Estates of Urcea

The Estates of Urcea are a system of kinship groups among the people of Urcea. Estates give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and although in modern times they are not legally regulated or have a function in governance, they once served an important role in social organization in Urcea. The heads of Estates are referred to as "Custóirs", and their direct familial house is referred to as the "Great House" of the Estate. Custóirs are among the few in Urcea who are almost always given a life peerage title.

It is a common misconception that every person who bears an Estate's name is a lineal descendant of the Custóirs or founders of the Estate. Many members of an Estate, although not related to the Custóir or Great House, took their Custóir's surname as their own to either show solidarity, or to obtain basic protection or for much needed sustenance. Most of the followers of the Estate were serfs and later freemen, who supplied labor to the Estate leaders. Earlier, many of these relationships were part of political and social systems of client-patron relations in Great Levantia. Contrary to popular belief, the ordinary member of the Estates rarely had any blood tie of kinship with the Custóir of the Estate, but they took the Custóir's surname as their own when surnames came into common use in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The Apostolic King of Urcea is always the Custóir of the Estate of the Julii, and also holds the title of "Custóir of Custóirs", symbolizing his status as cultural head of the nation.

A 2014 survey indicated that 79.8% of Urceans are members or claim to be members of an Estate.

Structure and Governance
Every family in an Estate must have a legally declared head of household, which must be the eldest living male relative within certain degrees of. This usually takes the form of a grandfather with brothers serving as head of household for the entire family, but the household dividing into several upon his death. The headship of household passes patrilineally, though as of 1902, women may assume the headship using the principle of. The Custóir of the senior house - the so-called "Great House" - of the Estate is thus the head of his or her own family, and is additionally responsible for maintaining the rolls of all of the households in his or her Estate. The major exception to the rule of inheritance of Custóirship is that of the Apostolic King of Urcea, the Custóir of the Estate of the Julii. Only men may inherit the Julian Throne, and the line is passed to eligible males. The Royal Household is also not divided unless cadet branches are formed from non-royal sons.

In the modern era it is very rare for an Estate to have to vote on a matter as the Estates no longer have any civic authority, but it is still occasionally necessary to solve internal disputes within an Estate. In order to do so, the Custóir must call a Landsmeet, which is a gathering of all of the households of an Estate. Traditionally, the Landsmeet was held at the home of the Custóirs, but the size of Landsmeets has usually meant that the meetings are held at nearby arenas or other facilities, though ceremonial convocations are still held at the Custóir's home. Given the sheer number of eligible households in an Estate with the modern population of Urcea, relatively few households appear in person for the vote, so ballots are typically sent by mail before the beginning of the Landsmeet. The Landsmeet is presided over by the Custóir, and a simple majority vote of eligible voters is necessary. Any privilegiata over the age of 18 is eligible to vote in a Landsmeet. Since 1902 and the end of the Red Interregnum, every citizen of Urcea is a privilegiata, rendering the distinction functionally meaningless. Landsmeets are rare, highly formal events.

The practical administration of Estate business in the 21st century falls to Estate associations, which are fraternal organizations established to handle Estate business including balls, parties, competitions, Damselalia, and other related events. Associations are also the practical informal meeting place for members of the Estates within Urcean communities. While Associations cannot resolve formal disputes in the manner that the Custóir and Landsmeet can, it often has the authority to resolve problems by means of "soft" mediation, informal meetings between members and the Custóir or other Association officials. Associations are largely governed according to their own bylaws, though all must receive the official sanction of the Custóir. Associations are organized at the national, provincial, and municipal levels.

Overview
The origin of the estates lies within the electoral tribes of Urceopolis during the early Great Levantia period, when the city was divided into twenty five voting units of the legislative assembly, each under the wardship of a leading family within the tribe. The electoral tribes were later expanded to include twenty five native Gaelic tribes to reach the current number of fifty by Saint Julius I. These fifty families and their descendants eventually made up most of the landed noble aristocracy during the Medieval period, but the tribal system remained. The relationship between a noble family and the rest of the tribe was characterized by a political and social system of patronage, ensuring political power in exchange for economic and social support. The leading noble family of each tribe, which provided patronage in exchange for voting support within the tribal unit, took on a paternal responsibility to its client families, creating a situation where moral and social stewardship in exchange for acknowledgement of social hierarchy. At the end of antiquity, the continued ties between these families and their clients formed the nucleus of the later feudal system even as both patron and client left the cities for agrarian life.

The tribal assembly of Great Levantia continued to function in the Duchy of Urceopolis even after the former's demise. After the coronation of Saint Julius I, it lost its power to elect the Dux of Urceopolis, but continued to meet regularly until 852, after which time it met irregularly. The tribal assembly met for the final time in 917. The Estates retained their social and political connections and began to spread throughout much of the newly expanded country where feudal estates were established, making meeting in Urceopolis a logistical impracticality. In lieu of it, Emperor Adrian II raised a new Great Landsmeet, a successor of the tribal assembly, which invested political power in the Estates. Using rules of Landsmeets, only privilegiata and optimates could vote as opposed to the earlier traditions of the tribal assembly. Though the Great Landsmeets became irrelevant in favor of the Concilium Daoni by the 1240s, the Custóirs of the Estates were responsible for selecting representatives to the Concilium Daoni until the end of the Great Confessional War, when electoral constituencies were established.

During the Medieval period, the tribal system evolved into its current name, Estates, and during this time the head of the tribe became known as the Guardian (Lebhan: Custóir) for his responsibility to the other noble houses of the Estate as well as the landed peasants tied to the estate. As the concept of noble houses began to develop, the Custóir's house became known as the Great House of the estate due to the responsibility to the Estate it entailed. The relationship between the Custóir and his estate members is similar but not entirely the same as the relationship engendered by the feudal contract, as the major emphasis was on the stewardship of the people and families under the Custóir's care. The Custóirs were responsible for maintaining the rolls of optimates among their members, and were additionally responsible for ensuring optimates maintained the requisite minimum property requirements. As a consequence of Levantine inheritance custom, the Great Houses of every Estate has changed drastically since the Medieval period. For this reason, noble houses of the same Estate in the Urcean medieval period rarely feuded with one another. Various Estates took sides in the Saint's War, which increased the partisanship of that conflict and was a principle reason neither side could achieve permanent victory.

As the power of optimates began to wane during the Saint's War and Great Confessional War, and with the rise of the Concilium Daoni the estate system became less important in the governance of Urcea and became a source of identity and close association between families. It remained in law to sort by Estate until the 1700s, after which time the Estate became an entirely social phenomenon. The last act passed in relation to the Estates was the Decree on Membership, put into place in 1756, which regulated membership requirements that remain in force to this day.

The most notable exclusion from the Estates system are the Caenish people, who, though ruled by the same Apostolic King of Urcea since 1144, developed a social system altogether less familial and more individual-based independent of the Estates system. Ruled as a mostly separate domain of the King, Canaery was only fully integrated into the Kingdom in the 19th century. There was a movement during the late 1910s and early 1920s to add five Caenish Estates to the rolls of the Urcean Estate system, but a prolonged dispute as to whether or not the King could do so was interrupted by the Great War, which, besides putting the issue on the "back burner", so to speak, also prompted further cultural interaction between Urceans and a weakening of the Estate system.

Custóirs are entitled to a courtesy title awarded by the Apostolic King of Urcea, typically a Viscounty of a titular location named for the Estate.

Estates are typically a source of pride and solidarity among its members and families. While the system weakened during the 20th century, developments in housing policy and other social innovations have restored the Estates to pride of place as a key sense of kinship grouping within Urcea. The Estates partake in healthy competition across a broad array of areas, including unspoken brand loyalties among Estate families, particular sports teams are associated with particular Estates, as well as the official competition between the Estates in Damselalia.

Membership
Membership in an Estate is formed by matrimony and inheritance, and an individual can only be a member of one Estate. Consequently, an individual cannot serve as the Custóir of two Estates. Individuals typically take their father's Estate membership except in very rare circumstances where the mother's Estate is instead passed on. Members of an Estate need not demonstrate lineage from any of its Custóirs or Great Houses, but must demonstrate a lineage to an estate member prior to 1750. Individuals who are not members of an Estate, such as immigrants typically take on their spouse's Estate. The Julii have their own unique inheritance system with respect to estate membership.

It is possible to abjure one's membership in an Estate, but if one abjures his or her membership of an Estate, they cannot join another. If a man abjures his Estate, it is binding on his descendants unless they marry into another Estate.