Peasant's Lot

Being a peasant is not all that bad nowadays! As long as you have land of course.

It used to be an awfully terrible life, being a peasant. In the Ardenian Empire in particular, being robbed blind by both the decadent nobles and the warmongering generals. It is still pretty bad, but the Church of Three Prophets did change things a lot.   After all, the Church said, are peasants not God's creations just as much as a noble or a general is? Do they not deserve freedom and respect, and protection from those who would seek to take advantage of others? And with the Church's power on the rise throughout the past two centuries, so did the peasants' status as they got more rights and privileges.  

Important rights

There are now restrictions on how much tax and tribute a noble can demand of his vassals, what services they might be obliged to provide. No longer can you send a whole village to build you a castle without paying them a cent, not without getting questioned by the imperial administrators in the region. Many merchants and even minor nobles come from peasant families nowadays, as you are no longer so rigidly bound by your ancestry as long as you have money and influence.   The most important change came in the form of a judicial reform sixty years ago. Physical punishments and death penalties were cancelled for most crimes, and rigorously examined by the imperial jurisdiction. Instead, a criminal would often receive a hefty fine or, if they cannot pay the fine, sold into indentured servitude (read slavery). Even then, clear guidelines were written for how long the servitude was to last and how one could earn back their freedom.  

Reasons

The proponents of these reforms have mostly pointed to their humanitarian nature, and how much better of a society they make the Ardenian Empire. For these reasons, many surrounding countries have since implemented similar reforms of their own. However, the claim of their benevolence is getting increasingly challenged nowadays.   Critics argue that the reforms unjustly favour those with money, that everyday peasants are still faced with harsh punishments while wealthy ones can get away with crime. The fact that the imperial judges oversee the cases instead of local nobles little changes the outcome. In fact, steep fines became one of the main sources of income for the treasury nowadays, and many judges have been critisised as having more interest in imposing fines than in passing just sentences.  

The Church's Role

Same as the imperial administration, the Church is also suspected by some to have corrupt reasons. By giving more freedoms to the peasants they undermine the power of the imperial nobility, who are none too happy about the Church's growing influence. With most peasantry in the Empire being fervently religious, it might just happen that one day the Emperor will find that his word means less in the empire than that of the Church.