Definition Of Yeoman In England

A name given in england to a class of freeholders next in rank to the gentry and to certain functionaries in royal households.

Definition of yeoman in england. The word appears in middle english as yemen or yoman and is perhaps a contraction of yeng man or yong man meaning young man or attendant geoffrey chaucer s canterbury tales late 14th century. Yeoman in english history a class intermediate between the gentry and the labourers. The yeoman comprised a military class or status usually known as in the third order of the fighting class between squire and page. Sue geoffers have already given you the correct meaning of yeoman but because i have always been connected with the agricultral business i wanted to add my two penny worth too.

Meaning pronunciation translations and examples. By contrast in contemporary feudal continental europe the divide between commoners and gentry was far wider. In the past a man who was not a servant and who owned and cultivated grew crops on an area. Historically a yeoman was a man owning and cultivating a small estate with a 40 shilling annual value and he was entitled to serve on a jury and vote for a knight of the shire.

He also owed fealty to the lord of the manor and way back in time a yeoman was considered a servant of the crown and was expected to serve at least some time in the royal household as a servant. A man who farmed his own land meaning pronunciation translations and examples. In medieval england and well into the 18th century yeoman was used to describe land owners considered only one step down from the gentry classes. In former times a yeoman was a man who was free and not a servant and who owned and.

Though a middle class existed it was less esteemed than the yeoman of england of that time.