rarely invoked, but I suppose they could threaten it.
Counts judging priests, in contrast, was more controversial since, in theory, clerics had the right to be judged in clerical courts, not lay courts. But civil authorities generally ignored that and judged them anyway, particularly if the matter was rather worldly. But it often raised howls of protest from bishops. So, if the priest is convicted, he can whine about the legality of being tried in the count's court to begin with, that he's going to have his bishop lodge a complaint "all the way up to the pope", or insist this dispute is really a religious matter not a civil matter and Count should not intervene.
Nobles should not be confronted by their own peasants since they typically had legal jurisdiction over them. So those cases should be limited to noble vs. somone else's peasant. They might, however, arrogantly wonder aloud why their case is being brought up in the Count's court, and suggesting this could all be resolved privately by the noble talking to the peasant's own noble, rather than bothering the honorable Count, that a common rustic is not the peer so his testimony is worth less, that it is unseemly to confront a noble of high birth with a vile peasant, etc. That shouldn't fly, but it can be aired.
What I have need for here are 'court cases' for our count to make a judgment on. The cases are between two people, each drawn from one of the following eight classes:
(1) Major noble
(2) Minor noble
(4) Major burgher
(5) Minor burgher
(6) Major cleric
(7) Minor cleric
(8) Major peasant
(9) Minor peasant
You can invent the personages, give him/her their own names, and invent the case completely from scratch. The case need not be complex. Just something simple - y'know, theft, assault, murder, etc. Quantity is preferable to quality.
Presiding in judgment over the case is you (i.e. the count). You are to decide for one or the other, mildly or with extremity. Also present is a learned jurist who will give an opinion (usually favorable to the smaller party) and a city consul (who will interject with an opinion usually favorable to the greater party).
The structure of the dialogue is simple. Say you pick the case of a major cleric against a minor burgher.
1 - The major cleric presents his side of the story.
2 - The minor burgher presents his side of the story.
3 - The learned jurist defends the minor burgher
4 - The consul defends the major cleric.
5 - The count is presented with four possible verdicts (w/punishments):
(i) For the major cleric in extremis (high punishment)
(ii) For the major cleric (mild punishment)
(iii) For the minor burgher (mild punishment)
(iv) For the minor burgher in extremis (high punishment)
And that's all there's to it.
Here's an example:
------------------
CASE OF MAJOR CLERIC vs. MINOR BURGHER:
(1) Major Cleric (Padre Vettori): "Most beloved {count/countess} and {lord/lady}. I, by the grace of God a priest in the service of the Church, bring forth before your court a case against Zaira Ghinetti, a candlemaker. For many years, I have dealt with her father and he has supplied our parish church with a plentiful excellent candles.
When her father passed away, I presumed she would continue on the family tradition. Instead, from the start, she immediately withheld supply and forced us to pay a higher price than we normally pay. Moreover, I understand she is charging less to churches in other parishes than she is charging me.
That is clearly against guild rules. I demand she be brought to account."
(2) Minor Burgher (Zaira Ghinetti): "Begging yer {lordship's/ladyship's} pardon, but I have done no crime, {m'lord/m'lady}. As my father before me, and my daughters shall be after me, I have sought to become a renowned candlemaker. I can tell yer lordship that the quality of my work exceeds that of any man. Quality work takes time, and the supply is inevitable smaller. Moreover, when looking through my late father's books, which I have brought with me today for examination by the court, I realized that the reverend had been cheating my poor father for years and paying below just price for the candles he supplied. My father was a pious man, so he didn't complain, but it is my inheritance he squandered. By charging more to the reverend, I am making up for years of losses. He thinks just because he is a great priest and I am a lowly woman, he can bully me. But I am not a fool nor will I be intimidated by his robe."
(3) Jurist opinion: "The notary had me look at the books beforehand, and I can confirm she is correct. A scoundrel in a robe is still a scoundrel. You should not let his status protect him from the laws of the city."
(4) Consul interjection: "What? Chastise a renowned priest over a handful of wax? For all we know, she could have forged those entries. Her continued breaking of the guild rules should not be tolerated just because her papa might have made some bad business deals in the past."
(5) Count's verdicts & punishments:
(a) For the major cleric, the Priest Vettori, in extremis:
"Since you like bending the guild rules, Mistress Ghinetti, let me bend some as well. You shall not only compensate the Priest Vettori for the overcharging you have already done, but you will be compelled to supply his church with candles at half-price for the next two years."
(b) For the major cleric, the Priest Vettori:
"Two wrongs don't make a right, Mistress Ghinetti. You shall repay the reverend father the amount you've been overcharging him. And if I catch whiff of your overcharging anywhere again, I shan't be so lenient."
(c) For the minor burgher, the candlemaker Zaira Ghinetti:
Eye for an eye, Padre. You overcharge her father, she overcharges you in compensation. That is justice. But no more. The court notary shall look over her books to assess the exact amount you cheated her father out of. Once that is compensated for, Mistress Ghinetti will charge you no more than the fair price she charges others."
(d) For the minor burgher, the candlemaker Zaira Ghinetti, in extremis:
"She is not only right to overcharge you Padre, I order her to continue to overcharge you until you have paid back triple the amount you hoodwinked out of her father all those years. Maybe then you will learn not to cheat honest tradesman again."
---------------------------------
We already have 23 cases and need at least 9 more to round off a complete set. The missing cases are:
CASE #6 - major noble, major peasant
Case #9 - minor noble, minor burgher
case #11 - minor noble, minor cleric
case #13 - minor noble, minor peasant
case #18 - major burgher,major peasant
case #21 - minor burgher, minor cleric
case #23 - minor burgher, minor peasant
case #25 - major cleric, major peasant
case #28 - minor cleric, minor peasant
But we can add more and more and more. The more, the better.
---------------------------------------------------
SOME GUIDELINES & SUGGESTIONS:
- Keep in mind the court cases are just a means to allow the Count player to "adjust" internal balance in the city towards certain parties. The details of the court cases are not that important in and of themselves, so they don't have to be that complex. Since court days will be pop up at repeated intervals, the preference is for quantity rather than quality, a lot of simple cases, rather than a few very complex ones.
- Most minor disputes were resolved by lesser authorties - consuls, town & village mayors, nobles (if the parties were feudal subjects), etc. Cases were only kicked upstairs to the Count's court if loss of life or property worth more than 20 denars was at stake. So, no cases about a thief who stole five denars.
- There was no police force. So avoid dialogues that say "cops nabbed me when I..." Civilians were expected to conduct their own arrests, typically by "raising the hue and cry" (mob grabs suspect). Some towns might have a few patrolling sergeants, but they were usually just preventive not arresting agents, sort of like nightclub bouncers (broke up fights & stuff).
- There were such things as lawyers, but people presented their own cases. In the courtroom, there are two people who chime in with their opinions: the jurist & the consul.
- The jurist is a refined legal scholar trained at the great university of Bologna. He is there to 'help' the Count make a decision by offering his careful legal opinion when asked. His opinions are usually biased towards the minor party.
- The Consul, a blustering nobleman, is motivated by emotion more than reason. He is not supposed to intervene, but he speaks his mind anyway. His disdains the jurist and his opinion is biased towards the major party.
PERSONAGES:
The player is the Count (Podesta) of the city and will be the judge. He is addressed as "Your Excellency" or "Your Honor" or "Your Lordship", but never "Your Majesty" nor "Your Highness" nor "Your Eminence". Or you can address it with adjectives before the title, e.g. "most honorable lord/count/podesta" (or "most noble", "most illustrious", "most strenuous", "most excellent", "most magnificent", but never "most serene" nor "most reverend" ).
Major Nobles - known collectively as "Capitani" (Captains) in Lombardia - would be great lord, usually a holder of large feudal estates (directly under the monarch or the bishop) or even allodial land (owned for himself), but would usually live within the city walls. It is best not to give them a specific title, but you can flavorly refer to them as "signore/signora" (lord/lady) (as in "the honorable signore", the "illustrious signore", the "strenuous signore", etc.).
Minor Nobles - known as "Valvassores" - were the vassals of a captain, i.e. a sub-lord or knight. You can refer to a sub-lord also as "signore", but a knight should be referred to merely as "cavaliere" (sir/gentleman) or "dama" (dame). Gentleman/gentlewoman ('Gentil'huomo' & 'Gentil' donna') can be used for any noble.
Major Burghers - would be the Masters (magistri) of the Great Guilds. The Great Guilds would be the principally the merchant guilds, e.g. venturers (merchants engaged in overseas trade), drapers (textile merchants), grocers (foodstuffs), haberdashers (petty wares), ironmongers. The drapers were particularly high up in the pecking order since they were also involved in textile manufacturing, "the" major industry in Lombardia. Other great guilds would be the bankers (although don't push that too hard since I am focusing the banking in the fairs), goldsmiths, armorers, physicians, apothecaries, lawyers and notaries.
Minor Burghers - would be the members of the Lesser Guilds. The Lesser Guilds were typically artisanal/crafts guilds, e.g. weavers, fullers, potters, blacksmiths, bakers, shoemakers, carpenters, candlemakers, etc.
You should never refer to burghers by "signore" or "cavaliere". They should be addressed as "good man" or "good woman" ('buon' huomo' and 'buona donna'), although I suppose the great masters could be referred to more exaltedly as honorable patricians (Patrizio) and, at a stretch, if particularly rich & well-connected, even "gentleman".
Suggestions: Besides the regular gamut of crimes (theft, murder, etc.), burgher disputes would be typically about illegal trading. The Merchant guilds had a legally-sanctioned complete monopoly on commerce in a city and sometimes even outside of it. Craftsmen couldn't buy from or sell to anybody but the merchant guilds at a set (usually unfair) price. A blacksmith caught selling a nail to a carpenter or a baker buying flour directly from the countryside, would be in serious violation of the law.
But merchants could also be in violation if they engaged in illegal price-gouging or buying/selling out-of-market. The craftsmen could also lodge complaints if the merchants sold them sub-standard or low quality raw materials. Or if the merchant set up secret manufacture workshops or commissioned manufacturing in countryside cottages (both very illegal).
Since Counts were particularly concerned that the city had adequate provisions (don't want riots by hungry people or an underequipped army), the burghers should appeal to his sympathy by saying that the other guy's actions "will inevitably cause shortages" of this or that.
Major Clergy - Priests.
Minor Clergy - Deacons.
Suggestions: Not sure what kind of disputes they would have. But in the parish division of labor, priests concentrated on the religious stuff (said mass, heard confessions, etc.), leaving the deacons to do most of the grunt-work of administering the parish institutions (churches, schools, poor relief). The disputes could be about lazy priests overburdening deacons, forcing them to work beyond their duties (e.g. deacon required to do private errands for the priest or even work on the priest's land). Priests could be accused of neglecting their sacramental duties in the parish ("the people can't get confessions cause the priest is always playing golf"), misusing church property (e.g. leasing church land to capitalist farmers, allowing terrible things to go on there like evictions & industry).
Conversely, deacons could be accused of stealing church property, embezzling funds, performing illegal sacraments (deacons are only allowed to perform baptisms & marriages), perhaps taking bribes or extorting cash from people they are supposed to be ministering.
Major Peasants are rich tenant farmers (farmers who rent farmland owned by the church are likelier to be richer & have grander farms than tenants leasing from noblemen; leases can be quite long, 100 years sometimes). Yeoman (farmers who own their own property) are very rare.
Minor Peasants Three types, poor tenant farmers, feudal serfs (farmers who are tied to a particular piece of land by feudal contract and cannot lease or legally work anywhere else and owe feudal obligations to their masters) and the most miserable of all, farm laborers (bulk of them vagabonds or squat on common property and may be intermittently hired by tenant farmers or serfs on a day-to-day basis for crappy wages (maybe just a meal).)
Issues: Besides regular crimes, very numerous issues involve the peasantry. Feudal abuses, lease abuses, unpaid wages, violations of old customs (closing off common pasture or a public well), being bad neighbors (e.g. digging irrigation ditches that deprive others of water).
If you want to pick & choose your names, scroll down to find some Medieval Italian names (or here. High nobles can have Germanic-sounding Frankish or Lombard names. Here are some fancy forms of address.
Reactions Once the verdict & sentence are pronounced, the case is over. But if you really want, you can add reactions to the verdict by the parties.
If dissatisfied with the verdict, nobles theoretically had the right to appeal to a higher court, i.e. the Emperor himself. But in the era of self-ruling communes, the Emperor felt he really didn't have the obligation to indulge them and so such appeals were rarely invoked, but I suppose they could threaten it.
Counts judging priests, in contrast, was more controversial since, in theory, clerics had the right to be judged in clerical courts, not lay courts. But civil authorities generally ignored that and judged them anyway, particularly if the matter was rather worldly. But it often raised howls of protest from bishops. So, if the priest is convicted, he can whine about the legality of being tried in the count's court to begin with, that he's going to have his bishop lodge a complaint "all the way up to the pope", or insist this dispute is really a religious matter not a civil matter and Count should not intervene.
Nobles should not be confronted by their own peasants since they typically had legal jurisdiction over them. So those cases should be limited to noble vs. somone else's peasant. They might, however, arrogantly wonder aloud why their case is being brought up in the Count's court, and suggesting this could all be resolved privately by the noble talking to the peasant's own noble, rather than bothering the honorable Count, that a common rustic is not the peer so his testimony is worth less, that it is unseemly to confront a noble of high birth with a vile peasant, etc. That shouldn't fly, but it can be aired.