Is the VMS a pamphlet of the bastards ? (theory)

[davidjackson]

I don't know if that was actually codified anywhere. I would be surprised is manzer was much used, as it is a legal term in the Torah, not Christian law, although a quick search shows certain people tarred with the name.
In any case, this would be the "middle" middle ages, not the late middle ages (VM time).
In the whole of the Middle Ages, the concept of bastard was really far more linked to the social status of the mother than any real concept of being conceived out of wedlock. If the mother was of superior social status, the child would be far more easily accepted into noble families than if the mother was of lower status.
If the paterfamilias had it off with the scullery maid, then any resulting child was unlikely to be accepted an heir by the family. But if the mother was of another noble family, then not much of a problem.
William the Conqueror was known as William the Bastard by his peers, this was due to (according to one theory I've seen) his mother being of low status. Despite that he was accepted by his father; and he worked twice as hard to prove himself.