Standard Royal Court: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:royalcourt.jpg|frame]]
The
How elaborate the court is will depend on the [[Technology Levels|technology level]], and the wealth of the nation it rules. A barbarian warlord will have the most basic version; one right-hand man, a dozen minor chiefs, and a few hundred warriors. A galactic empire will have a court bigger than most cities, and a population to match - ten million courtiers living in conditions of unparalleled magnificence, their lives all revolving around the centre of power, the emperor at the court's heart. If, that is, the writer wants to keep in touch with reality; [[Gormenghast|total mismatches between the size of the court and the size of the country]] occur.
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Any court beyond the most basic will typically be fractal in structure. Most of the courtiers will themselves be the heads of lesser courts, mirroring the structure of the main court, and many of their courtiers will in turn head minor courts. Thus, the crown prince's best friend and chief advisor might be a duke, ruling over several earldoms, advised by the ducal chancellor. Historically, most courts stopped at four or five tiers, but in fiction there is no limit.
How much of this structure the reader sees depends on the focus of the narrative. If the protagonists are just visiting the court, they'll usually only deal with an handful of people in it, leaving the rest of the
In general, the overall tone of a court is set by its ruler. A good king will have good courtiers; an evil king will have evil courtiers. However, there will usually be one or two courtiers who run counter to the trend, which gives them a greater prominence in the plot, and a new king may inherit a court that runs opposite to his preferences.
Morality is only one dimension along which the
* Sneakiness - some courts are a web of conspiracies; in others, everyone is open about their intentions.
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Positions in a royal court usually start out as purely functional, become either hereditary or reserved for nobles, and end up as purely ceremonial, with the actual work being done by the holder of a more junior post, which may then go through the same cycle. This is how old courts, where this has happened several times, end up with their bewildering array of titles. Young courts, with no long standing traditions, are much simpler, and the nobles in them more likely to do actual work.
Typical plot lines for works set in a
The members of a
The important members of the court, and associated tropes, are:
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* Any [[The Mistress|mistresses]] the king has. Essentially the same role as favourites, but less respectable. This doesn't stop ambitious courtiers parading their sisters in front of the king.
* If there are enough nobles, they might form a separate body within the court that acts as a kind of legislature for the nation. [[Expy|Expies]] of the [[British Political System|British House of Lords]], the French Estates-General (or just the First and Second Estates), the [[Roman Republic|Roman Senate]], and the [[Holy Roman Empire|Holy Roman]] ''Reichstag'' are common.
* [[Praetorian Guard|The royal bodyguard.]] Expect [[Bling of War|flashy uniforms and weaponry]]. Depending on the story, they can be little more than a showy force with [[Mooks|no substance]] [[Redshirt Army|behind them]] to [[Elite Mooks|unkillable badasses]]. May be a [[Cadre of Foreign Bodyguards]]
Most of these people will have their own circle of courtiers filling the same roles, but their titles will be lesser. Though the stakes are lower, the politics is no less vicious.
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