Guilder rank

Domain and Regency » Manorialism » Social class » Guilder (rank)

Part of a series on Social class

Rural Ranks
Serf · Yeoman · Gentry · Nobility
Urban Ranks
Criminal · Laborer · Craftsman Guildmaster · Guilder
Regional Variation
Anuire · Rjurik · Brecht · Khinasi · Vos

The Guilder is a guildmaster whose interests lie across many towns and probably several provinces. A guilder is so rich and successful that whether or not he once practiced a trade, he now manages the crafts and professions of many tradesmen in many different towns. This group also includes the younger sons of noblemen (or among the Brecht, perhaps older sons as well) who are sent into business to earn their own fortune.

The guilder's perspective is markedly different from that of other groups, because everything is possible, both spectacular success, and spectacular failure. The craftsman may lose his shop to indebtedness, but he can always ply his trade as a journeyman. The landowner, whether yeoman or noble will always have his lands, whether during famine or plenty, but a guilder is always risking his fortune on the next deal. It is both the source of his strength and his greatest vulnerability.