Wait, you expected your character to have only one household? Yes, me, too, but unfortunately, reality was more complicated for aristocrats in medieval societies. Or to put the point another way, realism requires some complexity.

According to my research, my main character—Duke Aidan of Ravenwood—will have at least three households: his traveling household, his main family residence’s household, and his governmental seat’s household. Some people will have the same positions in all three households, while others will stay with one of them.

Let’s start with the traveling household. Duke Aidan is a high-ranking noble, a young man of wealth, a leader overseeing both soldiers and estates, and an embattled ruler under attack by dangerous enemies. But at the beginning of my story, he basically cannot return to his home. He has coin, but no permanent residence. My estimate of the size of a traveling household for someone like him falls between fifty and a hundred.

To be precise, the roster for his traveling household, or my working draft of it, lists these fifty-eight people:

Phelan, the duke’s acting steward; also a senior lieutenant

Elizabeth, the steward’s clerk; Baron Mortimer’s daughter

Gunnar, the duke’s bodyguard captain

Sturla, the lieutenant of the bodyguard company

Messengers (x4) [Farrell of West Crossing, Jackson, Robert of Oakford, and William Talbot]

Nigel, the marshal; he oversees everything related to the horses

Giles, the clerk of the marshalcy

John, the sumpter master; he handles the wagons and pack mules

Carters (x6) [Antonio, Dante, Giovanni, Luca, Nico, and Rocco]

Grooms (x3) [Rodney, Frank, John of Paradise]

Stable boys (x4) [Harry, Jackson, Oliver, and Tommy]

John Shaw, the blacksmith

William, the smith’s apprentice

Byron, master cook

Sergio, cook’s apprentice

Cook’s helpers (x2) [Enzo and Chiara]

Hugo, master baker

Albert, baker’s assistant

Lorenzo, the clerk of the chamber; focused on securing lodging

Silvio, the duke’s body servant

The Scout Company’s men-at-arms (x24). [These twenty-four warriors serve under Gunnar and Sturla’s command. Phelan recruited the Scouts in Paradise as a bodyguard for Aidan. The company’s full roster is available on the website and will be in the front matter for Book Three.]

As I learn more, I may adjust this household roster. As the story unfolds, I will build the other two households. Duke Aidan recruited this initial household from Port Liberty, the city of Paradise on the southern continent, and southern Ravenwood. The current roster includes some atypical appointments. But the events of my larger story trump the historical research. I use the research as a point of departure, not as a literal set of instructions.

Aidan’s steward administers the duke’s day-to-day household affairs. Phelan acts in this role in the initial traveling household, although he would be a more natural fit for the castellan, the military commander of a castle and its defenders, if or when Aidan settles into a permanent residence again.

If Duke Aidan gains a wife, his traveling household would grow to include three or four ladies in waiting. If he and his wife have a child, add at least one nurse to the traveling household.

Note #1: All four messengers are Ravenwood junior lieutenants, on detached duty. Messengers are trusted men, typically ranking somewhere between a squire and a groom in terms of status. At first, Aidan used some junior officers and soldiers from Ravenwood on detached duty, but he would release these men back to their duties and replace them as soon as possible.

Note #2: The female steward’s clerk and the married couple as the cook’s helpers are atypical appointments, especially early in the medieval period.

Note #3: The train includes six wagons, twenty-four draught horses, and twenty-five mules. About four-to-eight more groom’s assistants or stable boys would be hired locally, if possible, for day work whenever the household remained stationary for a night or more. Duke Aidan alone has four horses with him.)