Okay — cue the drumroll (and a little Ally McBeal snap): who’s who in the Capitulare de Villis?

Below I list every person or group mentioned in the document, sorted by where they belong (palace, demesne/estate, local administration, craftsmen, travelling officials, and social groups). For each I say: role, what they do, and where they stand in the hierarchy. Short, snappy, and clear.

Top of the heap (the royal household)

• The King ("we") and the Queen — the rulers giving orders. They sit at the palace, own the crown lands (the fisc), decide policy, punish or pardon, and receive supplies from estates.
• The Seneschal — senior palace official who helps manage the royal household and issues commands in the king’s name. Works at the palace but gives orders affecting estates.
• The Butler — palace official in charge of food, drink, cellars and table service. Also issues orders in the king’s or queen’s name.
• Permanently-attending servants at the palace (the king’s hunters, falconers, and other palace servants) — they live at the palace and can be sent on errands; estates must help them when required.
• Missi (missi dominici) and their retinues — royal envoys who travel between court and districts. They inspect, carry orders, and must be provided transport and supplies by local officials when the king commands.

Estate-level managers (the people who run royal estates)

• Stewards — the central figures on the royal estates. They manage several estates in a district, supervise planting, harvesting, animals, stores, mills, fishponds, wine, fences, tools, and workers. They must report income, send provisions to the palace, maintain standards, and enforce rules. They are the king’s managers on the ground.
• Mayors — local manor or village managers on an estate. They typically oversee day-to-day labour, local organization and supply duties. The document says mayors should be modest men (not powerful), and that if a mayor has a benefice he may send a substitute to do the manual labour.
• Foresters — officials responsible for woods, game, hawks, and dues from the forest. They guard woods, prevent excessive cutting, protect game, and collect forest-related revenues.
• Stablemen and Grooms — manage the royal horses, stables and grooms attend to horses. Some grooms are free men who live off benefices (i.e. they have holdings that support them).
• Cellarers — in charge of cellars, wine, storage, and probably food stores on the estate.
• Deans — local officials (the text uses the term; their duties appear administrative/overseeing — often heads of work groups or sub-units on the estate).
• Toll-collectors and other officials — collect dues, tolls and otherwise perform official functions instead of manual labour; they hold offices in return for providing services.
• Mayors' substitutes — when a mayor has other obligations (a benefice), a substitute will perform the manual labour duties on his behalf.

People who live on or work the demesne (the estate workforce)

• Our people / our men — phrases the text uses for people attached to royal estates (mainly serfs and workers who owe labour and services to the crown). They live on crown lands and are under the steward’s authority. They are to be protected from poverty and not forced into personal service for stewards. Punishments for them tend to be corporal (whipping) rather than fines.
• Serfs (implied by "our people" and "our serfs") — tied to the land (manses) and owing labour and produce to the demesne; limited legal rights; can be whipped for offences.
• Men of the fisc — people attached specifically to the royal fisc (the crown’s lands and revenue system). They are among the crown’s workforce and owe duties and obligations to the king. They overlap with 'our men' and serfs on crown lands.
• Manse-holders — people who hold manses (small farms/houselots) on estate land and owe services or rent. Some live from their holding; if a manse is vacant the steward reports it.
• Householders — small proprietors or heads of households who supply carts, goods or services when ordered (for army supplies etc.).
• Shepherds — tend flocks and provide flocks’ contributions to army or household; their loads are recorded for the army.

Free men and their place

• Free men (freemen) who live on crown lands — they have personal freedom and legal rights. If they commit wrongs they pay fines according to their law (they are not whipped like serfs). The fines they pay are assigned for royal use. Some free men hold benefices (land or money) and may be grooms or serve in other positions while living off their benefice. They stand above serfs in social and legal status but are still tied economically to the estate when they live there.

Legal and justice roles

• The Count in his district — the main royal officer in a district; provides help to missi and enforces royal authority locally. He supplies pack-horses and necessities to travelling officials when custom requires.
• Stewards acting as judges — stewards are told to hold hearings, dispense justice, and ensure people get the justice they are due (especially our people and those on crown lands). They also must not force people needlessly to appear at court in person.

Craftsmen, skilled workers, and workshop people

• Blacksmiths; gold- and silver-smiths; shoemakers; turners; carpenters; shield-makers; fishermen; falconers; soap-makers — specialists the estates must keep available. They provide tools, repairs, and specialist goods for both estate life and the army.
• Brewers, bakers, net-makers — brewers make beer, cider, perry; bakers make bread for the royal use; net-makers make nets for hunting and fishing.
• Master-brewers — accompany stewards when they come to the palace to make beer there.
• Women's-workshop workers — women who weave, prepare cloth, dye (using woad, madder, vermilion), comb wool, etc. The stewards supply materials to keep these workshops running.
• Gardeners and orchard keepers — maintain extensive lists of vegetables, herbs and fruit trees for estate consumption and ornament.

Other named or implied participants

• Hunters and Falconers — palace servants who also act on the estates when ordered; they care for hawks and falcons and hunt game for the court. Estates must supply help to them.
• Pack-horse providers / people who traditionally care for missi — customary local men who help missi travel; sometimes the count or customary men supply pack-horses and logistics.
• Mill workers — run the mills, keep animals near mills, and manage milling produce.
• Fishermen — run fishponds and fisheries for the estates; stewards keep fishponds and may sell fish to make profit for the king.
• Walled-park keepers (brogili keepers) — keepers of enclosed parks for game and ornament; stewards must maintain them.
• Privileged holders and office-holders — anyone with a benefice or holding that supports them (e.g., free grooms or holders of manses) who therefore live off that income rather than daily demesne food.

Short glossary and hierarchy — plain and simple

• The King/Queen — top of hierarchy. Issue orders, own the fisc (crown lands).
• Royal household officials (seneschal, butler) and permanent palace servants — run the palace and speak for the king/queen.
• Stewards — king’s managers on estates. Powerful locally, answerable to the palace.
• Counts and Missi — regional royal officials who enforce central authority and travel for inspections.
• Mayors, foresters, cellarers, stablemen, deans, toll-collectors — local officials working under stewards or counts; perform public functions.
• Free men — legally free residents (sometimes holding benefices). Pay fines, have rights, rank above serfs.
• Men of the fisc / our men / our people / serfs / manse-holders — tied to the royal estates; provide labour, produce and services. Their rights are limited; punishments differ from free men (corporal punishments more common for serfs).
• Craftsmen and specialized workers — skilled labor, often mobile but sometimes stationed on estates to supply the court and army.

Clarifying “our men”, “our people”, and “free men”

• Our people / Our men — usually the workers and serfs who live on the king’s estates. They owe labour, supplies and services directly to the demesne. The text protects them from being misused by stewards, demands they be looked after, and says they are to be punished by whipping (not fines) if they break rules.
• Men of the fisc — those attached administratively and economically to the crown’s lands (overlaps with our people but emphasizes crown ownership).
• Free men — residents who are not serfs: they have personal freedom, pay fines (not flogging) if they commit crimes, may hold benefices or holdings that support them, and have recourse to the law. They are higher in status than serfs but still part of local economy and owe certain payments or services when they live on crown land.

Quick examples to make it stick (Ally McBeal style: quick, quirky, memorable)

• Steward: the very busy estate manager (think of the king’s chief assistant on the farm).
• Mayor: the local foreman who knows everyone in the village and checks the ploughs.
• Serf (our people): works the land, brings eggs and chickens, gets whipped for misdeeds—ugh, rough life.
• Free man: pays fines if he steals (no whipping), maybe a groom who lives off his benefice—fancier, but still working for the system.
• Seneschal & Butler: big-time palace people — they tell stewards what to do (and the stewards better listen!).

If you want, I can turn this into a printable one-page cheat-sheet (with short “who does what” lines) or a cartoon-style flowchart showing the hierarchy. Which would you like next?