Bastards in Essos

[Kandrax]

15 hours ago, Moiraine Sedai said:

The northern bastards are considered so by the same people who worship the old God's.   The very first wife at the beginning of time put pressure on her husband to distinguish between their children and his children with a random woman.  

Maybe is that because of Andals influence, also that wife is follower of Seven.

[Darth Sidious]

On 6/15/2018 at 12:14 AM, Jaak said:

Not in all societies...

Wives won´t. More importantly, neither will the fathers and brethren of wives.

But there will be husbands who want to promote their bastards.

And who succeeds depends on society.

Medieval Europe from 11th century had normative monogamy, lifelong with a strict ban on divorce, and bastards did not have inheritance rights.

Compare with their contemporaries right across border in Islamic world, that had polygamy and easy divorce.

The Norse before the imposition of European marriage laws in 13th century or so had clearly distinguished single principal wife, but bastards had broad inheritance rights.

So, there is nothing implausible about Essos having a very different attitude to bastards.

It´s more than theoretical. In societies where freeing slaves is at all common, the children of the master are one of the first groups to consider.

Is there any special legal discrimination against bastard freedmen over and above discrimination against bastards born of freeborn mothers?

Vogorro´s Whore had no children to mention, either by Vogorro or afterwards. If she had borne children to Vogorro, would the Old Blood of Volantis have declared Vogorro´s children freedmen as well, and forced them out of Black Walls, or would they have accepted that they were born of mother who was by then free, and allowed Vogorro´s Whore to stay inside Black Walls as a household member of her children?

Interesting questions to consider for sure.

I would hazard a guess and say Vogarro had the right to grant the gift of freedom to any of his slaves.  I would even say he could give that child money and other goods.  The woman was given her freedom and inherited riches.  Why not the child of such a union.  But does that mean the newborn babe can avoid getting marked before being declared free?  

[Jaak]

About bastards: how about Otherys family?

They clearly inherited the surname of the mother. Not of a suspected father, and not a "bastard surname".

In Westeros, "filius nullius" is the rule, and "mater semper certa est", as with Mormont bearstiality, the exception. How about Essos? When the mother has a surname, do bastards get it?