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116-582: References to the emerging social stratum of wealthy land-owning commoners began to appear after 1429. In that year, the Parliament of England re-organized the House of Commons into counties and boroughs, with voting rights granted to all freeholders . The Electors of Knights of the Shires Act 1429 restricted voting rights to those freeholders whose land value exceeded 40 shillings . These yeomen became

232-403: A unicameral body, a bicameral Parliament emerged when its membership was divided into the House of Lords and House of Commons , which included knights of the shire and burgesses . During Henry IV 's time on the throne, the role of Parliament expanded beyond the determination of taxation policy to include the "redress of grievances", which essentially enabled English citizens to petition

348-585: A French invasion and unrest throughout the realm. For the first time, burgesses (elected by those residents of boroughs or towns who held burgage tenure , such as wealthy merchants or craftsmen) were summoned along with knights of the shire. Montfort was killed at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, and Henry was restored to power. In August 1266, Parliament authorised the Dictum of Kenilworth , which nullified everything Montfort had done and removed all restraints on

464-493: A Gentleman; and (2) a freeborn man who can sell "his own free land in yearly revenue to the summe of 40 shillings Sterling". The fact that only the legal definition (introduced in the Electors of Knights of the Shires Act 1429 ) was given is another suggestion that yeoman was a common word at the time. Between the 12th century Pseudo-Cnut de Foresta and The New World of English Words in 1658, linguists have had to re-construct

580-612: A certain new town" were summoned to advise on the rebuilding of Berwick after its capture by the English. Parliament—or the High Court of Parliament as it became known—was England's highest court of justice. A large amount of its business involved judicial questions referred to it by ministers, judges, and other government officials. Many petitions were submitted to Parliament by individuals whose grievances were not satisfied through normal administrative or judicial channels. As

696-445: A commission (document). Hamlet then says he has substituted for the original a commission which he himself wrote: "... I sat me down, Devised a new commission, wrote it fair— I once did hold it, as our statists do, A baseness to write fair, and labored much How to forget that learning; but, sir, now It did me yeoman's service." Hamlet , V, 2 Hamlet remarks that he "wrote it fair", that is, in elegant, gentlemanly prose;

812-645: A fine for the restoration of their property that was identical to the tax requested by the King. At the Salisbury parliament of March 1297, Edward unveiled his plans for recovering Gascony. The English would mount a two-front attack with the King leading an expedition to Flanders while other barons traveled to Gascony . This plan faced opposition from the most important noblemen— Roger Bigod , marshal and earl of Norfolk , and Humphrey Bohun , constable and earl of Hereford . Norfolk and Hereford argued that they owed

928-423: A household servant, is one of the earliest documented uses of the word. During the 14th century, it referred to a servant or attendant in a royal or noble household , usually one who was of higher rank in the household hierarchy . This hierarchy reflected the feudal society in which they lived. Everyone who served a royal or noble household knew their duties, and knew their place. This was especially important when

1044-635: A leader of the baronial reformers, ignored these orders and made plans to hold a parliament in London but was prevented by Bigod. When the king arrived back in England he summoned a parliament which met in July, where Montfort was brought to trial though ultimately cleared of wrongdoing. In April 1261, the pope released the king from his oath to adhere to the Provisions of Oxford, and Henry publicly renounced

1160-470: A lesser thegn. OED suggested that yongerman is related to youngman , meaning a male youth or young male adult who was in the service of a high-ranking individual or family. This proposed etymology is that youngman is in turn related to Old Norse ungmenni (youths); North Frisian ongman (lad, fellow); Dutch jongeman (youngman); and German Jungmann (deckhand, ordinary seaman); cf. also German Junker ⇐ jung[er] Herr . This etymology provides

1276-565: A new constitution in which the king's powers were given to a council of nine. The new council was chosen and led by three electors (Montfort, Stephen Bersted, bishop of Chichester , and Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester ). The electors could replace any of the nine as they saw fit, but the electors themselves could only be removed by Parliament. Montfort held two other Parliaments during his time in power. The most famous— Simon de Montfort's Parliament —was held in January 1265 amidst threat of

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1392-458: A permanent feature of English politics. Thereafter, the king ruled in concert with an active Parliament, which considered matters related to foreign policy, taxation, justice, administration, and legislation. January 1236 saw the passage of the Statute of Merton , the first English statute . Among other things, the law continued barring bastards from inheritance. Significantly, the language of

1508-466: A pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He prayed to Saint Edith for the storm to subside, and suddenly he saw Saint Edith standing beside him. The Blessed Virgin had sent her, she said, to assure the archbishop he would arrive home safe and sound. Miraculously, the storm stopped. The archbishop kept his vow, and visited St Edith's tomb at Wilton Abbey . There he preached a sermon about the miracle to each man there: knight, squire, yeoman, and page. Although Wilton Abbey

1624-439: A plausible semantic link from yongerman to youngman , while at the same time providing most of the earliest definitions of yeoman. The Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (CDE) is another well-respected scholarly source, as it is published by the same company which produces The Chambers Dictionary . Their proposed etymology reconstructs a possible Old English word, *ġēamann , as the parent of yeoman. (The asterisk or star as

1740-412: A precedent that taxation was granted in return for the redress of grievances. In 1232, Peter des Roches became the king's chief minister. His nephew, Peter de Rivaux , accumulated a large number of offices, including lord keeper of the privy seal and keeper of the wardrobe ; yet, these appointments were not approved by the magnates as had become customary during the regency government. Under Roches,

1856-638: A product of the English form of feudalism in which the military duty of a knight to his lord (which was implicit in tenure feudalism) was replaced by paid, short-term service. The Yeoman Archers were the English Army's response to a chronic manpower problem when trying to field an army on the European continent during the 14th century. Against 27,000 French knights, England could only muster at most 5,000 men-at-arms . With this 5:1 tactical disadvantage,

1972-805: A revival of interest in the medieval period with English Romantic literature . The yeoman outlaws of the ballads were refashioned into heroes fighting for justice under the law and the rights of freeborn Englishmen . The etymology of yeoman is uncertain, for several reasons. The earliest documented use occurs in Middle English . There are no known Old English words which are considered acceptable parent words for yeoman. Nor are there any readily identifiable cognates of yeoman in Anglo-Norman , Old Frisian , Old Dutch , Old Saxon , or Middle Low German . The four last-named of these languages are West Germanic languages , closely related to Old English at

2088-532: A schedule rather than at the pleasure of the king. The reformers hoped that the provisions would ensure parliamentary approval for all major government acts. Under the provisions, Parliament was "established formally (and no longer merely by custom) as the voice of the community". The theme of reform dominated later parliaments. During the Michaelmas Parliament of 1258, the Ordinance of Sheriffs

2204-731: A social stratum of commoners below the landed gentry , but above the husbandmen . This stratum later embodied the political and economic ideas of the English Enlightenment and Scottish Enlightenment , and transplanted those ideas to British North America during the early modern era . Numerous yeoman farmers in North America served as citizen soldiers in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . The 19th century saw

2320-459: A style of writing which he tried very hard to forget. But in composing the fake commission, Hamlet had to resort to "that learning". He tells Horatio that "it did me yeoman's service", that is, his learning stood him in good stead. Standing one in good stead is another idiom very similar in meaning to yeoman service. Note that it was used in the third line of Stanza of the Gest of Robyn Hode quoted in

2436-488: A tax on moveables. In reality, this grant was not made by a parliament but by an informal gathering "standing around in [the king's] chamber". Norfolk and Hereford drew up a list of grievances known as the Remonstrances , which criticized the king's demand for military service and heavy taxes. The maltolt and prises were particularly objectionable due to their arbitrary nature. In August, Bigod and de Bohun arrived at

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2552-642: A time of transition for the great council. The cause of this transition were new financial burdens imposed by the Crown to finance the Third Crusade , ransom Richard I , and pay for the series of Anglo-French wars fought between the Plantagenet and Capetian dynasties . In 1188, a precedent was established when the great council granted Henry II the Saladin tithe . In granting this tax, the great council

2668-517: A vassal to the King of France, English kings were suitors to the Parlement of Paris . In the 13th century, the French and English parliaments were similar in their functions; however, the two institutions diverged in significant ways in later centuries. After the 1230s, the normal meeting place for Parliament was fixed at Westminster . Parliaments tended to meet according to the legal year so that

2784-473: A year at Easter in the spring and after Michaelmas in the autumn. Under Edward, the first major statutes amending the common law were promulgated in Parliament: The first Statute of Westminster required free elections without intimidation. This act was accompanied by the grant of a tax on England's wealthy wool trade —a half- mark (6 s 8 d ) on each sack of wool exported. It became known as

2900-457: A yeoman's stead he may thee stand, If thou great need have." Here Robin vouches for Little John as a yeoman, a faithful servant who will perform whatever duties are required in times of great need. The phrase yeoman's service is used by William Shakespeare in Hamlet (published in 1601). In act V, scene 2, Prince Hamlet tells Horatio how he discovered the king's plot against himself in

3016-559: Is "something pertaining to or characteristic of a yeoman", such as the speech or the dress. Perhaps the best way of illustrating this meaning is to quote briefly from one of the earliest Middle English ballads. Robin Hood and the Potter survives as a manuscript dated from about 1500. Robin demands a one penny toll of the Potter, for which the traveler could then proceed unharmed by the outlaw. The Potter refuses to pay. A scuffle ensues, in which

3132-496: Is made in the Warkworth Chronicle . The scene is King Edward IV's coronation, and the chronicler lists the nobles who received titles from His Majesty. At the end of the list he notes: "And other gentlemen and yeomen he made knights and squires, as they had deserved." (modern spelling) The chronicler makes no further mention of these men. An early historical meaning that seems to have disappeared before our modern era

3248-420: Is not included in this dictionary. This suggests that in 1604, yeoman was a very commonly-used English word. A more comprehensive, or general dictionary, was published in 1658. Edward Phillips ' The New World of English Words contained basic definitions. Yeoman is included; probably for the first time in an English language dictionary. But only a legal definition was given: (1) a social class immediately below

3364-404: Is unclear to a 21st-century reader. But it is apparent that the original 15th century audiences knew exactly what good yeomanry was. The Yeoman Archer is a term applied specifically to English and Welsh military longbow archers (either mounted or on foot) of the 14th–15th centuries. Yeoman archers were commoners; free-born members of the social classes below the nobility and gentry . They were

3480-581: Is where the 20-year old Edward III learned how to combine archers and dismounted men-at-arms – tactics that he would employ during his Crécy campaign in France. The English victory at the Battle of Crécy was followed by another victory at the Battle of Poitiers , and a final victory at the Siege of Calais . After the Battle of Agincourt , the Yeoman Archer had become as legendary as his bow. By negating

3596-459: The magna et antiqua custuma (Latin: ' great and ancient custom ' ) and was granted to Edward and his heirs, becoming part of the Crown's permanent revenue until the 17th century. In 1294, Philip   IV attempted to recover Aquitaine in the Gascon War . Edward's need for money to finance the war led him to take arbitrary measures. He ordered the seizure of merchants' wool, which

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3712-815: The Domesday survey was planned at the Christmas council of 1085, and the Constitutions of Clarendon were made at the 1164 council. The magnum concilium continued to be the setting of state trials, such as the trial of Thomas Becket . The members of the great councils were the king's tenants-in-chief . The greater tenants ( archbishops , bishops , abbots , earls , and barons ) were summoned by individual writ , but lesser tenants were summoned by sheriffs . These were not representative or democratic assemblies. They were feudal councils in which barons fulfilled their obligation to provide counsel to their lord

3828-541: The First War of Scottish Independence . This need for money led to what became known as the Model Parliament of November 1295. In addition to magnates who were summoned individually, sheriffs were instructed to send two elected knights from each shire and two elected burgesses from each borough. The Commons had been summoned to earlier parliaments but only with power to consent to what the magnates decided. In

3944-705: The Merchant's Tale of Beryn about the same time as the Robin Hood and the Monk manuscript, and shortly before the end of the Hundred Years War. To understand the connections between yeoman and the early English navy, it is necessary to examine King Edward III's reign and the beginning of the Hundred Years War. England did not have a standing navy until the Tudor Navy of King Henry VIII . Before then,

4060-543: The Second Barons' War . Montfort defeated the king at the Battle of Lewes in 1264 and became the real ruler of England for the next twelve months. Montfort held a parliament in June 1264 to sanction a new form of government and rally support. This parliament was notable for including knights of the shire who were expected to deliberate fully on political matters, not just assent to taxation. The June Parliament approved

4176-515: The baronage as the latter attempted to defend what they considered the rights belonging to the king's subjects. King John ( r.  1199–1216 ) alienated the barons by his partiality in dispensing justice, heavy financial demands and abusing his right to feudal incidents, reliefs , and aids . In 1215, the barons forced John to abide by a charter of liberties similar to charters issued by earlier kings (see Charter of Liberties ) . Known as Magna Carta (Latin for ' Great Charter ' ), it

4292-479: The shires and boroughs were recognised as communes (Latin communitas ) with a unified constituency capable of being represented by knights of the shire and burgesses . Initially, knights and burgesses were summoned only when new taxes were proposed so that representatives of the communes (or the Commons) could report back home that taxes were lawfully granted. The Commons were not regularly summoned until

4408-420: The "King's Ships" were a very small fleet allocated for the King's personal use. During the Hundred Years War, King Edward III actually owned only a few ships. The rest were made available to the King through agreements with his nobles and the various port towns of England. About 25 ships of various sizes were made available to Edward III every year. They ranged from the small Thames sailing barges (descended from

4524-439: The 1290s, after the so-called Model Parliament of 1295. Of the thirty parliaments between 1274 and 1294, knights only attended four and burgesses only two. Early parliaments increasingly brought together social classes resembling the estates of the realm of continental Europe: the landed aristocracy (barons and knights), the clergy, and the towns. Historian John Maddicott points out that "the main division within parliament

4640-645: The Court every day. One of the earliest documents which contains yeoman as a chivalric rank is the Chronicon Vilodunense ( Life of Saint Edith ). Originally written in Latin by Goscelin sometime in the 11th century, it was later translated into the Wiltshire dialect of Middle English about 1420. Part of the manuscript relates a story about the archbishop of York caught in a storm at sea while on

4756-459: The English needed a strategic advantage. When Edward I invaded Wales in 1282 , he quickly realized the battlefield importance of the opposing Welsh archers. Firing from ambush, they inflicted serious casualties on Edward's army. When Edward invaded Scotland for the second time in 1298 , his army consisted mostly of infantry (12,500 of 15,000 men). His infantry included about 10,500–10,900 Welshmen. 2,000 men, including archers, were raised as part of

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4872-661: The Guard to remain as a garrison, indicating that the Tower was still a royal palace. When the Tower no longer served that function, the garrison became warders, and were not permitted to wear the Yeoman of the Guard uniform. During the reign of Henry's son, Edward VI , the warders were given back the uniform. This was done as a result of petition from the former Lord Protector of the Realm , Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset . Seymour, who

4988-617: The King on demand. The 1345 Household Ordinance of Edward III provides a brief summary of the Fleets organized for the Crécy campaign . The South Fleet (which included all English ports south and west of River Thames) consisted of 493 ships with 9,630 mariners. Of these, the King's Ships (25 ships with 419 mariners), the ports of Dartmouth (31 ships with 757 mariners), Plymouth (26 ships with 603 mariners), and London (25 ships with 602 mariners) were

5104-472: The King, and the second group were commoners who performed similar duties for other household residents and guests in the Great Hall, kitchen, pantry, and other areas. Yeoman service (also yeoman's service) is an idiom which means "good, efficient, and useful service" in some cause. It has the connotations of the work performed by a faithful servant of the lower ranks, who does whatever it takes to get

5220-591: The Lancashire and Cheshire levies under the Commission of Array . At the Battle of Falkirk , the English army archers opened up the Scottish schiltrons with hails of arrows. The Scottish infantrymen fled the battlefield, to be pursued and killed by the English cavalry. In 1333, his grandson, Edward III, undertook his first invasion of Scotland, which culminated with the Battle of Halidon Hill . Halidon Hill

5336-599: The Lincoln parliament of 1301, the King heard complaints that the charters were not followed and calls for the dismissal of his chief minister, the treasurer Walter Langton . Demands for appointment of ministers by "common consent" were heard for the first time since Henry III's death. To this, Edward angrily refused, saying that every other magnate in England had the power "to arrange his household, to appoint bailiffs and stewards" without outside interference. He did offer to right any wrongs his officials had committed. Notably,

5452-534: The Model Parliament, the writ of summons invested shire knights and burgesses with power to provide both counsel and consent. By 1296, the King's efforts to recover Gascony were creating resentment among the clergy, merchants, and magnates. At the Bury St Edmunds parliament in 1296, the lay magnates and Commons agreed to pay a tax on moveable property. The clergy refused, citing the recent papal bull Clericis Laicos , forbidding secular rulers from taxing

5568-545: The Offices concerned with household management. Procurement, storage, and preparation of food, waiting at table, and tending to the kitchen gardens, were some of the duties for which the Steward was responsible. Under the Steward during the reign of King Edward III, there were two separate groups of yeomen: Yeomen of the King's Chamber and Yeomen of the Offices . The first group were members of noble families who waited only on

5684-480: The Potter overcomes Robin. The Potter then wants to know whom he has beaten. After hearing Robin's name, the Potter responds (modern translation from glossary notes): "It is full little courtesy," said the potter. "As I have heard wise men say, If'n a poor yeoman come driving over the way, To hold him on his journey." "By my troth, thou says truth", said Robin. "Thou says good yeomanry; And though thou go forth every day, Thou shalt not be held by me." In

5800-477: The Provisions in May. Most of the barons were willing to let the king reassume power provided he ruled well. By 1262, Henry had regained all of his authority, and Montfort left England. The barons were now divided mainly by age. The elder barons remained loyal to the king, but younger barons coalesced around Montfort, who returned to England in the spring of 1263. The royalist barons and rebel barons fought each other in

5916-664: The Roses all contributed to the end of the Middle Ages in England , and the beginning of the English Renaissance . It was during this time that English gradually replaced Norman French as the official language. The first single-language dictionary of the English language, Robert Cawdrey 's Table Alphabeticall , was published in 1604. The dictionary only included unusual English words, and loan words from foreign languages such as Hebrew, Greek, Latin, or French. Yeoman

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6032-502: The agenda. Beginning around the 1220s, the concept of representation, summarised in the Roman law maxim quod omnes tangit ab omnibus approbetur (Latin for ' what touches all should be approved by all ' ), gained new importance among the clergy, and they began choosing proctors to represent them at church assemblies and, when summoned, at Parliament. As feudalism declined and the gentry and merchant classes increased in influence,

6148-455: The appointment of royal ministers, an action that normally was considered a royal prerogative . Historian John Maddicott writes that the "effect of the minority was thus to make the great council an indispensable part of the country's government [and] to give it a degree of independent initiative and authority which central assemblies had never previously possessed". The regency government officially ended when Henry turned sixteen in 1223, and

6264-461: The arrival of Stanley's troops. During the melee , Richard's horse became mired in the marsh, and he was killed. Henry had won. Henry rewarded his bodyguards by formal establishing the Yeomen of the Guard of (the body of) our Lord the King . The King of England always had bodyguards ( Yeoman of the Crown ). This royal act recognized their bravery and loyalty in doing their duty, and designated them as

6380-712: The bishops themselves promised an aid but would not commit the rest of the clergy. Likewise, the barons promised to assist the king if he was attacked but would not commit the rest of the laity to pay money. For this reason, the lower clergy of each diocese elected proctors at church synods , and each county elected two knights of the shire . These representatives were summoned to Parliament in April 1254 to consent to taxation. The men elected as shire knights were prominent landholders with experience in local government and as soldiers. They were elected by barons, other knights, and probably freeholders of sufficient standing. By 1258,

6496-609: The body to address complaints in their local towns and counties. By this time, citizens were given the power to vote to elect their representatives—the burgesses—to the House of Commons. Over the centuries, the English Parliament progressively limited the power of the English monarchy , a process that arguably culminated in the English Civil War and the High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I . Since

6612-478: The church without papal permission. In January 1297, a convocation of the clergy met at St Paul's in London to consider the matter further but ultimately could find no way to pay the tax without violating the papal bull. In retaliation, the King outlawed the clergy and confiscated clerical property on 30 January. On 10 February, Robert Winchelsey , archbishop of Canterbury, responded by excommunicating anyone acting against Clericis Laicos . Most clergy paid

6728-619: The courts were also in session: January or February for the Hilary term , in April or May for the Easter term , in July, and in October for the Michaelmas term . Most parliaments had between forty and eighty attendees. Meetings of Parliament always included: The lower clergy ( deans , cathedral priors, archdeacons , parish priests ) were occasionally summoned when papal taxation was on

6844-613: The earlier household ordinances of King Edward III wrote: "Our sovereign lord's household is now discharged ... of the Court of Marshalsea, and all his clerks and yeomen." The writer was referring to the transfer of the Marshalsea Court from the royal household. The Ordinance describe the duties of the Steward of the Household, who was also the Steward of the Court of Marshalsea. The Steward was assigned one chaplain, two squires, and four yeomen as his personal retinue. One yeoman

6960-518: The exchequer protesting that the irregular tax "was never granted by them or the community" and declared they would not pay it. The outbreak of the First War of Scottish Independence necessitated that both the king and his opponents put aside their differences. At the October 1297 parliament, the council agreed to concessions in the king's absence. In exchange for a new tax, the Confirmatio Cartarum reconfirmed Magna Carta, abolished

7076-440: The excuse of his absence from the realm and Welsh attacks in the marches, Henry ordered the justiciar, Hugh Bigod , to postpone the parliament scheduled for Candlemas 1260. This was an apparent violation of the Provisions of Oxford; however, the provisions were silent on what should happen if the king were outside the kingdom. The king's motive was to prevent the promulgation of further reforms through Parliament. Simon de Montfort ,

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7192-538: The famous Norman longships of the Bayeux Tapestry ) which shuttled the royal retinue up and down the River Thames , to large cogs . Cogs were large merchant ships, with high prows and sterns , and a single mast with a single square sail. The largest cogs were built to carry sizable wine casks . The Vintners' Company , in return for their monopoly on the wine trade, had to make their cogs available to

7308-461: The first letter is a linguistic convention to indicate the word has been reconstructed, and is unattested in any surviving record). The reconstructed word is a compound word made from the root word ġē , ġēa (district, region) + mann (man). To further strengthen their etymology, CDE compares their reconstructed word to Old Frisian gāman (villager), and modern West Frisian gea , goa , Dutch gouw , German Gau (district, region). When comparing

7424-417: The first members of a bodyguard to protect the King (or Queen) of England forever. In their first official act on 1 October 1485, fifty members of the Yeoman of the Guard, led by John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, formally escorted Henry Tudor to his coronation ceremony. The Tower of London was used as permanent royal residence until 1509–10, during the reign of King Henry VIII . Henry ordered 12 Yeoman of

7540-443: The first stanza the Potter describes himself as a poor yeoman, whom people say Robin Hood would never stop or waylay (also known as a holdup). It is obvious from the story that the Potter was not dressed in a yeomanly manner, otherwise Robin would have never accosted him. It was not until Robin heard the Potter speak that he recognizes him as a yeoman. Whether he was referring to his direct straightforward manner, or his dialect, or both,

7656-469: The government revived practices used during King John's reign and that had been condemned in Magna Carta, such as arbitrary disseisins , revoking perpetual rights granted in royal charters, depriving heirs of their inheritances, and marrying heiresses to foreigners. Both Roches and Rivaux were foreigners from Poitou . The rise of a royal administration controlled by foreigners and dependent solely on

7772-449: The household staff consisted of both nobles and commoners. There were actually two household hierarchies which existed in parallel. One was the organization based upon the function ( duty ) being performed. The other was based upon whether the person performing the duty was a noble or a commoner. Similar household duties were grouped into Household Offices , which were then assigned to one of several Chief Officers. In each Household Office,

7888-555: The job done. The sense – although not the use – of the idiom can be found in the Gest of Robyn Hode , dated to about 1500. In the First Fitte (the first section of the ballad), Robin gives money to a poor knight to pay his debt to the abbot of St Mary's Abbey. Noticing that the knight was traveling alone, Robin offers him the service of Little John as a yeoman: "I shall thee lend Little John, my man, For he shall be thy knave; In

8004-483: The king military service in foreign lands but only if the king were present. Therefore, they would not go to Gascony unless the King went as well. Norfolk and Hereford were supported by around 30 barons, and the parliament ended without any decision. After the Salisbury parliament ended, Edward ordered the seizure of wool (see prise ) and payment of a new maltolt. In July 1297, a writ declared that "the earls, barons, knights, and other laity of our realm" had granted

8120-444: The king stirred resentment among the magnates, who felt excluded from power. Several barons rose in rebellion, and the bishops intervened to persuade the king to change ministers. At a great council in April 1234, the king agreed to remove Rivaux and other ministers. This was the first occasion in which a king was forced to change his ministers by a great council or parliament. The struggle between king and Parliament over ministers became

8236-458: The king. Councils allowed kings to consult with their leading subjects, but such consultation rarely resulted in a change in royal policy. According to historian Judith Green , "these assemblies were more concerned with ratification and publicity than with debate". In addition, the magnum concilium had no role in approving taxation as the king could levy geld (discontinued after 1162) whenever he wished. The years between 1189 and 1215 were

8352-510: The king. In 1267, some of the reforms contained in the 1259 Provisions of Westminster were revised in the form of the Statute of Marlborough passed in 1267. This was the start of a process of statutory reform that continued into the reign of Henry's successor. Edward I ( r.  1272–1307 ) learned from the failures of his father's reign the usefulness of Parliament for building consensus and strengthening royal authority. Parliaments were held regularly throughout his reign, generally twice

8468-441: The largest contingents. The North Fleet (which included all English ports north of River Thames) consisted of 217 ships with 4521 mariners. The port of Yarmouth, with 43 ships with 1095 mariners, was the largest contingent. The definition of a mariner is unclear, as is the difference between a mariner and a sailor. The number of mariners given is about twice that needed to man a ship. Edward's warships carried two crews. The second crew

8584-582: The magnates demanded the adult king confirm previous grants of Magna Carta made in 1216 and 1217 to ensure their legality. At the same time, the king needed money to defend his possessions in Poitou and Gascony from a French invasion. At a great council in 1225, a deal was reached that saw Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest reissued in return for taxing a fifteenth (7 percent) of movable property. This set

8700-557: The maltolt, and formally recognised that "aids, mises , and prises" needed the consent of Parliament. Edward soon broke the agreements of 1297, and his relations with Parliament remained strained for the rest of his reign as he sought further funds for the war in Scotland. At the parliament of March 1300, the king was forced to agree to the Articuli Super Cartas , which gave further concessions to his subjects. At

8816-416: The meanings of yeoman from the surviving manuscripts. The various meanings of yeoman were apparently widely understood by the document author and his audience, and were not explained in the manuscripts. Linguists have deduced these specific historical meanings based on the context in which yeoman was used within the document itself. It is these meanings which are described in the following sections. Yeoman, as

8932-401: The modern linguistic study of Old English in the early to mid 19th century. Two possible etymologies have been proposed to explain the origin of yeo . The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has proposed that yeoman is derived from yongerman , which first appeared in a manuscript called Pseudo-Cnut's Constitutiones de Foresta . Although the manuscript has been demonstrated to be a forgery (it

9048-406: The number of petitions increased, they came to be directed to particular departments (chancery, exchequer, the courts) leaving the king's council to concentrate on the most important business. Parliament became "a delivery point and a sorting house for petitions". From 1290 to 1307, Gilbert of Rothbury was placed in charge of organising parliamentary business and record-keeping—in effect a clerk of

9164-616: The paragraph above. Marshalsea Court was a court of the English royal household, presided over by the Steward and the Knight-Marshal . The court kept records from about 1276 until 1611. Unfortunately, only a few survive from the years 1316–59. Some information on the yeomen of the Marshalsea Court can be found in the Household Ordinance of King Edward IV from about 1483. The author of the Ordinance, looking back to

9280-407: The parliament of February 1305 included ones related to crime. In response, Edward issued the trailbaston ordinance. The state trial of Nicholas Seagrave was conducted as part of this parliament as well. Harmonious relations continued between king and Parliament even after December 1305 when Pope Clement V absolved the King of his oath to adhere to Confirmatio Cartarum . The last parliament of

9396-407: The parliaments . Kings could legislate outside of Parliament through legislative acta (administrative orders drafted by the king's council as letters patent or letters close ) and writs drafted by the chancery in response to particular court cases. But kings could also use Parliament to promulgate legislation. Parliament's legislative role was largely passive—the actual work of law-making

9512-510: The petition on behalf of "the prelates and leading men of the kingdom acting for the whole community" was presented by Henry de Keighley , knight for Lanchashire . This indicates that knights were holding greater weight in Parliament. The last four parliaments of Edward's' reign were less contentious. With Scotland nearly conquered, royal finances improved and opposition to royal policies decreased. A number of petitions were considered at

9628-430: The preamble describes the legislation as "provided" by the magnates and "conceded" by the king, which implies that this was not simply a royal measure consented to by the barons. In 1237, Henry asked Parliament for a tax to fund his sister Isabella's dowry. The barons were unenthusiastic, but they granted the funds in return for the king's promise to reconfirm Magna Carta, add three magnates to his personal council, limit

9744-510: The reckoner"). These jocular definitions were removed by the publisher in the 1970s, but many of them were reinstated in 1983 because of the affection in which they were held by readers. The twelfth edition of The Chambers Dictionary was published in August 2011 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd and runs to 1936 pages with 62,500 main entries. This edition is available for mobile use as an iPhone, iPad, or Android app. That has been followed by

9860-503: The reign was held at Carlisle in 1307. It approved the marriage of the King's son to Isabella of France . Legislation attacking papal provisions and papal taxation was also ratified. The Chambers Dictionary The Chambers Dictionary ( TCD ) was first published by William and Robert Chambers as Chambers's English Dictionary in 1872. It was an expanded version of Chambers's Etymological Dictionary of 1867, compiled by James Donald. A second edition came out in 1898, and

9976-671: The relationship between the king and the baronage had reached a breaking point over the Sicilian business , in which Henry had promised to pay papal debts in return for the pope's help securing the Sicilian crown for his son, Edmund. At the Oxford Parliament of 1258 , reform-minded barons forced a reluctant king to accept a constitutional framework known as the Provisions of Oxford : Parliament now met regularly according to

10092-511: The royal prerogative of purveyance , and protect land tenure rights. But Henry was adamant that three concerns were exclusively within his royal prerogative: family and inheritance matters, patronage, and appointments. Important decisions were made without consulting Parliament, such as in 1254 when the king accepted the throne of the Kingdom of Sicily for his younger son, Edmund Crouchback . He also clashed with Parliament over appointments to

10208-471: The servants were organized into a hierarchy, arranged in ranks according to the level of responsibility. The Chief Officers were nobles, but the servant ranks of Sergeant, Yeoman, and Groom could be filled by either commoners or members of noble families. Any household duties which required close contact with the lord's immediate family, or their rooms, were handled by nobles. For example, the Steward oversaw

10324-593: The simpler and more comprehensive OED etymology with the CDE etymology, modern linguists have expressed dissatisfaction with the CDE version. In the history of the English language , the earliest recorded usage of yeoman occurs in the Late Middle English period, and then becoming more widespread in the Early Modern English period. The transition from Middle English to Early Modern English

10440-422: The small village of Stoke Golding, Henry Tudor met King Richard III in battle for the Crown of England. The War of the Roses had persisted intermittently for more than 30 years between the rival claimants of the House of York (white rose) and the House of Lancaster (red rose). In 1483, Richard, of the House of York, had deposed his young nephew, 12-year old Edward V . Henry Tudor, of the House of Lancaster,

10556-472: The status of fundamental law after John's reign. The word parliament comes from the French parlement first used in the late 11th century, meaning ' parley ' or ' conversation ' . In the mid-1230s, it became a common name for meetings of the great council. The word was first used with this meaning in 1236. In the 13th century, parliaments were developing throughout north-western Europe. As

10672-515: The tactical advantage of large numbers of cavalry (mounted knights and men-at-arms) with their ability to rapidly fire volleys of arrows, Yeoman Archers are considered part of the Infantry revolution of the 14th century. They could be deployed as "Archers on horse" (mounted archers who could reach the scene quickly, dismount, & set up a firing line) or as "Archers on foot" (foot archers who followed as reinforcements). On 22 August 1485, near

10788-482: The thirteenth edition published in 2014. Also on sale is the smaller 21st Century Dictionary of 1664 pages, where "the focus is on the English that people use today, and definitions are given in straightforward, accessible language". This dictionary can be accessed for free online . In an agreement with Mattel 's predecessor, J. W. Spear & Sons , the Chambers Dictionary was, for several decades,

10904-480: The three great offices of chancellor , justiciar , and treasurer . The barons believed these three offices should be restraints on royal misgovernment, but the king promoted minor officials within the royal household who owed their loyalty exclusively to him. In 1253, while fighting in Gascony, Henry requested men and money to resist an anticipated attack from Alfonso X of Castile . In a January 1254 Parliament,

11020-478: The time they were spoken. Taken together, these facts would indicate that yeoman (1) is a word specific to the regional dialects found in England; and (2) is nothing similar to any word used in continental Europe. Another complicating factor for the etymology is that yeoman is a compound word made by joining two other words: yeo + man . Linguists have been perplexed about the origin of yeo since scholars such as John Mitchell Kemble and Joseph Bosworth began

11136-421: The unification of England in the 10th century, kings had convened national councils of lay magnates and leading churchmen. The Anglo-Saxons called such councils witans . These councils were an important way for kings to maintain ties with powerful men in distant regions of the country. The witan had a role in making and promulgating legislation as well as making decisions concerning war and peace. They were also

11252-469: The venues for state trials , such as the trial of Earl Godwin in 1051. After the Norman Conquest of 1066, the king received regular counsel from the members of his curia regis ( Latin for ' royal court ' ) and periodically enlarged the court by summoning a magnum concilium (Latin for ' great council ' ) to discuss national business and promulgate legislation. For example,

11368-478: The vessel Trinity (200 tons) being converted for war. As new ships were built, the castles became integral with the ship's hull. As the King was impressing all the big ships and their crews for the war effort, the mayors and merchants of the port towns were retrofitting old ships and building new ones for harbor defense, and patrols to protect coastal ships and fishing boats from enemy ships and pirates. Parliament of England The Parliament of England

11484-464: Was Edward's uncle, had been confined there, and found the warders to be most considerate. The earliest documented use of yeoman relative to a navy is found in the Merchant's Tale of Beryn : "Why gone the yeomen to boat – Anchors to haul?" The context of the quotation sheds no further light on either yeomen or boats. What is important is the date of the manuscript: between 1450 and 1470. This places

11600-553: Was Parliament's main tool in disputes with the king. Nevertheless, the king was still able to raise lesser amounts of revenue from sources that did not require parliamentary consent, such as: Henry III ( r. 1216–1272) became king at nine years old after his father, King John, died during the First Barons' War . During the king's minority, England was ruled by a regency government that relied heavily on great councils to legitimise its actions. Great councils even consented to

11716-603: Was a Benedictine nunnery , it held its lands from the king by knight service . The Abbess ' knights were her tenants, who in turn held land from the Abbey by knight service. Usually the abbess fulfilled her duty to the king by scutage . But she had knights with King Henry III on his 1223 Welsh campaign, and at the Siege of Bedford Castle the following year. Between 1277 and 1327 she offered knight service at least four times. About 50 years later in 1470, another reference to yeomen

11832-516: Was a gradual process occurring over decades. For the sake of assigning a historical date, OED defines the end of Middle English and the beginning of Early Modern English as occurring in 1500. The year 1500 marks the end of nearly 200 years of political and economic upheaval in England. The Hundred Years War , the recurring episodes of the Black Death , and over 32 years of civil war known as the War of

11948-502: Was acting as representatives for all taxpayers. The likelihood of resistance to national taxes made consent politically necessary. It was convenient for kings to present the great council as a representative body capable of consenting on behalf of all within the kingdom. Increasingly, the kingdom was described as the communitas regni (Latin for ' community of the realm ' ) and the barons as their natural representatives. But this development also created more conflict between kings and

12064-454: Was based on three assumptions important to the later development of Parliament: Clause 12 stated that certain taxes could only be levied "through the common counsel of our kingdom", and clause 14 specified that this common counsel was to come from bishops, earls, and barons. While the clause stipulating no taxation "without the common counsel" was deleted from later reissues, it was nevertheless adhered to by later kings. Magna Carta would gain

12180-544: Was done by the king and council, specifically the judges on the council who drafted statutes. Completed legislation was then presented to Parliament for ratification. Kings needed Parliament to fund their military campaigns. On the basis of Magna Carta, Parliament asserted for itself the right to consent to taxation, and a pattern developed in which the king would make concessions (such as reaffirming liberties in Magna Carta) in return for tax grants. Withholding taxation

12296-591: Was followed in 1901 by a new compact edition called Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary . TCD is widely used by British crossword solvers and setters, and by Scrabble players (though it is no longer the official Scrabble dictionary). It contains many more dialectal , archaic, unconventional and eccentric words than its rivals, and is noted for its occasional wryly humorous definitions. Examples of such definitions include those for éclair ("a cake, long in shape but short in duration") and middle-aged ("between youth and old age, variously reckoned to suit

12412-404: Was given power to correct abuses of their officials. The Michaelmas Parliament of 1259 enacted the Provisions of Westminster , a set of legal and administrative reforms designed to address grievances of freeholders and even villeins , such as abuses related to the murdrum fine. Henry III made his first move against the baronial reformers while in France negotiating peace with Louis IX . Using

12528-426: Was holding his son hostage. Stanley's forces remained uncommitted as the battle raged. As Oxford advanced, the troops appeared to leave Henry, his bodyguards, and some French mercenaries isolated. Or so it appeared to Richard. Sensing an opportunity, Richard charged toward Henry. Seeing this, Stanley made his decision, and charged to reinforce Henry. Henry's bodyguards fought bravely to hold off Richard's bodyguards until

12644-534: Was issued as letters patent that forbade sheriffs from taking bribes. At the Candlemas Parliament of 1259, the baronial council and the twelve representatives enacted the Ordinance of the Magnates . In this ordinance, the barons promised to observe Magna Carta and other reforming legislation. They also required their own bailiffs to observe similar rules as those of royal sheriffs, and the justiciar

12760-487: Was less between lords and commons than between the landed and all others, lower clergy as well as burgesses". Specialists could be summoned to Parliament to provide expert advice. For example, Roman law experts were summoned from Cambridge and Oxford to the Norham parliament of 1291 to advise on the disputed Scottish succession . At the Bury St Edmunds parliament of 1296, burgesses "who best know how to plan and lay out

12876-402: Was only released after payment of the unpopular maltolt , a tax never authorised by Parliament. Church wealth was arbitrarily seized, and the clergy were further asked to give half of their revenues to the king. They refused but agreed to a smaller sum. Over the next couple years, parliaments approved new taxes, but it was never enough. More money was needed to put down a Welsh rebellion and win

12992-449: Was produced during the reign of King Henry II of England , rather than during the reign of King Cnut ), it is considered authentic to the 11th and 12th century forest laws . According to the OED, the manuscript refers to 3 social classes: (1) the thegn (noble) at the top; (2) the tunman (townman) at the bottom; and (3) the lesser thegn in the middle. Yongerman is considered a synonym for

13108-597: Was specifically attached to the Steward's rooms at the Court of Marshalsea "to keep his chamber and stuff". When the Steward was present in Court, he was entitled to a 10-person retinue. Besides the Steward and the Knight-Marshal, two other members of the royal household were empowered to preside: the Treasurer and the Controller. Of the Steward, Treasurer, and the Controller, at least one of them must preside in

13224-435: Was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain . Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised the English monarch . Great councils were first called Parliaments during the reign of Henry III ( r.  1216–1272 ). By this time, the king required Parliament's consent to levy taxation. Originally

13340-450: Was the favored candidate to replace Richard. Three armies met that day on Bosworth Field: Richard, with his supporters, Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Northumberland ; Henry, with his troops under command of the veteran John de Vere , Earl of Oxford; and the troops of Thomas, Lord Stanley . Stanley was a powerful lord in northwest England. But he was stepfather of Henry Tudor, and Richard

13456-417: Was used for night sailing, for providing a crew for prize ships, and for providing more fighting men. Early in the Hundred Years War, the largest existing merchant ships, such as the cog, were converted to warships with the addition of wooden castles. There were three types of castles: forecastle (at the prow), aftcastle (at the stern), and the topcastle (at the top of the mast). A record from 1335 tells of

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