Medieval Reddit

AITA for not accepting that my eldest brother will inherit the kingdom instead of me?

I (16M) am the younger of two sons my father (42M) has, but am the only child of my mother (35F). My father, let’s call him Roland, has another son, Sigmund (25M), and three daughters from his first marriage. While I love my father and our wacky blended family, I can’t help but feel that it’s unfair that my brother is going to inherit the entire kingdom when my father dies.

First, some background:

Sigmund is a good brother to me, even with the age difference, and encourages me in my study of poetry, philosophy, and music while he pursues his own dreams of war, combat, and pillaging. He does, on occasion, try to get me to share his interests, due to his rather traditional worldview that ‘real men’ concentrate on martial activities, but also listens respectfully when I recite something or play a tune I’m learning on my flute.

Father, on the other hand, utterly rejects my life goals. He calls them childish and frequently tells me to get my head out of the clouds and my feet back in the mud. He doesn’t understand that I do not wish to follow his footsteps and become a crusader and campaigner. I’d much rather remain at court, dispensing ‘justice’ and enjoying life.

I had always assumed that I would get half of the kingdom when he passes on, but I learned differently last summer when a rather nasty plague swept through the kingdom. I self isolated and was careful about cleanliness, so did not fall ill as those around me dropped like flies. However, both father and my mother were stricken. It was touch and go there for a while, even to the point of a priest giving them last rites. Praise be, they both survived, but father was weak and ill almost until All Saint’s Day and only rarely appeared at court.

During that time, Sigmund assumed many of father’s duties, but I also picked up the slack. Between us, we kept the kingdom moving along. We even repulsed an invasion of barbarians from the east, with Sigmund riding out to meet them while I remained at home and ensured the success of the yearly harvest festival.

At the height of my father’s illness, his chief advisor approached my brother and spoke to him. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but sound carries in a castle. What I heard made my heart drop. The chamberlain, I guess his name is Edmund or something like that, told my brother that in the event of father’s demise, he would inherit both the throne and the entire kingdom! To his credit, Sigmund did ask what I would gain, which I greatly appreciate.

The chamberlain replied that I would retain the lands I inherited from my mother’s family in Gascony, but all my father left to me was an old suit of chain mail that some ancestor or another had worn to the Holy Land and a letter. No idea what the letter says, but I’m sure it’s full of things that I am not doing or doing wrong.

I took what I had heard to my mother, and she assured me that it’s all true. Father plans to give the entire kingdom to my brother, with almost no consideration for the years I have spent redecorating the great hall or encouraging the peasants to study the arts in between their days of toil in the fields and time spent in the fyrd. Not only does she support this decision, but she also told me that she thinks a long trip to Italy or maybe even Acre would be good for me. Apparently, I need to ‘grow up’ and ‘become the man’ my father wants me to be. Failing that, she suggested I enter the priesthood. She apparently has a cousin who is an abbot at some forsaken place up in the mountains, and she thinks I’d benefit from some spiritual discipline.

So, now I sit at my second home in Gascony, and have no idea what I am going to do. I have a special relationship with the husband of my eldest sister, Guy of Flanders (22M), and he suggests that I rally what support I can and confront my father and brother. While I don’t hold Sigmund responsible for father’s plans, Guy has pointed out that my brother isn’t doing anything to get them changed, either.

Guy says that he can arrange for several hundred men-at-arms to rally around my banner after the spring floods subside. Honestly, Guy is the only person in my life who truly understands me, and I don’t know what I would do without him. He’s currently staying with me at my country estate while my sister is in confinement for the birth of their fourth child.

So, gentle reader, AITA for considering armed rebellion because my neanderthal father won’t accept me as at least his partial heir and give me what is rightfully mine upon his death? Please leave your answers in the comments below.