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hadsomethinginhisownrighttoofferthatmadehimworthyofhismaster'shire.”60
Everylordexpectedtohavegentlemeninhisservice.Itcouldbemilitaryservice,
administrativeservicetoalord,orserviceinanaristocratichousehold.Inanageof
hierarchy,serviceandstandingwerealmostinextricablyconnected.“Thehigherthe
degreeoftheservant,themoreillustriouslyhisserviceenhancedthe‘worship'ofhis
masterandpatron.”61Inaristocratichouseholdsthechiefservantswereinchargeof
themaindomesticdepartmentsandwereresponsibleforthesmoothrunningofthe
household.Theyalsosupervisedtheirsubheads,i.e.servantswhosetaskitwastosee
totherealisationofhouseholdpolicydecidedbythechiefservants.Belowthesesub-
headsfurtherdistinctionsofrankweremade;amongtheservantsitwascommonto
findgenerosi(gentlemen),valetti(yeomen),garcioni(grooms)andpagetti(pages).
Inthissenseitcanbenotedthattheword‘gentleman'isusedforthefirsttimein
1463tomean“amanofgentlebirthattachedtothehouseholdofthesovereignor
otherpersonofhighrank;frequentlywithdefiningtermadded.”62
Generosi,orarmigeriwereusuallythemostimportantservantsbelowthesubheads
andhadrelativelygeneraltitles,suchasgentlemanusher,gentlemanwaiter,orgentle-
manofthechamber.Itwouldbedifficulttodefinepreciselytheirdutiesandrespon-
sibilitieswithinthehousehold,ortosaydefinitelyinwhatwaytheirresponsibilities
differedfromthoseofyeomenandgrooms.Itwasusuallyclothesthatdistinguished
themfromotherservantsofthehousehold.On25June,1523,thesumof£25,8s.
and3d.waspaidtotheyeomanofSirThomasLovell'swardrobe,apartofwhich
sumwasfortheclothsof“theyonggentylmenwardesandscolers.”63
Valettiformedagroupofhouseholdservantssituatedsomewherebelowgentlemen
andabovegrooms.Theevidencecomesfromchequerrollsaccordingtowhichyeomen
earnedlessthangentlemenandmorethangrooms.64Theword‘valettus'derivesfrom
theLatinvaleoortheFrenchvalet(beingofLatinoriginitself)andhasanEnglish
equivalent,valet,stillinuseandmeaning“amaleservantwhoattendstothepersonal
needsofhisemployer;manservant.”Theword‘yeoman'seemstobemoreuseful
havingafairlyspecificsocialmeaning.AccordingtotheEtymologyDictionary65‘yeo-
man'fromabout1300hadmeant“attendantinanoblehousehold”,butwasofun-
knownorigin,perhapsacontractionoftheOldEnglishiungeman‘youngman,'pos-
siblyafreebornservant(serviensorsergeant)rankingbetweenesquire(shieldescort,
60
Keen,OriginsoftheEnglishGentleman,p.120.
61
Ibid.,p.113.
62
OED,s.v.‘gentleman'.However,itwasearlierin1413whenTheStatuteofAdditionsgavethe
termlegalforce.Jones,TheGentryandLesserNobilityinMedievalEurope,p.16.
63
TheManuscriptsofHisGracetheDukeofRutland(1888–1905),IV,p.263.
64
SeeforinstanceBLAdd.MSEgertonrolls2208and2822.
65
OnlineEtymologyDictionary,©2001DouglasHarper<http://www.etymonline.com>
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