What cultural nuances and customs might a medieval, largely agrarian society with a strict caste system have?

Question

I apologize in advance, because this will be pretty long. I already have a vague idea of some customs, so I need to include both the sociopolitical aspects of this as well as those customs.

The social hierarchy consists of five social classes: Solars (the reigning king and queen), Stellars (royal children), Lunars (the aristocracy), Perihelions (employees of the crown, basically any type of government worker), and Terreans (the working class, typically either employed by Lunars or Perihelions, and make up the majority of the population.) Their society is human, and their kingdom (Corona) occupies the grasslands of a continent, which lends itself to their majority agricultural economy. There are no other human societies in this world, so Corona isn't competing with any other economies or political interest.

The Coroneans worship the suns (their solar system is binary, with their planet orbiting two stars), and their aforementioned social hierarchy is named after celestial bodies.

The Coronean calendar has five seasons, with the traditional four as well as a fifth "twilight interval" called Nox. In this season, Corona is blocked from the sun and receives no light. As this is the case, many plants have adapted to darkness and are bio-luminescent, as well as some animals. The people of Corona have adapted to have markings on their cheeks that glow gold in total darkness. They believe that their markings connect them intrinsically to the suns and their magic, power, and energy, and that the king and queen are direct descendants of the suns. Because of this belief, the monarchy is stable - a form of the Mandate of Heaven. At the beginning of Nox, the Coroneans have a massive holiday, in which they thank the suns for their light and humble themselves to prepare for three months of darkness. During this festival, if the eldest Stellar has come of age, the king and queen will announce their retirement and begin preparations for the Stellar's ascent. (The actual coronation ceremony is known as the Ring of Light, as the crown is reminiscent of the sun's corona).

Most of the holidays I've thought up revolve around the calendar, due to their worship of the suns. Any ideas for some holidays that might affect the lower classes specifically? I toyed around with making the end of major crop harvests holidays but couldn't figure out a way to make them line up well on the calendar. Thank you in advance and sorry again for the long read!

Answer 1

Harvest Festivals

First, Harvest festivals are a great way for agricultural classes to celebrate and there is some variance in their celebration (Canada & Oktoberfest are in October, while the US & Japan celebrate in November) - so I would definitely recommend adding some form of Harvest festival.

If it doesn't quite work with the calendar - you could add it halfway (or some variant thereof) through your Nox, much like this world's winter holidays, due to:

• A food issue
  • Perishable food stores are nearing their end so have to use up before opening a new set
  • Animals nearing end of fat stores and having to more actively look for food
    • As this would mean better hunting and a need to finish old food stores to make room
• To people just needing to party.
  • Its depressive, you can't really plant - might as well drink and party.
• Various religious reasons such as rebirth

Look up the theories on why Yule is centered on Mid-Winter for some good reasons (and more religious reasons).

Special Events

Not all holidays are based on the calendar or a strictly religious event. July 4th, as the US's Independence Day, was based on signing of the Declaration of Independence. During the 1500 & 1700s there were week-long Thanksgiving holidays which were declared due to victories in battle and the rescue of Queen Anne¹ in one case. Purim is based on the saving of the Jewish people by Esther. Make these holidays be based on important historic events over just calendar or religious events (or combine them like "the first Terrean to be converted by Stellar").

To connect it to the Terrean people specifically:

• Have there be a Terrean hero who saved the day in some decisive battle
• A Terrean rescued an important Stellar or Lunar
  • which requires Lunars to give to the Terreans on this day forever to remember our connection and repay the debt, or etc...
• Anything else which you can connect to the story and Terreans

_{1: Baker, James W. (2009). Thanksgiving: the biography of an American holiday. UPNE. pp. 1–14. ISBN 9781584658016.}

Answer 2

Your society would have holidays to mark the beginning and end of Nox. Many societies on Earth have holidays specifically about light and most mark the equinoxes and solstices as well.

You already have a holiday to mark the beginning but none to mark the end, the coming out of darkness. This would be a Big Deal. They'd celebrate.

You may also want a day to mark the midpoint of Nox. This might also be a fertility festival or a matchmaking one.

Otherwise, agriculture would and should play a large role. If they have heroes or gods to worship, they will probably want to set the dates to coincide with agricultural dates.

Harvest Festivals aren't just once a year. If they have more than one major crop, they will likely have a holiday at the end of each of those harvests, as well as one for the growing season.

Pretty much all societies have harvest festivals. They're too busy beforehand and it's a good way to relax after all the hard work. Plus it brings people together for the work of preserving and distributing the crop.

Planting Festivals are common. Remember, a festival isn't just a way to party, it's a way to bring people together and that can include work.

There are many choices. Pick the ones that work with your story and ignore the rest.