It's Hard to Find Good Help, Part 2

Last week, I wrote about the basic structure that exists in the household staff of the rich during the Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern periods. The rich could not have the glamor that we associate with them without their servant staffs, and the "downstairs" hierarchy is just as rife for exploration, politics, and intrigue RPG campaigns as the "upstairs" world of high society.

Last week, we covered the basic structure and leading members of the staff: the public-facing role of the butler, and under him the footmen; the private-facing housekeeper, and under her the housemaids; and above them all, a seneschal or steward, responsible for the overall management of the estate, the tenants, and the master's business.

This week, we're going to dive into the more flexible areas of the household that don't as neatly align with the butler's or housekeeper's domain--and yet are usually assigned under one of them. It is here, in my opinion, that the best opportunity for drama arrives, since the butler-footman and housekeeper-maid dynamics are fairly stable, unless a footman or maid is gunning for the top job. So, we'll also talk about a few potential plot hooks on how you can utilize the dynamics of the household in your RPGs.

The Jobs

The Kitchen (Private-Facing): the Cook or the Chef, the Kitchen Maid, and the Scullery Maid

The head of the kitchens would have usually been called the Cook, though this would change to "chef" as haute cuisine became its own profession in the later part of the early modern period (so for most of our standard "high fantasy" time period, cook is going to be the more accurate title).

As befit a private-facing job that guests would never see, the cook was historically a woman--though again, as the industry professionalized and "chefs" became the norm in the 1800s, this also would become increasingly male.

The cook is the head of the kitchen, and usually is the only one doing actual cooking. Ingredients would be prepped by others, but once things were being heated and mixed in soups or entrees, it was the duty of the cook. The cook also prepared the menu for the day, subject to approval by whoever was running the house (the wife of the lord/owner of the house, typically, but if they were absent, it might fall to a steward or the steward's wife to officially run the household and approve menus). She'd know farmers and suppliers in town or in the surrounding farms, placing orders for fresh flour, vegetables, meat, and other ingredients directly from suppliers.

The cook is usually the first one up in the morning, making her own food and breakfast for the rest of the staff, and then preparing breakfast for the family--who could sleep in later than their employees.

The cook is sometimes referred to, like the housekeeper, as "Mrs. Lastname," a sign of respect, despite being distinctly below the housekeeper in the hierarchy. However, more often, they're simply referred to as "cook."

Beneath the Cook is all of her assistants--roles that would not exist in a smaller house. There's two types of kitchen assistants: kitchen maids and scullery maids.

Kitchen maids are like cooks-in-training. They do a lot of what we'd call "food prep." They'd cut up vegetables and meat, prepare and bake fresh bread, make pastries for tea (though usually not the fancier pastries that would be dessert after dinner--those would be the cook's job). She's responsible for keeping the kitchen clean and organized, as well.

Scullery maids are below kitchen maids. Their job is to clean cooking tools: scouring pots and pans, cleaning spoons and cooking utensils, and also sweeping and cleaning any rooms associated with the kitchen that are not the kitchen itself (things like the pantry, the larder, and passages around the kitchen).

Historically, all of these were women's jobs--hence the "maid" title--because they were private-facing. No guest should see the cooking happening, and especially not the chopping or cleaning of the kitchen. In a smaller household, there may not be kitchen or scullery maids, and their duties would be divided between the cook herself and the housemaids (or even the housekeeper, if the household staff was particularly small).

Personal Servants (Special): Valets, Secretaries, and Lady's Maids

While the kitchen might be officially under the hierarchy of the housekeeper, the role of a personal servant would be completely outside the normal hierarchy of housekeeper and butler. Often, these positions would be directly hired by the person the servant would be serving, with little to no oversight by the other senior members of staff.

Valets were historically the name for a male servant, tending to a man; lady's maids were women, serving women. These jobs were usually fairly similar. They'd help their employer get dressed, they'd pack their employer's bags when travelling (and usually accompany them– this was an important and personal role), they'd be a confidante, and they might even share a room with their employer or sleep in a sort of lobby right outside it to protect them.

A secretary was typically male and handled writing letters (often either dictated, or they might handle the unimportant mail themself). A secretary (or, if you were wealthy enough to split the job duties, a separate position called a social secretary) would also handle keeping track of a gentleman's or gentlewoman's calendar to make sure that they did not get double booked. By the 20th century, the secretary title had mostly changed to "private secretary," to distinguish them from the profession of secretary at a business... but I haven't seen that title used very much in earlier works. If your household was a little smaller, a valet or lady's maid would probably take on the duties of helping with correspondence if they could write, and would likely to be expected to know their employer's calendar to help them avoid any awkward double bookings.

Lastly, it is worth noting that only adults have valets or lady's maids. When a child came of age, the transition from having a governess or tutor (which we'll talk about more under the nursery section) to having a valet or lady's maid was a major sign of being an adult.

The Stables (Public-Facing): The Coachman or Head Groom or Stablemaster, and the Grooms

The stables are, much like the kitchen, nominally likely to report to the Butler, but with a great deal of independence. Unlike the kitchens, however, the stables are often the first place that a guest interacts with the servants of the house, as they hand off their horse and carriage.

The face and leader of this institution--which could be a giant department on a country estate or far smaller in a city--is the Head Groom or Stablemaster, with the title of coachman becoming increasingly popular by the early modern period as the term coach replaced that of carriage (or, in larger households, there might be a head coachman that was distinct from the head groom).

The Stablemaster would be responsible for ensuring that the stables were stocked with hay and oats, be responsible for ensuring that the horses got exercised every day, provide riding lessons as needed, and ensure that one of his staff was available whenever the master of the house might need a horse.

Members of this staff were called grooms, and they were the ones most in charge of caring for the horses: brushing them, feeding and watering them, actually being the ones to exercise them, and even providing at least some basic veterinary care. They'd clean the stalls and ensure that harnesses and saddles were in good shape.

Coachmen--and possibly a head coachman, particularly by the early modern era--were usually promoted from the ranks of the grooms, but were still inferior to the stablemaster. A coachman drove a coach or carriage, like a chauffeur. In a pinch, or in a smaller household, a groom might serve as a coachman or vice versa, but especially larger households and the later in time period you go, the more specialized these roles had become.

The Gardens (Private-Facing): The Head Gardener and the Gardeners

This one should be obvious: the gardeners run the gardens and greenhouses of the estate. Sometimes these are food-producing gardens for the cook's supplies, but more often these are gardens of flowers. Think more of the way that Versailles has gardens, but mostly they mean hedges, flowers, lawns, and fountains. All of this would be in the domain of the head gardener, who would need to make sure everything was blooming and lively and weed-free.

The main twist was that this role would often be a man, despite being private-facing. This man could report to the butler or to the housekeeper, or might directly report to a steward or the owner–I've found sources that vary. Regardless, I'm confident in saying that the head gardener has a lot of autonomy: after all, even if he reported to the housekeeper, the housekeeper likely did not know very much about hedge trimming.

Under the head gardeners would be... gardeners. They'd assist the head gardener with all their duties. The name should be fairly obvious.

The Nursery and Schooling (Special): The Nurse, the Governess, and the Tutor

When a child was born, they'd typically have a wet nurse--someone employed to breastfeed them, meaning that they had also often just had a child. From there, throughout their childhood, they'd be overseen by a nurse (often called "nurse"). Like the private servants, the nurse would not report to the housekeeper nor the butler, but rather directly to the master or lady of the house, who would want to make sure their children were well cared for. A nurse would wash and dress the children, ensure they ate meals appropriately, might take them on outings, and put them to bed. Likely, the nurse also would repair the children's clothing, making her far closer to a lady's maid or even a housekeeper than to a humble housemaid. A nurse might be lower class, but would be expected to be "respectable." By the Victorian era, the title of nurse had largely given way to that of nanny, but that would be later than most of our fantasy inspiration.

Once the children were a little older–around 6ish according to most of my sources–they would be transferred to a Governess. A governess was someone from a proper but not noble family, comparable to the steward that we discussed last week. A governess would be expected to be well-educated herself, as she would be providing basic education in things like etiquette, reading and writing, and other "basic" education--and might also be expected to teach a language like French, the piano, and some sort of art. A governess would be a central figure in these young peoples' lives, staying with them until they reached adulthood (or, given the standards of the day, puberty)... though they'd stay with girls far longer than with boys.

While a governess stayed with a young girl, a boy was often transferred out to a tutor (or, they might bypass the governess entirely, going straight from nurse to tutor at age 6) or be sent off to school. In a world where education is available to all regardless of gender, I'd imagine that the role of governess would either disappear in favor of the tutor, or some other means of dividing the roles would be established. In the earlier medieval period, this transfer often meant serving as a page at another nobleman's household.

Regardless, the tutor--if one was employed--would be a teacher, working one-on-one (or one-on-however many boy children there were in the house). There they might move beyond reading and writing and arithmetic, if the child had already learned those skills, and onto more complex topics like history or astronomy.

In a particularly large household, there might be multiple tutors, each with a particular subject, but far more common was a single general tutor responsible for teaching the young boy everything that he needed to know--and the curriculum was usually heavily shaped by the boy's parents.

Putting This In Your Game

The Whisper Network

There's a lot of little gray areas where politics and rivalries can emerge. But more important than those, it is important to remember that servants gossip– particularly within their own rank. What one footman hears, soon every housemaid will know... even if the more respectable butler tries to crack down on idle gossip about their employers. This "whisper network" means that your party should absolutely look to the servants, particularly the "lesser servants" in order to gain information.

I think it is safe to assume most rich lords, in any of our time periods, assumed that their servants shared information with one another. On the other hand, if news leaked to the outside world, it could be calamitous. The good employer would fire the person responsible; a more hasty employer might fire an entire department of servants, just to make sure that they addressed the leak. After all, no one wants their gossip shared with the press or with potential rivals.

So if the party wants to exploit the whisper network, they need to do so carefully: they need to find an in with someone who can be swayed (by money? Influence? Favors from the heroes?), and also make sure that they don't get their contact caught and fired. That's a much more nuanced and political balancing act to play, rather than just "the butler saw who did the murder."

Plot Ideas

Here's just a few plot threads that jumped out at me while I was writing these posts:

1) A footman or housemaid is gunning for the job of butler or housekeeper, trying to make their supervisor look bad in front of the owner. How can they do this without making themselves look bad? What gossip might the footman or housemaid be willing to share with the party in exchange for their assistance? Having a butler on your side might be extremely helpful to a party looking for information on the employer.

2) The cook, gardener, or head groom feels like their toes are being stepped on by an overzealous housekeeper or butler. How does this power struggle play out in the household, particularly when no one wants to appeal to their employers who cannot be bothered with such trifles?

3) A governess, still employed to deal with a younger child, clashes with a new tutor over the eldest child's "new lessons." Not to mention, the child desperately wants to stay with their governess rather than learn humdrum dead languages.

4) The master's valet and the butler seem to be in cahoots, being seen talking in hallways just out of their employer's sight. What do these top two servants, both with prime access to their employer, have in mind? And is it murder?

5) For years, the butler has been de facto running the household staff. But when a new steward is appointed to "better coordinate" all departments of the house, and fires a number of footmen that he finds extraneous--saying that the butler can do it--the butler practically goes into revolt.

Conclusion

I hope you took away some useful ideas about how to integrate more focus on the servants in your RPGs... or if not, at least a sense of the sheer scale of servants that your dukes and counts should have in their homes. Really. There's so many jobs, and the more servants you have, the more prestigious you are in comparison to your peers.

Certainly, the "evil rich duke" trope could stand, about a cruel lord who works his employees to the bone. But just as we talked about feudalism being very different from capitalism, I think it is more realistic that an ambitious and rich duke would be trying to maximize their number of servants--it is a status symbol--and therefore reduce the burden on every servant. Many hands make light work, and all that. It is the impoverished, struggling duke who has had to lay off much of their household, and is running on an overworked skeleton crew. Intentional inefficiency is the name of the game when trying to flaunt your wealth.