Working on a scene where my MC goes through papers that were delivered to her after her father's death. (Mother died years before) Set in a fantasy world that draws from medieval times for reference. MC's mother was a soldier who served in a special unit. If she had wages set aside with that unit for her daughter's inheritance purposes, that would be in some kind of bank note form or something, wouldn't it? Some sort of promissory note? Like if MC were to take the note to the person who handles the soldiers wages (would that be the quartermaster?) and presented it to them, they'd be able to give her the money her soldier mom had set aside? I wonder how that would be drafted...anyone know where I could find historical examples of this type of document to look at? I know technically I could make up my own rules for this sort of thing, as it is a fantasy, but I like to do my research first and then spin up my own version. I like to have a groundwork to base my ideas on.
Probably a "paymaster" more than a "quartermaster," who is usually involved with supplies. I think what you described sounds accurate. There'd be some kind of physical voucher or maybe just a record on the payroll that the soldier or next of kin could cash when they returned home. Lots of ancient soldiers took their pay in plunder and pillage too. They would have a salary but the real loot came when they sacked a enemy town/castle.
As I understand it, in mideval times, inhertiance was handled almost exclusively by the rich. And it was handled by name only. First son got the name and lands, second son went to the church, third went to the military. First son died? Everyone moved up in the queue. What you're describing sounds really interesting! I don't think there's any historical context for it, but it could be insured through the church since peasants didn't have that kind of money.
I don't know, but I would expect that most came up short. I'm thinking that there wouldn't be much to go around for an entire army or even the ranking officers. I would think that the king or whoever would plan on securing the goods for his own purposes, and out of sight of the rest of the regular soldiers. Perhaps they made the promises to the bulk of drafted soldiers who didn't know any better?
Not sure. I think it was a free-for-all. Like, okay, boys, grab what you can get. First come first serve. Client armies were paid but I have no idea how much or how.
What part of "Medieval Times" is your setting exactly? A lot goes on between the fall of the roman empire shy of 500a.d. and the peasant's revolt of 1381. If you're hanging out in Brittan around 1000a.d., the feudal system will pretty much solve your problems. There were very little full time soldiers back then. Most were peasants, and they fought for lords when they were summoned in exchange for the land they farmed on. Just look at the Battle of Hastings--Harold was marching his dudes back and forth 200+ miles up and down England and they had crops waiting. His whole plan at Battle was to stand on a ridge and let reinforcements trickle in from the surrounding countryside. So if your character's parents had something set aside, it would be in their home basically waiting for her. If there was a dispute, it would get taken to the lord of whatever land the surrounding peasants own. Then it just goes up and up the ladder. It wasn't uncommon for the King himself to solve peasant problems--I'd direct your attention to the aforementioned revolt! Edit: Since you mentioned special forces, there were full time knights at Harold's disposal called the housecarls. You might look into them! Hope this helps!
