Westerland Freeholders

Freeholders were a specific sub-type of nobility in the Westerland, and as such they are a core element in Westerland Society and Culture, specifically affiliated with the Westerland Chivalric Traditions and are a major defining element in the Westerland Peerage.

Freehold
A Freehold is a "hold" (meaning a fortress) that "free" (meaning sovereign, at least partially). Freeholds gradually become replaced by Earlings and Governed Lands in the Colonial Era, but do not completely cease to exist until very late in the Colonial Era, and even then, some of them still exist in name only.

History of Freeholds
The First Freeholds were Principalities of the Empire, that came to exist as the Empire continued to expand into the Provinces, dividing them up into Principalities. They didn't strictly speaking begin as Freeholds, as there was no real distinction between fiefdoms back then, but later on those Principalities became Freeholds.

Landed Knights
Later on, however, in the early Post-Imperial Era, a tradition came about of employing warriors to defend from certain angles, by literally having them live in between that which they were protecting, and that which they were protecting against. This blossomed into the tradition of Knighthood, which was largely a call-back to the Imperial Knighthood tradition(see Westerland Chivalric Traditions), and this tradition continued into the early Colonial Era, because it was a very convenient way to do it.

Sovereign Rule
Freeholders, whether they were Landed Knights or descendants of the original Imperial Princes, had in common that they were sovereign on their lands. They couldn't be taxed, but they might be asked to pay tribute. They couldn't be called upon in war, unless they could for reasons unrelated to the fact that they were Freeholders, and anyone who lived on their land and wasn't regarded as a Nobleman (essentially a "protected citizen") of somewhere else, were under their rule. This leaves a natural question: Why are so many Freeholds even part of Kingdoms? Why did Freeholders ever swear fealty to others and become vassals?

Vassalage
It is important to understand, that in the early days of the Westerlands, humans followed religion as if it was science. And religion taught you that oath and fealty were the same as making a promise with your immortal soul as bond. Going back on a sworn oath was the same as dooming yourself. At some point, most Freeholders swore an oath of fealty, which stated that they swore to be allied to some other authority, and that this alliance was permanent beyond the scope of just their own rule - and they may have done this for numerous reasons - to mention one; the people who became Freeholders because they were Landed as Knights were already sworn to those they served as Knights.

Legitimacy
Another reason to swear fealty to someone, is because they can lend you legitimacy. While not immediately relevant to those that live in your lands, if some neighboring authority agrees that you are, in fact, the rightful ruler of your lands, then this becomes more legitimate than if your neighbor was indifferent or worse - saying the opposite!

Culture
A good reason to seek legitimization from, say, a King, could be that the Freeholder in question shares common ancestry with a specific King, who is regarded as the primary (biggest and most powerful) ruler in the shared culture. By getting this person to legitimize the rule, everyone in that culture will be going against the word of the most powerful person in the shared culture - an unlikely decision. Naturally, many cultures see it as a given that ancestry and common culture is observed, and many people were raised to think of the "Capital" and the "King" as paragons of their culture, and would simply consider it a matter of honor to swear fealty to this symbol.

Ancestry
As mentioned, many of the first Freeholders were descendants of the Princes of the Imperial Provinces, who split their Provinces into Principalities. Later rulers did similar things, and it is not uncommon for a Freeholder to be related to some of the neighboring rulers, and very likely to swear fealty to whoever is regarded as the primary branch of the family.

Barons and Baronies
The term "freeholder" is used almost exclusively to describe a Baron, though a Baron would be a Freeholder who remains in control of his Freehold, whereas in common use, the term Freeholder refers to a Lord Exempt, an allodial title better described in the article on Westerland Allodial Titular Nobility, with the Freehold actually governed by a Palatine, a type of governor better described in the article on Westerland Governors.

Average Barony
The average Barony was found during the middle of the Post-Imperial Era, was found on the outskirts of civilized lands, or in between civilized lands, had on average, 4 shires, 10 villages, 3 minor fortifications, 5 estates, 1 town and 1 castle, meaning the average Baron had, on average, 15 Landed Knights, with each Landed Knight on average having 12 soldiers.

Most baronies deviated wildly on both sides of this average, even to the point of extremes, however, making it somewhat of a moot point to even attempt to describe an average barony.

Coronation
Traditionally, Barons (like kings) underwent an actual coronation, and had a Coronet that was a symbol of their status. They rarely wore them, because that tradition was affiliated with Kings. A Baron's Coronet in the Westerlands, varied from region to region, but was made of steel, plated in silver with small golden symbols fused to it, and perhaps some minor gem-stones.

Arch Duke
Baronies sometimes reach massive sizes and eventually obtain new names. Arch Dukes, like Dukes, rule Geographical Regions that form a unity of some sort, but rather than a regular Duke, who does this on behalf of his sovereign, the Arch Duke is a Sovereign ruler, but he has a liege-lord, who is typically a King.
 * Toward the end of the Post-Imperial Era, few Arch-Duchies remain, but they were very common once upon a time. The Arch Duchy of Dussante is among the most famous, but also only technically an Arch Duchy, as so many provisions were taken against the Arch Duke, that he was basically a subject of the King of Orlais.

Prince
The word "Prince" or "Princess" can be used to describe the child of any member of a Royal Family, in theory. Traditionally, the words are specifically used to describe the direct descendants of the Monarch, but it also has a different meaning; in the Imperial Era, various regions of the Empire were governed by various individuals, but one regional "commander" was appointed for each of the many Provinces, who was the Principal of that region. The word literally means "the person who takes the first position". Such a region was called a "Principality" and the title "Prince" sprung from that original title - but in the Post-Imperial Era, a Prince is a very powerful Baron, who rules multiple territories, across multiple Duchies, though few Princes remained Princes for very long, as the issue with ruling regions that span far to great a distance, is that the people living in those regions do not wish to be ruled by someone they view as a foreigner.
 * The Provinces were originally all Principalities, and in the beginning, the Princes had no idea how far they would be able to explore in any given direction. It quickly became necessary to break their Principalities into smaller domains, and so one Principality might turn into 3 in the course of a generation, and the Prince would let his sons become the new Princes of the newly created Principalities, or let someone who married one of his daughters become the new Prince of given Principality.
 * There are few remaining Principalities in the Sourcelands, and the best known Principality isn't even a true Principality any longer, but rather an elective Monarchy.