The social hierarchies of the Uzdumalian Empire varied over time, between city and country, and between central regions and the provinces. Some divisions were enshrined in law, while others were implicit, if equally rigid. Others yet were relatively malleable, especially the further one got from urban centers and the oldest, most tightly controlled regions of the empire. What follows, then, is merely a rough guide to the general social organization of the imperial period.

The Premier Estate

The emperor, of course, represented the very pinnacle of the Uzdumalian class structure. Close relatives of the emperor were also of the highest caste. However, for most of Uzdamalian history, all royals other than the emperor himself were not allowed outside of palace grounds, except under very constrained circumstances, and many edicts were issued in their names by high-ranking barons. These edicts were nominally "interpretations of the will" of the royal in question.

Ministers of the First Rank (Barons):

The highest officials in the imperial government were the barons, all of whom qualified as "ministers of the first rank." Baronhood was hereditary, and it was rare for new baronial lines to be created. Barons generally had substantial land holdings and lived primarily off the income of those holdings, though some baronial positions also carried a salary. A baron might or might not live at the site of his primary holdings; those with positions that demanded their presence at court would often live there, instead, and those who were closest to the emperor (for example, members of the Council of the Sleeve) might be provided with palatial outbuildings where they might install an entire household of their own.

Baronial positions included the masters of the Exchequery (from whose ranks the President was chosen), judges of the imperial court, bishops, Counts of Damaslava, and the Secret Chancellor. Provincial governors were also usually barons.

Ministers of Lesser Rank (Voivodes):

The voivodes, like the barons, were considered members of the nobility, and had votes in the Diet of Uz. It appears that their positions were almost always hereditary in practice, though in theory they were not. Higher-ranking officers in the armed forces were also considered voivodes, at least after the end of the high Uzdumalian period. A spectacular performance on the Balogh-Isoherranen Exam could catapault almost any child in the empire into this class, a truly revolutionary consequence of the reforms instituted by Devon-Lars I.

The Civic Estate

Lower ranking imperial officials, administrators of the Imperial Academy, and certain high-status landowners, leaders of prominent workshops, and other members of the haute-bourgeoisie were considered gentlefolk, though they did not have positions in the Diet. Both men and women of this class could be addressed with the courtesy title of "Peer". Governmental officers in this class were occasionally promoted to a voivodic position, though this practice was far more common in the early decades of the empire than later on, when the ranks of the voivodes were already swollen with the heirs of voivodes that had gone before.

The Holy Estate

Religious leaders, members of religious orders, and students of theology belonged to the holy estate. Almost all members of this class came from the ranks of second sons and second daughters of the premiere estate, and relative ranks within the church tended to correspond to rank of birth. Members of this estate were immune from all tax. Most provincial religious figures, and all members and officials of religious institutions other than the Great Uzdumalian Church of State were not considered members of the holy estate, but members of the fifth estate, like any other freeman.

The Fifth Estate

All citizens who were not members of one of the higher estates were considered part of the fifth estate, including rank and file soldiers, artisans, wealthy but non-gentry businessmen, poor businessmen, yeomen farmers, free servants, and laborers. Roughly speaking, relative status within the fifth estate corresponded to financial power, though some occupations enjoyed greater status than financial benefit. In the provinces, meanwhile, it was frequently the case that all walks of life fell technically within the fifth estate, and yet there might be any number of rigidly held local social stratifications. Pre-imperial aristocracies or other elite classes, for example, might have no legal standing under the Uzdumalian Code, but many maintained much of their traditional power in the region of their origin.

Why this class was called the "fifth estate" when only three other estates existed is not known, though some scholars have speculated that it may be connected to traditional associations between the number five and toil, duty, and mundanity. Others have suggested that there was in fact some secret or profane fourth estate.

Slaves and Serfs

Slaves and serfs were not considered members of any estate. After the creation of the Balogh-Isoherranen Exams, it became possible, if unusual, for one to rise to the fifth estate (or, even more rarely, to the civic or premier estate).

Exceptions

Borrits did not fall into any of the above categories, being technically freemen, but not members of any estate, falling as they did outside all normal structures of morality and society. For this reason, borrits were occasionally drafted into service for very serious affairs of state, performing diplomatic tasks that were for one reason or another impossible for a citizen to take part in without irretrievably staining his or her honor.

Some early imperial chronicles suggest that foreign visitors from societies with class structures that differed significantly from the Uzdumalian system could enjoy a certain degree of caste ambiguity.

See also:

Borrits

Diet of Uz

Great Uzdumalian Church of State

Secret Chancellor