Read Online Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History by Robert Bucholz, Newton Key - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Robert Bucholz, Newton Key
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respects to his landlord by paying his rents, by giving military service when demanded, and by gestures such as tipping his cap or bowing (if a man), or curtseying (if a woman), or giving the wall to any person of superior rank. Giving the wall meant that if one was approached by a social superior while walking along a side pavement, one stepped into the street to allow that person to pass. If we recall that this was an age before underground sewers and that the streets were full of trash, mud, and the excrement of man and beast, it should be obvious just how powerful a force the Great Chain of Being and its call for deference really were! Finally, the members of a household – whether related by blood or, in the case of a large, extended household, ties of employment and interest – were expected to show the same deference to its head as they would do to God or king in the wider world.
So, in the universe of late-fifteenth-century English men and women, God was in his heaven; the king sat on his throne; the landlord lived in his manor house; and everybody else knew exactly where they stood – and stand they would, out of respect for their betters. No one could have had any doubt about the rights and responsibilities of his or her position. Or could they? When contemporaries write about hierarchy or paternalism and deference they always sound anxious, as if the whole, delicate system were under threat. The reason for their anxious tone is that this system was under threat – by reality. Life is never neat and fifteenth-century life refused to fit tidily into the little boxes designed for it by the Great Chain of Being. For starters, the people at the bottom of the Chain did not always do what they were told by those at the top. The most obvious example of this is the widespread resort to riot whenever a particular group thought its rights abused: tenants rioted over enclosure, women over the price of bread, Londoners over the presence of foreigners, and apprentices seemingly at the drop of a hat. At a deeper level, the Chain stood for permanency, and yet fifteenth-century English men and women were experiencing social and economic changes which would persist to the end of the period covered by this book. For example, the nobility were supposed to comprise the oldest and most distinguished families in England, having earned their titles in military service to the king. But by the end of the Middle Ages, such titles were increasingly won through peaceful service to, or simple friendship with, the monarch. This led to a great deal of resentment toward “upstarts,” “courtiers,” and “favorites.” Moreover, noble status, far from being permanent, could be taken away on proof of high treason or a bill of attainder by Parliament which, in effect, voted the same thing without the formality of a trial. This happened with some frequency at the end of the Middle Ages. More commonly, great families simply died out for lack of an heir. It has been estimated that something like one-quarter of all noble families vanished every 25 years. Therefore, the “ancient nobility of England” was constantly changing, continually replenishing itself.
“New” noble families were drawn from the gentry. Here, too, there was a great deal of change and ambiguity, for throughout the late medieval and early modern period it was never precisely clear just who was a gentleman. A nobleman could at least point to a royal document, called a patent, in which his title and the terms of its inheritance were spelt out. Theoretically, a knight could be identified by the act of having been knighted by the king – but some claimed the honor who had never met the king. As for esquires and gentlemen, they were supposed to register for coats of arms with the Office of Heralds, who made periodic visitations to specific counties for this purpose. But not every gentle family bothered. Others defined gentleness by an ancient pedigree. But pedigrees could be
So, in the universe of late-fifteenth-century English men and women, God was in his heaven; the king sat on his throne; the landlord lived in his manor house; and everybody else knew exactly where they stood – and stand they would, out of respect for their betters. No one could have had any doubt about the rights and responsibilities of his or her position. Or could they? When contemporaries write about hierarchy or paternalism and deference they always sound anxious, as if the whole, delicate system were under threat. The reason for their anxious tone is that this system was under threat – by reality. Life is never neat and fifteenth-century life refused to fit tidily into the little boxes designed for it by the Great Chain of Being. For starters, the people at the bottom of the Chain did not always do what they were told by those at the top. The most obvious example of this is the widespread resort to riot whenever a particular group thought its rights abused: tenants rioted over enclosure, women over the price of bread, Londoners over the presence of foreigners, and apprentices seemingly at the drop of a hat. At a deeper level, the Chain stood for permanency, and yet fifteenth-century English men and women were experiencing social and economic changes which would persist to the end of the period covered by this book. For example, the nobility were supposed to comprise the oldest and most distinguished families in England, having earned their titles in military service to the king. But by the end of the Middle Ages, such titles were increasingly won through peaceful service to, or simple friendship with, the monarch. This led to a great deal of resentment toward “upstarts,” “courtiers,” and “favorites.” Moreover, noble status, far from being permanent, could be taken away on proof of high treason or a bill of attainder by Parliament which, in effect, voted the same thing without the formality of a trial. This happened with some frequency at the end of the Middle Ages. More commonly, great families simply died out for lack of an heir. It has been estimated that something like one-quarter of all noble families vanished every 25 years. Therefore, the “ancient nobility of England” was constantly changing, continually replenishing itself.
“New” noble families were drawn from the gentry. Here, too, there was a great deal of change and ambiguity, for throughout the late medieval and early modern period it was never precisely clear just who was a gentleman. A nobleman could at least point to a royal document, called a patent, in which his title and the terms of its inheritance were spelt out. Theoretically, a knight could be identified by the act of having been knighted by the king – but some claimed the honor who had never met the king. As for esquires and gentlemen, they were supposed to register for coats of arms with the Office of Heralds, who made periodic visitations to specific counties for this purpose. But not every gentle family bothered. Others defined gentleness by an ancient pedigree. But pedigrees could be
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