Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
fromscutum)andpage(pagus,meaning‘rustic'andlater‘youngerrandboy').All
thefightingclassesofmenintheMiddleAgesfromknights,esquiresandyeomento
pageswereusuallyyoungservants;thedegreeofimportanceorstatusofeachchanged
overtime.Manyservingmen(serviensorsergeants)wouldusuallybepromotedto
variouspositionsofimportancewithintheking'sorlord'shousehold.
InthelaterMiddleAges‘yeoman'cametomeanamanholdingasmalllandedestate
orfreehold.YeomenintheTudorperiodcouldalsobefoundleasingorrentinglands
totheminorgentry.IntraditionalEnglishsocietytheyeomanrywasarespectable,
honourableclassandrankedabovethehusbandmen,artisans,andlabourers.Inthe
household,theyeomen'stitlesweremorespecificwhencomparedtothegentlemen's.
Yeomenoftenservedasyeomanofthechamber,yeomanofthecellar,yeomanofthe
ewery,yeomanofthepantry,yeomanofthebutteryoryeomanwaiters;thenames
weredescriptiveoftheiractualjobs.Yeomen,however,quiteprobablydidnotper-
formmenialtasks,whichwerelefttothegrooms.
Groomsoccupiedthelowestpositioninthehousehold,exceptforchildservants.
Theetymologyofthewordisvague.Thefirstnotedusageappearsinabout1225
whengromemeans‘malechild,boy,oryouth.'66Thefactisthatitappearedinthe
thirteenthcenturyandnobodyknowsfromwhence.67Thekeysenseoftheword
seemstolieinitsintimationoflowbirthandstatus.68Withinthehouseholdgrooms
performedmanuallabourwhosecharacterwasincludedinthetitlestheyhad;for
instancegroomofthechamber,groomoftherobes,groomofthestool,69andmany
others,astheywereattachedtoalldepartmentsofthehousehold,suchasthebuttery,
scullery,ewery,kitchen,etc.
However,stilllowerinrankwerepagetti,orpages,andchildservants.Intheearly
medievaltimes,apagewasanattendanttoaknight.Ayoungboyservedasapage
forsevenyearsuntiltheageoffourteenwhenhecouldgraduatetobecomeanes-
quire.Incastlesandgreathousesinasimilarmannerpageswerechildrenfrom
66
OED,s.v.‘groom.'
67
PerhapsfromtheOldEnglishgroma,relatedtogrowan‘grow;'orfromtheOldFrenchgrommet
‘servant'(cf.MiddleEnglishgromet‘ship'sboy,'1229).
68
Bytheendofthethirteenthcenturyitwasusedtomean“amanofinferiorposition;aserving-
man;aman-servant;amaleattendant.”OEDs.v.‘groom'.
69
Thegroomofthestool,amongotherduties,hadthetaskofcleaningthelord'srearafterabowel
movement.IntheearlyyearsofHenryVIII'sreignthepositionwasanespeciallyprizedone,
asitallowedunobstructedaccesstoamaster'sattention.DavidStarkeywrites:“TheGroom
oftheStoolhad(tooureyes)themostmenialtasks;hisstanding,though,wasthehighest...
Clearlythen,theroyalbodyservicemusthavebeenseenasentirelyhonourable,withoutatrace
ofthedemeaningorthehumiliating.”QuotedinO.Patterson,SlaveryandSocialDeath:
AComparativeStudy(HarvardUniversityPress,1982),p.330.
~52~