I am thinking about setting up a table to randomly generate the backhground of the normal 1d6 dowry wifes.
So what kind of backgrounds would be acceptable and how widespread are these ?

The Father being a Household or Vasall knight or Esquire should be obviously the most likelily, but how about the father being a rich yoeman, craftsman and merchant ? Or, the year being what it is a priest ?
I am thinking about the following:

1
6-10

Well, that was mistype.
I managed to hit return before being finished (or checking the basic rule book again for that matter).
Okay, so what does below ones class entail ?
Basic rulebook says it includes handmaids for ones lords wife, assistant to a rich merchants wife or another knights younger sister.
What about the daughter of an esquire, or rich craftmen/yeoman/merchant or, the year being what it is, the daughter of a priest ?
What would the distribution be ?
Your future wife being the daughter/sister of a household knight or Esquire is probably the most likelily, while her being the daughter of a priest the least.
So I would probably go with something like this:

01 Priest
02-03 Merchant
04-05 Craftmen
06-08 Yeoman
09-12 Esquire
13-20 Household Knight

So what do you people think ?

several issues

1) there really is no merchant class until the 1200's
2) Esquire is not the same as squire; esquire is a title sold to raise moneys for the crown in the 18th C, and possibly the 17th.

Generally, doweried wife is of the gentry; her father is a knight. Same social class.

Marriage below class (Commoner) is attained by different process (Make a loyalty Lord roll).

In the Book of Knights and Ladies (KAP5), esquire is a title for squires who continue to serve as such after reaching the age of 21, when their peers would normally become knights (and, for whatever reason, they do not).

Scarecrow, I believe, is talking about the "ordinary wife," as described on p.109 of KAP5, in which a knight is marrying below his class. The L. 1d6 dowry is specifically mentioned at the top of the second column.

Marriage below class (Commoner) is attained by different process (Make a loyalty Lord roll).


Marriage below class does not mean marriage to a commoner, recall that the default PC class is 'vassal knight' who are very much towards the upper end of the armigerous population.

If you know your Austen, then the PCs are 'young gentlemen in possession of £5000 per year' and their below class wives are the Bennett girls - no prospects of anything but genteel poverty or 'respectable' service (as a governess or lady's companion) unless they make a good marriage, but most definitely not farm girls or servants.

Recall that these women come from families who can afford to dower them with the equivalent of at least a year's income for an average peasant family, so they are only 'poor' in an aristocratic context.

Regards
Luke

I'm inclined to agree with Scarecrow (I like the chart BTW), especially in the later era.

Remember this is not the "historic 6th century" it's a fantasy version that compacts centuries of change into decades. In the Twilight period knights are wearing armor that their real world counter parts wouldn't actually possess until the 1400s (if then), to mention nothing of the other anachronisms. So for the later post-conquest period I would definitely think a merchant class has developed and these nouveau riche types, like their real world counter parts, would want to marry into the nobility (and knights being the lower strata of the nobility are just the sort that might consider such a match).

For the anarchy, I'm don't think the table here is appropriate, but it can be modified easily enough. Make priests more likely to produce offspring (clerical celibacy wasn't the norm until after 1000 anyway) and replace merchants with local strongmen, robber barons, war band leaders, and the like. IIRC the anarchy is an era when who ever can afford the armor and a horse is effectively a knight. In a situation like this, a brigand with a 100 followers is effectively a bannneret, and would probably expect to be treated as one (and if you disagree with him he'll probably plunder your manner to show his disdain for your lack of manners). Sure, he's not a "real" noble, but raw power is what counts in the anarchy, and having a father-in-law who can provide 100 soldiers (even if of relatively low quality) is a handy thing to have when things are so unsettled (there are even knights overthrowing their ledge lord in neighboring counties for goodness sake).