House of Piggy
Daughters. I was studying (when I should be working) on the dynamics of succession and found something particularly interesting. While sons garauntee the name in a paternal succession typically, in a "House" daughters have just as much of a role in the line. This is because, the most competent son in Law may be better than grooming one's own son for succession. Normally the Male Head of the household will have a very strong say in the matter of male succession, but when women can see a way that their husbands become their instruments to power then they will be inclined to perpetuate the strategy for their daughters rise up as powerful as the emperor with the "right" man.
Arranged marriages aren't a simple matter of "getting rid" of a daughter, instead it is about getting a competent son in law. Son in Laws are more controllable than one's own sons (simply because of the comfortable distance one is able to assess their abilities), and can offer more because there is a sense of competitions when jockeying for a liege's daughter. There usually 2 forces that govern these kinds of political arrangements: the visible established practice and the practice that takes advantage of how these things are perceived. In a very highly developed arrangement system, powerful women will probably carve out a place that would allow them to hold more power than there husbands.
An example of this in modern philippine history is how the magsaysay shipping line passed on to the competent son in law. Probably by default but better than it falling into ruin with the hands of one's own children.
In the setting I'm developing: the Sins of the Crusades where Anna Komena was able to do just that by marrying Bohemond of Taranto (instead of the weak willed husband she had in real world history) and helped him achieve his dream in becoming the emperor of rome after Alexios, and then reigning when he grew weaker him (the way Imelda Marcos had, but with the ability to run the state). Basically making the Komenos line the first Matriarchal House in the setting. This is followed by House Ad'Din when Yasuf Ad'Din (who is commonly known as Saladin) lost his sons to the war Rikard of House Baldwin (the Plantagenets were married into the Baldwins).
I've been contemplating the role of women in a mediaval setting and found that precedents were very important. In Byzantine History, Theodora was powerful woman, and one who didn't have the advantage of arranging marriges. Anna Komena was also very formidable and had so much going for her except her gender. Her mother also supported her wish to userp her own brother. I am thinking that given the chance that she succeeded there would be more powerful women.
I was trying to Identify what are Courtiers. Courtiers are Power Brokers. As power brokers they usually were Heirs to their patron, Aids or Representative of their Patrons insterests, they also acted as informant or informers, and they were in many times diplomats and negotiators for these powers.
Women fill the role better than men, simply because a man was expected to fight and had to take a lot of time to be competent for war. This left women the important role of managing many affairs of the household and the dynasty (Western nobles actually found dealing with money dishonorable to an extend of actually not knowing the price of many goods they dealt with); negotiating and patience (men found it easier to use the sword than diplomacy, especially since 16yr olds were considered men and were highly skilled with arms and women matured faster then men of their age); arrange for their daughters or sons or grand children (since they are at home raising them and are with them more than their father), and their gender protected them from having to invlolve themselves in violence and they can never cause an insult to someone's honor (just an affront); and of course there is the matter of seduction in a very repressed era.
Women in my family have no problem finding good men. Examining my mother and sister's taste, judgement and personality, they are quite practical when it comes to men. This also affected how I see women can have a powerful role despite the "weaknesses" attatched to their gender. Again, i fill out the questions of "Role" when I try to make this work.
Anyway, this idea has heavily influenced the way I made the Family trees of the ruling Houses. Family trees are very important when one developes personalities. Typically people ignore the matter of family when dveloping characters. Usually taking them out of the picture because it complicates the matter thus creating a character that was concieved from a void. These days in stories, complexity is a big deal and part of the attraction. Having mommy and daddy issues conflicting with what the character want in life speaks to a VERY big audience and can relate to them very strongly.
Developing the family tree, even at random then working out the dynamics while adding in some random factors (diseased, disfigured, excommunicated etc...) is a fun story telling excersize while at the same time makes for a very realistic and fleshed out characters. If ever, it would be useful to have a tarrot draw for every character, just to randomize things and prevent a very visable pattern.
Arranged marriages aren't a simple matter of "getting rid" of a daughter, instead it is about getting a competent son in law. Son in Laws are more controllable than one's own sons (simply because of the comfortable distance one is able to assess their abilities), and can offer more because there is a sense of competitions when jockeying for a liege's daughter. There usually 2 forces that govern these kinds of political arrangements: the visible established practice and the practice that takes advantage of how these things are perceived. In a very highly developed arrangement system, powerful women will probably carve out a place that would allow them to hold more power than there husbands.
An example of this in modern philippine history is how the magsaysay shipping line passed on to the competent son in law. Probably by default but better than it falling into ruin with the hands of one's own children.
In the setting I'm developing: the Sins of the Crusades where Anna Komena was able to do just that by marrying Bohemond of Taranto (instead of the weak willed husband she had in real world history) and helped him achieve his dream in becoming the emperor of rome after Alexios, and then reigning when he grew weaker him (the way Imelda Marcos had, but with the ability to run the state). Basically making the Komenos line the first Matriarchal House in the setting. This is followed by House Ad'Din when Yasuf Ad'Din (who is commonly known as Saladin) lost his sons to the war Rikard of House Baldwin (the Plantagenets were married into the Baldwins).
I've been contemplating the role of women in a mediaval setting and found that precedents were very important. In Byzantine History, Theodora was powerful woman, and one who didn't have the advantage of arranging marriges. Anna Komena was also very formidable and had so much going for her except her gender. Her mother also supported her wish to userp her own brother. I am thinking that given the chance that she succeeded there would be more powerful women.
I was trying to Identify what are Courtiers. Courtiers are Power Brokers. As power brokers they usually were Heirs to their patron, Aids or Representative of their Patrons insterests, they also acted as informant or informers, and they were in many times diplomats and negotiators for these powers.
Women fill the role better than men, simply because a man was expected to fight and had to take a lot of time to be competent for war. This left women the important role of managing many affairs of the household and the dynasty (Western nobles actually found dealing with money dishonorable to an extend of actually not knowing the price of many goods they dealt with); negotiating and patience (men found it easier to use the sword than diplomacy, especially since 16yr olds were considered men and were highly skilled with arms and women matured faster then men of their age); arrange for their daughters or sons or grand children (since they are at home raising them and are with them more than their father), and their gender protected them from having to invlolve themselves in violence and they can never cause an insult to someone's honor (just an affront); and of course there is the matter of seduction in a very repressed era.
Women in my family have no problem finding good men. Examining my mother and sister's taste, judgement and personality, they are quite practical when it comes to men. This also affected how I see women can have a powerful role despite the "weaknesses" attatched to their gender. Again, i fill out the questions of "Role" when I try to make this work.
Anyway, this idea has heavily influenced the way I made the Family trees of the ruling Houses. Family trees are very important when one developes personalities. Typically people ignore the matter of family when dveloping characters. Usually taking them out of the picture because it complicates the matter thus creating a character that was concieved from a void. These days in stories, complexity is a big deal and part of the attraction. Having mommy and daddy issues conflicting with what the character want in life speaks to a VERY big audience and can relate to them very strongly.
Developing the family tree, even at random then working out the dynamics while adding in some random factors (diseased, disfigured, excommunicated etc...) is a fun story telling excersize while at the same time makes for a very realistic and fleshed out characters. If ever, it would be useful to have a tarrot draw for every character, just to randomize things and prevent a very visable pattern.
Comments
Post a Comment