seneschals
A seneschal is an assistant to a lord or lady, or less commonly a large temple or highly successful business.
Titles for senechals vary by nation, instution, and social rank, but the one thing that binds all seneschals together is that they handle the untold non-exciting details of running a castle, fiefdom, business, military order, or temple.
Servants, staff, and guard need to be housed, fed, and paid. Personal problems need to be dealt with early before they get out of hand. As vacancies appear, new hires need to be carefully screened and then instructed what is expected of them.
Livestock needs to be fed and penned. Come winter, livestock needs to be culled so their meat can be added to the winter stores but enough livestock needs to be left alive, so they can start breeding again in the spring. Food and other supplies needs to be purchased when it's available and cheap and carefully stored for when it's not available. If farmland is managed, enough seeds need to be set aside for next planting season's crops come harvest time.
If a petitioner wants to talk to their local lord or lady, first they have to talk to his senchals who will decide when and if such an audience is possible.
Career
Qualifications
Princes need to make sure their seneschals are both loyal and skilled.
Seneschals need to be literate and able to multi-task well juggling several concerns at any given time in order to manage the castle, land, or business of their lord or lady.
Other Benefits
Good senschals are generally paid well. They also can ride the political coattails of their lord or lady to greater social rank.
Perception
Demographics
"Not all seneschals are gnomes...only the best seneschals are gnomes. About one in twenty mortals in human, dwarven, elven lands are gnomes, and about one in four senschals are gnomes.A lowly count or a baron probably has to make due with one seneschal who handles all these tasks, or at the least the tasks that the lord can't or won't handle himself. Here in Fumaya where land and titles are passed patrileneally, it's typically the lord's first job to defend his fief, not to actually manage it. Some lords can do both, but not many. It's pretty common for Fumayan noblewomen to either officially or unofficially serve as their husband's seneschals (and family works for free!). This is so common that most noble ladies are trained in management from childhood so they can be attractive marriage prospects. Our own Queen Janah Wiern is her husband's official chancellor (and a damn good one!) though the king has a separate steward and a separate butler (both gnomes as our king is wise). This is pretty common in many realms being the general practice in kingdom of Kantoc and many Border Baronies Region In a matrilineal realm, you might find a husband serving as his wife's sensechal in some capacity. Duchess Nia of Uwcharedia basically chose her husband for his managerial and diplomatic skills. I believe the Baroness of the Barony of Crystal Fields has a similar marriage. This isn't universal among ruling women. My understanding is that the Queen of Swynfaredia filled all of her local court positions with blood family members and her Royal Consort husband is little more than a royal stud horse...or so I've been told. Likewise, not all wives to mighty lords act as seneschal. In Uskala most seneschals are well educated commoners and most noblewomen are treated as little more than highborn brood mares...or so I've been told."A king or queen is probably going to have more than one seneschal, though they probably have different title. A "chancellor" manages diplomatic issues, a bailiff handles day-to-day land management, a "steward" handles money, and a butler is in charge of the castle staff. These are all seneschals by another name.
History
Dragons had a hierarchy among their own kind of course, and the dragon kings and queens of old had lower dragons serving them. Most of the titles were related to body part "Wings", "Right Claw", "Left Claw" etc. Some of these jobs were similar to seneschal but nothing was an exact analogous role. It was common for dragon kings and queens to favor a separation of powers among their servants, so that none of their servants had enough leverage to challenge them though this cost their realms in terms of efficiency. In the Second Age, the ancient Elven kingdoms resembled modern human kingdoms fairly closely and the kings and queens had servants that were very similar to seneschals. Most lords and ladies were served by Raykesh. The Raykesh was in charge of something on behalf of their lord. You could have a Raykesh of coins, a Raykesh of ships, a Raykesh of Horses, even a Raykesh of Trash Disposal, though for low level jobs, the title of Raykesh was usually only used in a sarcastic or demeaning manner. Most of the time, unless the elf kingdom was very large and rich, most courtiers had multiple Raykesh titles. An elf who was Raykesh of Coins, Raykesh of the Kitchens, Raykesh of the Servants, Raykesh of Horses would be pretty similar to a modern "seneschal". Of course the Third Age, the emerging human leaders had servants and assistants filling seneschal duties. During the Red Era, this was usually pretty informal, some ancient cultures such as the the Fakhari are believed to have appropriated the term "Raykesh" from the elves. The term "seneschal" didn't actually become widely used until the reign of Vladimir the Conqueror. Whether people admit it or not, most human feudal societies use the same basic structure and terminology that Vladimir set in motion and this includes how seneschals are used and treated.Akeem of Magiclandby Eron12 with Hero Forge"Every since there were leaders, there were those who assisted leaders. The JJelakar is an old Draconic word designating for ranking thurekal who essentially acted for heir dragon masters much like modern seneschal, though arguably with less status since all non-dragons were second class citizens at best in the ancient dragon kingdoms.
Type
Administration / Management
Demand
High demand as almost every prince or potentate needs or at least wants a good seneschal.
Other Associated professions
Related Locations
Ranks & Titles
Comments