Nobility

From Gineipaedia, the Legend of Galactic Heroes wiki

Nobility is a state-privileged status which is generally hereditary. Titles of nobility are usually associated with present or former monarchies. The term originally referred to those who were "known" or "notable" and was applied to the highest social class in pre-modern societies. In the feudal system (in Europe and elsewhere), the nobility were generally those who held a fief, often land or office, under vassalage, i.e., in exchange for allegiance and various, mainly military, services to the Monarch and at lower levels to another nobleman. It rapidly came to be seen as a hereditary caste, sometimes associated with a right to bear a hereditary title and, for example in pre-revolutionary France, enjoying fiscal and other privileges. While noble status formerly conferred significant privileges, today, in most European countries, noble status is a purely honorary dignity. In the United Kingdom, where some peerage titles, until recently, guaranteed a seat in the Upper House of the Parliament, there are still some residual privileges.

Nobility is a historical, social and often legal notion, distinct from socio-economic status which is mainly based on income and possessions. Being wealthy or influential does not automatically make one a noble, nor are all nobles wealthy and influential (aristocratic families have lost their fortunes in various ways, and the concept of the 'poor nobleman' is almost as old as nobility itself). Countries without a feudal tradition do not have a nobility as such.

High nobility

The High Nobility was the upper echelon of the Noble social class in the Goldenbaum Dynasty's social hierarchy. High Nobles were men and women from the oldest and most powerful noble families in the Galactic Empire. It was from the High Nobility that most of the Empire's most powerful political leaders hailed from, not because of merit but because of blood.

Ironically, when Rudolph von Goldenbaum first established the aristocracy, it was something of a meritocracy: men and women of exceptional ability could, at times, be elevated to noble rank. This provided early Imperial society with a degree of upward social mobility, allowing the culture of the Empire to stay dynamic. Eventually, however, the nobility became a stagnant social class, which could only be inherited through blood. This gradually increased the resentment of the lower classes, and eventually led to the Exodus of Arle Heinnesen, and a rise in republican protestors and social reformers. The High Nobility, however, was ruthless in destroying anything that might endanger its authority.

In the Imperial Civil War, most of the High Nobility sided with prince Otto von Braunschweig. The more liberal nobles of the social-reform mindset--sided with Reinhard von Lohengramm in the war, but at the war's end, regardless of whether they were High Nobles or Low Nobles, the nobles that had rebelled agienst him were stripped of there titles and wealth. Those who did not they were allowed to keep there titles and wealth.