[Ansteorra] Social Status

[Marc Carlson]

>Susan catmafia at hughes.net
>Thanks, it was the areas covered in 5 and 6 that I never really got the 
>distinctions between.  I think the place I am lost the quickest is on what 
>happens with the children of the nobility, after the land and titles have 
>passed on to the first born-what status do the others have?  Also, can you 
>give the various levels within the gentry, this really helped to spell out 
>the various levels for me.

I think the tradition (at least in England) was that first born inherited, 
the second born son went into the military (and served as a spare), and the 
third went into the Church, since otherwise they had no real status :)

Layers of the gentry are hard to delineate exactly, since the Gentry can 
include what we consider both the Middle Class and the Upper Class.  For 
example, an academic (a Professional in modern terms), such as Diarmaid, 
would be considered a gentleman, but might not have arms unless he purchased 
them or just assumed them (both practices became fairly common in the Middle 
Ages).  Originally Arms signified someone as a member of the Knightly class, 
and to assume arms meant that you also assumed the obligations of that class 
(including military service).  Gradually, people with money, who didn't want 
to serve began to hire replacements to take their places.

An interesting example of how confused the relationships could be is 
Geoffrey Chaucer.  His father and grandfather were merchants in Ipswich.  
The family seems to have been fairly well to do, so we might say that 
Chaucer was born into the Gentry.  He held numerous jobs, starting out as a 
page to the Countess of Ulster.  Later on he was a civil servant, finally as 
Comptroller of Customs for London.  He also performed numerous services for 
the King, although this might have something to do with the fact that 
Chaucer's wife, Phillippa was sister of Katherine Swinford, one of the 
several wifes of John of Gaunt (3rd Son of Edward III).  Chaucer's son 
Thomas served as a knight at Agincourt, before becoming Chief Butler to 
severeal Kings.  Chaucer's Great Great Grandson was John de la Pole, Earl of 
Lincoln, and was Richard III's designated heir in 1485 when the Henry Tudor 
usurped the throne.  De la Pole had the brains of a pork chop and supported 
the pretender Lambert Simnel and was killed in 1487 -- but I digress.

Marc/Diarmaid