The Seven Kingdoms is a feudal society built on land, oaths, and obligation. Every person, from the king to the lowest field hand, has a place in this structure, and that place shapes nearly every interaction they will have. Understanding where you and those around you stand is essential to playing in this world convincingly.
At its most basic, the hierarchy runs as follows:
The Crown
Great Houses (paramount lords of each region)
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*Noble Houses (greater and lesser lords)
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*Landed Knights
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Household and Hedge Knights
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Smallfolk (craftsmen, tradesmen, farmers, etc)
Status is hereditary. An impoverished or exiled noble is still highborn. A commoner elevated to knighthood through valor is still considered lowborn by most of the nobility — knighthood confers honor, but not noble status. There is no formal path for a commoner to become noble. It happens, but only through extraordinary service or the sustained favor of a lord over generations.
Nobility encompasses the royal family, lords great and small, and landed knights. What distinguishes the nobility from those below them is not merely wealth or power, but the hereditary right to land, title, and the privileges that come with them.
Coat of Arms
Every noble house bears a coat of arms — a heraldic device used as a mark of status and identification, visible on shields, banners, and seals. It identifies a house on the battlefield, at court, and in any formal setting.
House Words
Every noble house has a motto, known as their house words. These are a statement of the house's values, history, or character, and are a source of pride.
Ransom
Nobles and knights are worth more alive than dead on the battlefield. It is common practice to capture rather than kill a highborn enemy, as they may be ransomed back to their family or liege. Three hundred gold dragons is considered a fair ransom for a knight, while a nobleman's son might fetch three thousand. A noble prisoner is entitled to treatment befitting their rank, housed in rooms appropriate to their status rather than a dungeon. That right can be forfeited by giving offense.
Highborn Status
Highborn status does not diminish with circumstance. An impoverished, exiled, or powerless noble remains highborn. Conversely, smallfolk elevated into noble ranks are rarely fully accepted by the nobility, and it is not forgotten where they came from, though their children and grandchildren may begin to close that gap over time.
The King holds the highest rank in the Seven Kingdoms. He is Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, claims ownership of all land, and holds final authority in all matters of law, war, and governance. In practice, he is constrained by political realities and the loyalty of his lords — a king who offends the wrong people does not retire. He dies. The royal family ranks above all others. The Great Houses are vassals to the Crown alone, owing fealty to no lord between themselves and the king.
The Great Houses are the paramount lords of their regions, vassals only to the Crown. In the current year of 140 AC they are:
House Arryn — the Vale
House Baratheon — the Stormlands
House Greyjoy — the Iron Islands
House Lannister — the Westerlands
House Stark — the North
House Tully — the Riverlands
House Tyrell — the Reach
Each Great House has its own bannermen — lesser lords who owe them fealty and military service — and those lords may have vassals of their own. The chain of obligation runs all the way from the smallest village to the Iron Throne.
Note: Dorne remains an independent kingdom and is not counted among the vassals of the Iron Throne at this time.
Below the Great Houses are the lords of the realm, some greater and some lesser, but all holding the same title. A lord governs his lands, keeps the king's peace, enforces local law and justice, and ensures taxes due to the Crown are collected. His vassals — frequently called bannermen — owe him military service and loyalty in return for his protection and the grant of their land. Some houses hold unique titles tied to their history. House Greyjoy styles themselves Lord Reaper of Pyke; House Lannister holds the title Shield of Lannisport. The Lord of Sunspear holds the title Prince of Dorne. These titles do not elevate a lord above others in authority, but speak to a house's history and prestige. A steward manages the day-to-day affairs of a castle and may act on the lord's behalf in his absence.
Landed knights are the lowest formal rank of the nobility. A landed knight holds a keep and a grant of land, has his own peasants and men-at-arms, and may take sworn swords. However, unlike lords, landed knights do not have the authority to deliver law and justice on their land. They must appeal to their liege lord for that.
In the North, where the Faith of the Seven holds little sway, the equivalent rank is that of the Masterly House — families who hold land and arms and answer to Winterfell much as a landed knight answers to his liege, but without the knightly tradition. The Iron Islands have a small number of knightly houses, but the Masterly House is likewise the more common equivalent there.
*It would be a mistake, however, to assume that landed knightly rank caps a house's power or influence. Some knightly houses are ancient, wealthy, and formidable enough to have bannermen of their own, including lordly houses sworn beneath them in the feudal chain. House Templeton of Ninestars is a living example: one of the most powerful houses in the Vale and among the most significant bannermen of House Arryn, yet a knightly house. Their influence and reach rivals many lords, and lesser houses — including lordly ones — may be sworn to them regardless.
The title, in short, reflects the rank conferred rather than the ceiling of what a house may become.
Knighthood below the landed rank confers honor and recognition but not noble status. A smallfolk knighted for valor on the battlefield is not thereby made noble . They are honored, but they remain lowborn in the eyes of the nobility.
Household Knights
Knights who serve a lord directly as part of his household. They are fed, housed, and paid by their lord but hold no land of their own. They are sworn to fight for him and carry out his will. A household knight in service to a great lord may wield considerable influence, but it is borrowed influence that ends when the service does.
Hedge Knights
Sworn to no lord and holding no land. They travel from place to place seeking work — tournaments, escorts, mercenary contracts. They are the lowest rung of knighthood and are regarded with little esteem by most highborn. A smallfolk knighted for valor sits effectively in this category regardless of how they earned their spurs.
Commoners — also called smallfolk — own no land and hold no titles. They work the land of their lords and have no say in their own governing. They are not slaves: they own themselves, may appeal to their lord for justice, and are recognized as having a right to fair treatment under most house laws. How well those laws are enforced depends entirely on the lord. Many craftsmen and tradesmen belong to guilds. Masters of their craft are addressed as "master" as a mark of respect. There is little social mobility. Most smallfolk are born commoners and die commoners. It is not impossible to rise, but it is rare, and those who manage it are rarely fully accepted by those above them.
Liege
A vassal's primary lord. The liege and vassal each have obligations to one another. The vassal owes loyalty and military service above any other lord, while the liege owes protection in return.
Vassal / Bannerman
A lord or knight who holds land in return for fealty, homage, and military service to their liege. Most lords are both — a vassal to those above them and a liege to those below.
Warden
A commander exercising military authority over a broad region in times of war or invasion. In times of peace the title is largely honorary. Tradition holds each title hereditarily to a specific house, though the king retains the right to grant it elsewhere should he choose. The four great wardenships and their traditional holders are:
Warden of the North — House Stark of Winterfell
Warden of the East — House Arryn of the Eyrie
Warden of the South — House Tyrell of Highgarden
Warden of the West — House Lannister of Casterly Rock
The Warden of the South is House Tyrell rather than House Martell of Dorne because Dorne remains an independent kingdom. It is House Tyrell that bears responsibility for defending the realm's southern border — which is to say, the border with Dorne itself.
Smaller wardenships also exist for specific geographic areas, such as the Warden of the White Knife.
The hierarchy is not abstract — it is visible in every formal gathering and every street corner interaction. In King's Landing particularly, where the great lords largely remain in their own seats and the court is made up of lesser lords, household knights, and royal officials, understanding how rank operates in practice is as important as knowing the formal order.
At Court and Feast
At feasts, great honor is given to a guest by seating them on the dais beside the host. The place of highest honor is to the host's right. To be seated at the far end of the hall, distant from the dais, is a mark of low regard or deliberate insult.
When a lord presides over a feast, he receives first choice of all dishes. He may send choice portions down to specific guests as a visible gesture of friendship and favor. To receive such a gesture is to be seen by everyone in the room as someone the lord values.
In formal settings — throne rooms, council chambers, and the like — those of lower rank do not speak before their betters unless invited to do so. Standing in the presence of a superior when they have not yet sat is expected. Sitting in the presence of a superior without leave is a presumption that will be noted.
Authority and Legal Weight
A lord's word carries the force of law within his own domain. In King's Landing, the members of the small council exercise that kind of authority on behalf of the Crown. To contradict or defy them publicly is not merely rude — it carries real consequences. Players would do well to remember that the men who hold the great offices of state are not simply important people. They are the law.
Bearing Arms
The right to bear arms openly is a marker of status. Knights and nobles may go armed as a matter of course. Commoners carrying weapons in the city streets draw the attention of the Gold Cloaks, and not favorably. The Gold Cloaks themselves represent the authority of the Crown in the city. Defying them is defying the king, regardless of what one thinks of the individual guardsman.
Proximity to Power
In King's Landing, formal rank is not the only measure of a person's influence. Proximity to the king and the small council creates its own informal hierarchy. A household knight who has the king's ear may wield more practical influence than a landed knight of far greater formal standing. A wealthy merchant has no place in the feudal order, but may have more real power in the city than many a hedge knight or minor lord. Players should be aware that the most dangerous people in King's Landing are not always the ones with the grandest titles. Watch who the powerful listen to. That is where the real hierarchy lives.