The term gentry' although originally used to mean nobility, "came to be used of the lesser nobility," (pg. 2) in England around 1540. Once identical, eventually these terms became complementary, in the sense that their definitions began to fill in parts of what the other lacked. Although the members of the class had a great range in the wealth, at its core they "consisted of the landed proprietors, above the yeomanry, and below the peerage," (pg.4). The gentry were characterized as being high-class commoners. They were not nobility, so they lacked hereditary titles, but they did not work the land themselves like the yeomanry, instead they hired tenant farmers. The gentry of Tudor-Stuart England were divided into three groups: knights, gentlemen and the younger brothers and relatives of titles nobility. In contrast to the rest of Europe where all relatives and children of Nobles were considered nobility, in England, only the eldest son gained the family title. Therefore......
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