I'm writing a short story and want to make my portrayal of the period at least somewhat accurate. My understanding is that, despite having doubtful historicity, King Arthur would have 'lived' around the 5th to 8th centuries. Given that most of the later aristocratic hierarchy in the UK was modeled after the continental feudal states, I am assuming that England in this period had a different social structure. What were the broad social classes during this period? (Is it as simple as royal, noble, serf?)
Secondly, I'm specifically interested in different titles that noblepersons would have used. I presume that there weren't a lot of marquises or viscounts in early medieval England. What titles were used at this point and how did they function?
In brief, what was terms properly describe the social classes and noble ranks in 5th to 8th century England?
Thank you!
You're talking about the Anglo Saxons here, there's an old thread that u/cerapus provided an answer to that you might find helpful.
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your creative project, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for aspiring novelists and the like, based on past experience: some people working on creative projects have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
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