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authoritieisannexedtothebloudandprogenie,asthecrowne,adutchie,oranerledome
fortherethebloodisrespected,nottheagenorthesexe.21
Regardlessofthedivisionpresented,thecontemporaryobserversallagreedthatthe
medievalconceptofthreeordershadbeenreplacedbythedivisionofEnglishsociety
intofourdegrees.LawrenceStoneexpressedtheopinionthatEnglishsocietytook
theshapeofasteppedpyramidwiththelowerordersformingitsbase.Atthetopwas
thenobilityfollowedbythegentrywithallthemiddlinggroupsinbetween.22Society
becamemoresecularandthepositionoftheclergywassignificantlydiminished.
OneshouldnotforgettheimpacttheRenaissanceandtheReformationhadonthe
processofsecularisation.However,theconceptoftheGreatChainofBeingwasstill
preservedbytheTudorsasameansofsocialcontrol.Inthiswaythelowerorders
couldbekeptintheirplace.TheGreatChainofBeingaffectedtheupperstratato
amuchlesserextent,aswillbeseenlaterinthetext.
1.4.
NobilitasMajor
NobilityisanambiguousterminEngland.Althoughithasbeenwidelyusedthere
aswellasonthecontinentwithreferencetothelandedclasses,inEnglanditwas
sometimesrestrictedtothepeerageonly.Infact,however,theEnglishnobilitycon-
sistedoftwoentities,thepeerageandthegentry,oftenreferredtoasgreaterand
lessernobility.23Thedifferencebetweenthetwoisthatmembersofthepeerage
aretitledwhereasthegentrybearnotitles.Thestatusoffeudaltitlesisalsowidely
misunderstoodbecausethemeaningsofthetermsassociatedwiththemwerealmost
asinconsistentasmedievalspelling.AsMcFarlanepointsout,themembersofthe
Frenchnoblesse“cannotbecontrastedwithEnglishgentrysincetheyincludethem;
thebaronageismerelytheirupperlayer.”Ashefurtherexplains“thereisgoodme-
dievalauthorityforattributingnobilitytothosewellbelowtherankoflord.”24The
statusoflordwasgrantedtogetherwithanacquisitionoflandwhich,infact,became
thedeterminingfactorofthenobleclassofEngland.Inthefeudalsystemofvassalage
therewasadistinctionbetweenthetenants-in-chief,i.e.thosewhoheldtheirland
directlyfromthemonarch,andtenantsorsub-tenants,whoweredirectlysubordinate
21
Ibid.
22
L.Stone,“SocialMobilityinEngland,1500–1700”,Past&Present,33(1966),pp.16–55.
23
Earlybaronswereroughlydividedinto‘greater'and‘lesser'barons,andunderHenryII,the
DialogusdeScaccarioalreadydistinguishestheirholdingsas‘greater'and‘lesser'baronies.See
DialogusdeScaccario:TheCourseoftheExchequerandConstitutioDomusRegis,ed.andtrans.
Ch.Johnson,OxfordMedievalTexts(Oxford,1984),pp.95–96.
24
McFarlane,TheNobilityofLaterMedievalEngland,p.6.
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