Social Structure of Late Medieval Britain:

Feudalism and the Three Estates

 

"The Great Chain of Being" dated back to Aristotle.  The concept of the patriarchal family was even older: father, mother, children, servants. The patriarch (and his second in command, his wife) was responsible for the physical, spiritual, and moral well-being of the children and servants.  Another depiction of the Great Chain.  

Feudalism defined the Great Chain of Being even further, separating mankind into three "estates," or classes:

  1. Clergy, responsible for the nation’s spiritual well-being;
  2. Aristocracy, for its military protection;
  3. Commoners, for the production of all material goods.

The Three Estates

Note: the population of Britain was approximately 2.25 million in the late 14th century, and 3.75 million in the early 14th century--for an explanation of the decrease, see "Laments and Elegies".

First Estate: Clergy (first since they invented the "estate" categories). Approx. 1.5% of the population. Set apart by special clothing (habit) and hairstyle (tonsure and clean-shaven face, if male).

"Secular" Clergy: those who lived in seculo, "in the world" (e.g., parish priests, archbishops).

  • Rector: the priest entitled to the revenues of a parish (generally a village)
  • Vicar: the priest actually serving the parish; employed by the rector for as little as 4 pounds a year plus the harvest from the "glebe," the parson’s share of the village fields.
  • Minor orders: ordained but not sworn to celibacy; wore a small tonsure and assisted at services. Included many physicians and university students. 

"Regular" Clergy: those who lived by rules and regulations.

  • Monks: e.g., Benedictines (oldest order), Carthusians and Cistercians (newer orders). In this painting of the late-14th-century, a Carthusian monk witnesses the Crucifixion.
  • Mendicant orders (friars): e.g., Dominicans (black friars or friars-preachers) and Franciscans (gray friars or friars-minor). This is a Dominican, preaching, from a woodcut of the late 15th century.
  • Nuns belonged to the first estate but with fewer privileges. An abbess was an important woman, but unlike an abbot did not have a seat in the House of Lords.

The Second Estate: Aristocracy and the Third Estate: Commoners were linked in the feudal system

Feudalism: series of contracts regulating the use of land, a system which developed in an agrarian society with limited coinage and literacy. The monarch owned all the land; he gave its use ("holdings" or "manors") to the members of the warrior class ("tenants") in return for military service. The greater aristocrats granted smaller holdings or manors to lesser aristocrats, and the lesser aristocrats granted smaller holdings (not called "manors") to commoners, in exchange for specified services—working the lord’s land a certain number of days each week, repairing roads or bridges. Contracts were made by public oath and enforced by custom.

Livery or Maintenance (called "bastard" feudalism by modern military historians): By Chaucer’s period (the 14th century), coins and literacy were more widespread. Military service was usually by written contract or "indenture," with each lord paying those willing to fight for him an annual fee (like a retainer), plus additional wages for each day served. Subordinates were given badges or livery to indicate their allegiance; essentially, they were subcontractors, and the aristocrats were the king’s contractors.

Aristocracy: about 1% of the population

  • Royal Family
  • Nobility or Peerage: inherited titles, about 50 lords and their families, all related to the monarch and eligible to serve in Parliament (current House of Lords): duke/duchess, earl/countess, baron/baroness. Parliament evolved as the noblemen asserted their traditional rights—the Magna Carta (which King John was forced to sign in 1215) guaranteed these rights, and somewhat limited the powers of the monarch. For instance, the monarch couldn’t have a member of the nobility executed just because he or she felt like it—he or she had at least to pretend there was just cause.
  • Knights: those without inherited titles, including those of "gentle birth" (descended from nobility but not of it). About 1000. The most important, who could raise followers to fight under their banner, were "knights banneret." The others were "knights bachelor."
  • Squires: 1) gentle-born assistants to knights, the original sense; 2) more generally, men of gentle birth who were not knights. Many were younger sons, or elder sons waiting to inherit, or had small estates and incomes; these served as superior servants, bureaucrats, diplomats, military commanders. The majority of men-at-arms (fully armored horsemen) were squires, and outnumbered knights by 3 to 1 or more in most armies.

The Commons: 97% of the population, and a highly diverse group.

Rural commons: 95% of the population.

  • "Freemen" had "free" holdings—limited services to the lord, and usually nominal rents. If they had 50 acres or more, they were "franklins" or "yeomen" (originally the servant below a squire). Between 10 and 50 acres, they were "husbandmen," and below 10 acres they were "cottars" and usually had to hire themselves out to survive.
  • "Villeins" or "bondmen" (on the Continent, "serfs") had "servile" holdings—more services, special taxes, and had to have permission from the lord to move, marry outside the lord’s estates, or enter the priesthood.

Townsmen (2% of the population): Less than half were citizens or "burgesses." Citizenship could be purchased, or acquired by rising through the hierarchy of a trade (belonging to a "mystery" or guild). The rest were apprentices, laborers, servants, and "aliens."

Sumptuary Laws, 1363, dictated what each rank could wear, so that wealthy commoners couldn’t be mistaken for the aristocracy.

Answer to the quiz from The Measly Middle Ages:

eating powdered emeralds (or powdered pearls)--of course it didn't work, but at least it was healthy for the physician's wallet

The other answers were thought to be cures for the following conditions:

  1. a stuffy nose
  2. internal bleeding
  3. plague, as mentioned above
  4. gout

For the quiz, see the bottom of the elegies page.

 For Further Reading:

  • Deary, Terry. The Measly Middle Ages. New York: Scholastic, 1996.
  • Singman, Jeffrey L., and Will McLean. Daily Life in Chaucer's England. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1995.

This page, http://www.tcnj.edu/~graham/estates.html, was last updated
[Dr. Graham's LIT 251 syllabus] [Dr. Graham's home page]