Seneschal is the highest servant position of importance in Castle Daventry.
Background[]
The responsibility of the seneschal is in the daily duties of running the castle, and its staff.[1] When the king is away, the seneschel may take up the job of ministrating court cases from the Judgment Seat in the King's absence.[2] When the king is away the seneschal is the judge. The seneschel is also generally in charge of preparting for the kingdom's festivals and feasts[3] (as does the Prime Minister). The seneschal is reponsible for the fiscal welfare of the castle. He must make sure no one in the castle spends too freely.[4]. He must recompense any third parties for goods and services done on behalf of the kingdom[5] Thus he works with Castle Treasurer.
In Daventry, Oswold was the Seneschel, and so it has been for his family back into the kingdom's history. His son, Master William was groomed for the position as well.
Behind the scenes[]
It is not clear how Seneschel relates to the Prime Minister, whom also seems to have important duties when the king is away. Although the ministers as a rule appear to be more like advisers to the king, rather than running every day castle affairs and finances. However, the Prime Minister Gawain is shown to be in charge of the feast to find a potential queen for Graham. He also seems to be loosely in charge of the kingdom while Graham is away (though this is not fully clear). Finally he seemed to be in charge of the laws as well (the example being that he was involved with the policy of sending maids to to be sacrified to the Three-Headed Dragon)
A seneschal /ˈsɛnəʃəl/ was an officer in the houses of important nobles in the Middle Ages. In a medieval noble household a seneschal was in charge of domestic arrangements and the administration of servants. In the French administrative system of the Middle Ages, the sénéchal was also a royal officer in charge of justice and control of the administration in southern provinces, equivalent to the northern French bailli. It is equivalent to the Slavonic title stolnik or the English steward. It is also equivalent to a prime minister, chief councillor, royal agent, or major domus in other cultures.