Post originally by Sergio Mascarenhas at 2004-03-22 03:51:40
Converted from Phorums BB System

<< If having 15 be the age of majority for characters in the game, you must not be up on your medieval history. A 15 year-old was, in fact, an adult at that time. >>

Not really. For a start, there was not such thing as a concept of majority. The key turning point was the date when people could legaly marry (remember that "legaly" refers to Roman Catholic Law). If memory does not betray me, it was at 12 for girls and 15 for boys. This does not mean that all boys and girls would marry at that age (just as they don't do it today when they get into 18).
The other important factor was economic emancipation or responsibility. Since this was usually tied to marriage... you get the point.

In fact, there was a distinction between going from boy/girl to man/woman, and going from man/woman to adult. You would become a man/woman around 15, the age you could marry. And you would become an adult around 25, the age when you could be entrusted with major social functions like command, representation, etc.

All of this AFAIK and IIRC.

Sergio