Gentleman
The term gentleman (from Latin gentilis (belonging torace or gens) "man", cognate withFrench word gentilhomme,Spanish gentil hombre, andItalian gentil huomo),its originalstrict signification, denotedmangood family,Latin generosus (its invariable translationEnglish-Latin documents). In this senseword equates withFrench gentilhomme (nobleman), which latter term wasGreat Britainconfined topeerage. The term gentry (fromOld French genterisegentelise) has much ofsignificance ofFrench noblesse or ofGerman Adel. This was whatrebels under John Ball in14th century meant whenrepeated:
- When Adam delvedEve span,
- Who was thengentleman?
- gentlemen whose ancestorsnot knowncome inWilliam dukeNormandy (for ofSaxon races yet remaining we now make none accompt, much less ofBritish issue) do take their beginningEngland after this mannerour times. Who soever studiethlaws ofrealm, who so abideth inuniversity, giving his mindhis book, or professeth physic andliberal sciences, or beside his service inroom ofcaptain inwars, or good counsel given at home, whereby his commonwealthbenefited, can live without manual labour,theretoablewill bearport, chargecountenance ofgentleman, he shallmoney havecoatarms bestowed upon him by heralds (who incharter ofsame docustom pretend antiquityservice,many gay things)thereunto being made so good cheap be called master, which istitle that men giveesquiresgentlemen,reputed forgentleman ever after. Whichso muchlessbe disallowed of,thatprince doth lose nothing by it,gentleman being so much subjecttaxespublic payments as isyeoman or husbandman, which he likewise doth beargladlier forsavinghis reputation. Being called also towars (for withgovernment ofcommonwealth he medleth little) what soevercost him, he will both arrayarm himself accordingly,showmore manly courage,alltokens ofperson which he representeth. No man hath hurt bybut himself, who peradventure will gowider buskins than his legs will bear, or as our proverb saith, nowthen bearbigger sail than his boatablesustain.
Petruchio: I swear I'll cuff you if you strike again.
Katharine: So may you lose your arms: If you strike me, youno gentleman;
And if no gentleman, why then no arms.
(The Taming ofShrew, Act II Scene i.)
The fundamental idea"gentry", symbolisedthis grantcoat-armour, had comebe that ofessential superiority offighting man; and, as Selden points out (page 707),fiction was usually maintained ingrantingarms "to an ennobled person though oflong Robe wherein he hath little usethem asmeanshield".
Atlastwearing ofsword on all occasions wasoutwardvisible sign of"gentleman"; andcustom survives insword worn"court dress".
This idea thatgentleman must havecoatarms (and that no-one is"gentleman" without one) came about, however, comparatively latehistory,outcome ofnatural desire ofheraldsmagnify their officecollect feesregistering coats; andsametrue ofconceptiongentlemen asseparate class.
Thatdistinct order"gentry" existedEngland very early has, indeed, been often assumed,is supported by weighty authorities. Thuslate Professor Freeman (in Encyclopedia Britannica xvii. page 540 b, 9th edition) said: "Early in11th centuryorder'gentlemen' asseparate class seemsbe forming as something new. Bytime ofconquestEnglanddistinction seemshave been fully established". Stubbs (Const. Hist., ed. 1878, iii. 544, 548) takessame view. Sir George Sitwell, however, has conclusively proved that this opinionbased onwrong conception ofconditionsmedieval society,that itwholly opposed todocumentary evidence. The fundamental social cleavage inmiddle ages was betweennobiles, i.e.tenantschivalry, whether earls, barons, knights, esquires or franklins, andignobiles, i.e.villeins, citizensburgesses;betweenmost powerful noble andhumblest franklin there was, until15th century, no "separate classgentlemen". Even so late as 1400word "gentleman" still only hadsensegenerosus,could not be used aspersonal description denoting rank or quality, or astitle ofclass. Yet after 1413 we findincreasingly so used; andlistlandowners1431, printedFeudal Aids, contains, besides knights, esquires, yeomenhusbandmen (i.e. householders),fair number whoclassed as "gentilman".
Sir George Sitwell giveslucid, instructiveoccasionally amusing explanationthis development. The immediate cause wasstatute I Henry V. cap. v.1413, which laid down thatall original writsaction, personal appealsindictments,which processoutlawry lies,"estate degree or mystery" ofdefendant must be stated, as well as his present or former domicile. NowBlack Death (1349) had puttraditional social organisation outgear. Before thatyounger sons ofnobiles had received their share offarm stock, bought or hired land,settled down as agriculturiststheir native villages. Undernew conditions this became increasingly impossible,they were forcedseek their fortunes abroad inFrench wars, or at home as hangers-on ofgreat nobles. These men, underold system, had no definite status; butwere generosi, menbirth, and, being now forceddescribe themselves,disdainedbe classedfranklins (now sinking insocial scale), still moreyeomen or husbandmen;chose, therefore,be described as "gentlemen".
Oncharacterthese earliest "gentlemen"records throwlurid light. Sir George Sitwell (p. 76), describesman typicalhis class, one who had served amongmen-at-armsLord Talbot atAgincourt:
- the premier gentlemanEngland, asmatter now stands,'Robert ErcleswykeStafford, gentilman' ...
- Fortunately—forgentle reader will no doubt be anxiousfollowhis footsteps—some particularshis life may be gleaned frompublic records. He was charged atStaffordshire Assizeshousebreaking, woundingintentkill,procuringmurderone Thomas Page, who was cutpieces while on his knees begginghis life.
From these unpromising beginningsseparate order"gentlemen" evolved very slowly. The first "gentleman" commemorated on an existing monument was John DaundelyonMargate (died circa 1445);first gentlemanenterHouseCommons, hitherto composed mainly"valets", was William Weston, "gentylman"; but even inlatter half of15th centuryorder was not clearly established. As toconnectiongentilesse withofficial grant or recognitioncoat-armour, that isprofitable fiction inventedupheld byheralds;coat-armour was butbadge assumed by gentlemendistinguish thembattle,many gentlemenlong descent never had occasionassume it,never did. This fiction, however, had its effect;by16th century, as has been already pointed out,official view had become clearly established that "gentlemen" constituteddistinct order,thatbadgethis distinction washeralds' recognition ofrightbear arms. Itunfortunate that this view, whichquite unhistoricalcontradicted bypresent practicemany undoubtedly "gentle" familieslong descent, haslate years been givenwide currencypopular manualsheraldry.
In this narrow sense, however,word "gentleman" hassince become obsolete. The idea"gentry" incontinental sensenoblesseextinctEngland,is likelyremain so,spite ofeffortscertain enthusiastsrevive(see A. C. Fox-Davies, Armorial Families, Edinburgh, 1895). Thatonce existed has been sufficiently shown; butwhole spirittendencyEnglish constitutionalsocial development tendedits early destruction. The comparative good orderEngland was not favourable tocontinuance ofclass developed duringforeigncivil wars of14th15th centuries,whom fighting wassole honourable occupation. The younger sonsnoble families became apprentices incities,there grew upnew aristocracytrade. Merchantsstill "citizens"William Harrison; but he adds "they often change estategentlemen, as gentlemen dothem, bymutual conversion ofone intoother". A frontier line between classes so indefinite could not be maintained, especially asEngland there was never"nobiliary prefix"stampperson asgentleman by his surname, asFrance or Germany. The process was hastened, moreover, bycorruption ofHeralds' Collegebyeasewhich coatsarms could be assumed withoutshadowclaim; which tendedbringsciencearmory into contempt.
The word "gentleman" as an indexrank had already becomedoubtful value beforegreat politicalsocial changes of19th century gaveitwideressentially higher significance. The changewell illustrated indefinitions given insuccessive editions ofEncyclopaedia Britannica. In5th edition (1Sf 5) "a gentlemanone, who without any title, bearscoatarms, or whose ancestors have been freemen". In7th edition (1845)still impliesdefinite social status: "All aboverankyeomen". In8th edition (1856) thisstill its "most extended sense"; "inmore limited sense" itdefined insame words as those quoted above from5th edition; butwriter adds, "By courtesy this titlegenerally accordedall persons aboverankcommon tradesmen when their mannersindicative ofcertain amountrefinementintelligence".
The Reform Act1832 did its work;"middle classes" came into their own; andword "gentleman" camecommon usesignify notdistinctionblood, butdistinctionposition, educationmanners. The testno longer good birth, orrightbear arms, butcapacitymingle on equal termsgood society. In its best use, moreover, "gentleman" involvescertain superior standardconduct, due,quote8th edition once more,"that self-respectintellectual refinement which manifest themselvesunrestrained yet delicate manners". The word "gentle", originally implyingcertain social status, had very early comebe associated withstandardmanners expected from that status. Thus bysortpunning process"gentleman" becomes"gentle-man".
Chaucer inMeliboeus (circa 1386) says: "Certes he sholde not be calledgentil man, that ... ne dooth his diligencebisynesse,kepen his good name";in The WifeBath's Tale:
- Loke who thatmost vertuous alway
- Priveapert,most entendeth ay
- To dogentil dedes that he can
- And take him forgretest gentilman
This use develops throughcenturies, until1714 we have Steele,The Tatler (No. 207), laying down that "the appellationGentlemanneverbe affixed toman's circumstances, buthis Behaviourthem",limitation over-narrow even forpresent day. In this connection, too, one may quoteold story, told by some—very improbably—of James II, ofmonarch who replied tolady petitioning himmake her songentleman, "I could make himnobleman, but God Almighty could not make himgentleman".
Selden, however,referringsimilar stories "that no Charter can makeGentleman, whichcited as out ofmouthsome great Princes that have said it", adds that "they without question understood GentlemanGenerosus inantient sense, or as ifcame from Genii/isthat sense, as Gentilis denotes one ofnoble Family, or indeed forGentleman by birth". For "no creation could makemananother blood than he is".
The word "gentleman", used inwide sensewhich birthcircumstances have nothingdo,necessarily incapablestrict definition. For "to behave likegentleman" may mean little or much, according toperson by whomphraseused; "to spend money likegentleman" may even be no great praise; but "to conductbusiness likegentleman" implieshigh standard.
The prefix "de" attachedsome English namesin no sense "nobiliary". In Latin documents de wasequivalent ofEnglish "of", as de la"at" (so de la Pole"Atte Poole"; compare such names as "Attwood" or "Attwater"}. In English this "of" disappeared during15th century:examplegrandsonJohannes de Stoke (JohnStoke) in14th-century document becomes "John Stoke". In modern times, underinfluenceromanticism,prefix "de" has beensome cases "revived" undermisconception, e.g. "de Trafford", "de Hoghton". Very rarely itcorrectly retained as derived fromforeign place-name, e.g. "de Grey".
Original text from http://1911encyclopedia.org
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