Illegitimate children in Europe were called bastards, in Russia - bastards, geeks and bastards (literally formed from the words "fornication", "fornication"). All of these names were equally demeaning as the very status of the illegitimate. Being born out of wedlock was a real curse for many reasons: eugenic, legal, etc.
Blood purity
The aristocrats of past centuries were very proud of the purity of their blood. It was customary to marry princes, earls and other noble nobles only on the same noble brides as themselves. Not a single aristocrat could afford to marry a commoner, because he not only “lost his dignity” with such a misalliance, but also diluted his aristocratic “blue blood” with this union.
At the same time, commoner mistresses were often turned up. Naturally, the children born of them were not considered "purebred", and therefore were bastards and bastards. This analogy is largely taken from the breeding of animals: riding horses, hunting dogs, etc. A purebred horse has always been valued above a foal obtained from a cross between different breeds.
In the same way, noble people considered a child born from the union of an aristocrat and a commoner to be inferior. The question of "blood purity" was strictly controlled in many aspects of society. In order to prevent the mixing of social strata of the population and to raise the aristocrats even higher, the bastards were branded and humiliated in every possible way.
The right to inherit
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Not only the honor of legitimate children was zealously defended, but also their right to inheritance. The bastard was legally not entitled to any part of the inheritance of his father (or mother, if she was a wealthy aristocrat). A wealthy parent could only give something to his illegitimate child out of grace. But this was done extremely rarely.
Usually, an unenviable lot of a beggar and a rejected person awaited the bastard. And therefore, being illegitimate was considered a real curse. Sons-bastrads often went into military service as ordinary soldiers and served for decades, because otherwise they could not feed themselves. A girl at best could go to a monastery, at worst - go into the service or become a prostitute. Nobody wanted to marry the illegitimate.
Protection from foreign blood
Men were especially zealous in protecting their property from encroachments, since both Russian and European societies were purely patriarchal and all property rights belonged to their husbands. If the wife secretly gave birth from her lover, she tried to quickly destroy the traces of this shame. Usually, newborns were sent to remote villages in large families, where they lived in dire poverty. But it also happened that the bastards were killed by their own mothers immediately after birth.
This was done for fear of reprisals from her husband. Men were extremely jealous of their wives so that they did not bring the bastard into the house and that the descendant of another man did not share the property of legitimate children. Hence - the tradition, widespread in the Middle Ages, to put chastity belts on wives when husbands went on a hike for a long time.
Bandage for the bastard
Despite all these precautions and the humiliating position of the bastards, there were a huge number of such children at all times. The royal courts were especially famous for this. A colossal number of royal mistresses and bastards born from them inflated the court society to incredible proportions. As a result, the bastards of the most senior nobles (kings, very wealthy dukes, etc.) were to some extent recognized in society and could serve at court.
Such children in Western Europe received a special bastard sling, which was placed on the parental coat of arms. It was a very ambiguous mark of distinction: on the one hand, it indicated a high origin, on the other, it focused attention on illegitimacy. So even very noble nobles were waiting for the bastards of an unenviable share of outcasts and "half-breeds".