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ChapterI
EnglishSocietyintheFifteenthand
SixteenthCenturies
TheEnglishhouseholdanditsorganisationcannotbediscussedinisolationfromits
master,hisfamilyandfamilia,i.e.allthosewhowereincloseormoredistantrela-
tionswiththeirpatron.Thetermfamilia1wasusedinreferencetoalltheservants
ofahouseholdandthemeaningofthewordmaybetracedbacktoRomantimes
whentheRomanslivedtogetherwiththeirslavesunderoneroof.2Servantswere
thosewhoservedthelordofthehouseholdbutthisdoesnotmeanthattheywereof
lowsocialstatus.Inmostofthecasesmenwhoworkedaspersonalservantsofalord
camefromamongthegentryoreventhegreaternobility,dependingonthesizeof
thehouseholdanditsmaster'sposition.Forexample,theEarlofNorthumberland
wastheDukeofBuckingham'sstewardinthelordshipofHolderness.3Besides,as
presentedfurtheroninthetext,noblemenwereusuallyservedbynobleyouthssent
totheirhouseholdsforaneducationindomesticserviceinadditiontoothercourtly
accomplishments.“Toservewellinasignificanthouseholdwassuperbmeansfor
politicalandprofessionaladvancementforthesecondsonsandotherswhocouldnot
inherittheirfathers'estates.”4
1
TheMiddleEnglishfamiliefromtheLatinfamilia‘household',‘servantsofahousehold',from
f.famulus‘servant';intheOxfordEnglishDictionary(henceforthOED)theearliestnotedusage
comesfrom1400.OxfordEnglishDictionaryonCDROM4.0,ed.J.Simpson.2ndedition
(NewYork,2009),s.v.‘family'.
2
InsidetheRomanfamiliawaseveryoneinthehousehold:legitimatechildren,adoptedadults,
secretariesandotherdependants,slavesofvariousages.AccordingtoHerlihyneitherGreeknor
Latinhadawordcorrespondingtothemodern-day‘family',thereforetheLatinfamiliamustbe
translatedas‘household'ratherthan‘family.'D.Herlihy,MedievalHouseholds(Cambridge,
Mass.;London,1985),p.2.
3
SeePROE36/226,ff.8,117.
4
M.P.Cosman,FabulousFeasts(NewYork,1976),p.26.
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