The Origins of the English Gentry [Paperback]

A sustained attempt to explore the 13th14th century origins of the English gentry.The gentry played a central role in medieval England, yet this is the first sustained attempt to explore its origins and to account for its contours and peculiarities between the mid-thirteenth and the mid-fourteenth century. The book deals with the deep roots of the gentry, but argues against views which see the gentry as formed or created earlier. It investigates also the relationship between lesser landowners and the Angevin state, the transformation of knighthood, and the role of lesser landowners in the society and politics of Edwardian England.The gentry played a central role in medieval England, yet this is the first sustained attempt to explore its origins and to account for its contours and peculiarities between the mid-thirteenth and the mid-fourteenth century. The book deals with the deep roots of the gentry, but argues against views which see the gentry as formed or created earlier. It investigates also the relationship between lesser landowners and the Angevin state, the transformation of knighthood, and the role of lesser landowners in the society and politics of Edwardian England.Although the gentry played a central role in medieval England, this study is the first sustained exploration of its origins and development between the mid-thirteenth and the mid-fourteenth century. Arguing against views which see the gentry as formed or created earlier, the text investigates as well the relationship between lesser landowners and the Angevin state; the transformation of knighthood; and the role of lesser landowners in society and politics.List of illustrations; Preface; 1. The formation of the English gentry; 2. The roots of the English gentry; 3. The Angevin legacy: knights as jurors and as agents of the state in the reign of Henry III; 4. The crisis of the knightly class revisited; 5. Knights in politics: minor landowners and the state in the reign of Henry III; 6. KnighthoodlÃÃ