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gentlemen,citizensorburgesses,yeomen,andartificersorlabourers.Ofgentlementhefirst
andchief(nexttheKing)betheprince,dukes,marquises,earls,viscounts,andbarons,
andthesearecalledgentlemenofthegreatersort,or(asourcommonusageofspeechis)
lordsandnoblemen:andnextuntothembeknights,esquires,and,lastofall,theythatare
simplycalledgentlemen;andnextuntothembeknights,esquires,and,[…]gentlemen.17
Harrisoncontinuestoexplainthatcitizensandburgessescomenextaftergentlemen
“whobethosethatarefreewithinthecities,andareofsomelikelysubstancetobear
officeinthesame.”Yeomen,“thosewhichbyourlawarecalledlegaleshomines,
freemenbornEnglish,”arecharacterisedbyowninglandworth40shillingsayear.
ThefourthgroupofpeopleinEnglandare“daylabourers,poorhusbandmen,and
someretailers(whohavenofreeland)copyholders,andallartificers,astailors,
shoemakers,carpenters,brickmakers,masons,etc.”18
AnalmostidenticaldivisionwasusedbyThomasWilsoninTheStateofEngland
publishedin1600.Wilsonfurthersubdividedthenobilityintogreaterandlesser
groups.FromWilson'sbookonecanlearnthatinhistimethegreaternobilitycon-
sistedoffifty-onepeers(onemarquess,nineteenearls,twoviscountsandthirty-nine
barons)includingbishops.Thelessernobilitycomprisedknights,esquiresandgen-
tlemenbutalsolawyers,ministers,universityprofessors,archdeaconsandvicars.In
Wilson'sestimationtherewere500knightsand16,000esquiresinEnglandbythe
endofthesixteenthcentury.19
ThomasSmith,theauthorofDeRepublicaAnglorum(“TheCommonwealthof
England”,publishedin1583)speaksofsocietybeingdividedinto“fouresortes,”
whichresemblesHarrison'sdescriptionpresentedabove.Hisdivisioncomprises:
gentlemen,citizensorburgesses,yeomenartificers,andlaborers.Ofgentlementhefirst
andchiefebetheking,theprince,dukes,marquises,earles,vicountes,andbarrons,and
thisiscalledκατεξοχηνthenobility,andallthesearecalledLordsandnoblemen:next
tothesebeknights,esquiersandsimplegentlemen.20
ItisworthnotingthatforSmithsocialstatusdependedonholdingofficeandnoton
wealth,whichsoundslikeradicaldepartureforhistime.However,atypicalforthe
period,attitudetowardswomenisreflectedinhissaying:
wedorejectwomen,asthosewhomnaturehathmadetokeepehomeandtonourishtheir
familieandchildren,andnottomedlewithmattersabroade,nortobeareofficeinacitie
orcommonwealthnomorethanchildrenandinfantes:exceptitbeinsuchcasesasthe
17
Harrison,TheDescriptionofEngland,p.94.
18
Ibid.pp.94–118.
19
Wilson,TheStateofEngland,1600.
20
Smith,DeRepublicaAnglorum,p.64.
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