Gentry is a term that generally refers to a class of people within a nation. It has often referred to the class of people who owned land, but its precise meaning has varied both throughout history as well as according to which nation it is located within. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

By nation

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Gentry is a term now in the United Kingdom particularly associated with the landed gentry. In Europe and the United States, gentry retains a wider meaning, ranging from those of noble background to those of good family (i.e. "gentle" birth). Before the Industrial Revolution, the gentry were located between the yeomanry and the Peerage, and were traditionally considered lesser aristocracy if they did not bear a coat of arms, or as the lesser nobility if the family was armigerous. Unlike yeomen, the gentry did not work the land themselves; instead, they hired tenant farmers. Landed gentry is a term traditionally applied in Britain to members of the upper class with country estates often (but not always) farmed on their behalf by others, and who might be without a peerage or other hereditary title. ... The Industrial Revolution was a major shift of technological, socioeconomic, and cultural conditions that occurred in the late 18th century and early 19th century in some Western countries. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For other uses, see Peerage (disambiguation). ... A modern coat of arms is derived from the medi val practice of painting designs onto the shield and outer clothing of knights to enable them to be identified in battle, and later in tournaments. ... An armiger is a person entitled to use a coat of arms. ... A tenant farmer is one who resides on and farms land owned by a landlord. ...

In English history, landed gentry were the smaller landowners, and generally had no titles apart from Knighthoods and Baronetcies. Baronets are something of an exception, since they had hereditary titles but, not being members of the Peerage, were also considered of the gentry or lesser nobility. The landed gentry played an important role in the English Civil War of the seventeenth century. The term is still occasionally employed, for example, by the publishers of Burke's Landed Gentry, ^[1] though they explain that their continued use of that term is elastic and stems, in part, from the adoption of that short title for a series first entitled "Burke's Commoners" (as opposed to Burke's Peerage and Baronetage). The term county family is commonly deemed to be co-terminous with the terms gentry and landed gentry. See Walford's County Families and gentleman. England is the largest and most populous of the four main divisions of the United Kingdom. ... Landed gentry is a term traditionally applied in Britain to members of the upper class with country estates often (but not always) farmed on their behalf by others, and who might be without a peerage or other hereditary title. ... A baronet (traditional abbreviation Bart, modern abbreviation Bt) or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess (abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown known as a baronetcy. ... For other uses, see Peerage (disambiguation). ... The English Civil War consisted of a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians (known as Roundheads) and Royalists (known as Cavaliers) between 1642 and 1651. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Burkes Landed Gentry (original title Burkes Commoners) is the result of nearly two centuries of intense work by the Burke family, and others since, in building a collection of books of genealogical and heraldic interest, [1] which has evolved with Burkes Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage The Burkes... Burkes Landed Gentry (original title Burkes Commoners) is the result of nearly two centuries of intense work by the Burke family, and others since, in building a collection of books of genealogical and heraldic interest, [1] which has evolved with Burkes Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage The Burkes... Burkes Peerage & Gentry is a guide to the titled families of Great Britain and Ireland. ... In Britain and Ireland, a near synonym for the term, landed gentry (see also gentry). ... Landed gentry is a term traditionally applied in Britain to members of the upper class with country estates often (but not always) farmed on their behalf by others, and who might be without a peerage or other hereditary title. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The term gentleman (from Latin gentilis, belonging to a race or gens, and man, cognate with the French word gentilhomme, the Spanish gentilhombre and the Italian gentil uomo or gentiluomo), in its original and strict signification, denoted a man of good family, the Latin generosus (its invariable translation in English...

Poland

In Poland gentry never grew strong. Mainly because of competition from the omnipotent and numerous hereditary nobility. The King deprived commoners of the right to buy land-estates. However, some landed burghers or hereditary advocati and sculteti who kept land in royal, noble or Church estates can be still classified as gentry as they had their own tenants. As the political and economic pressure from the peerage increased many such families were forced to sell their titles to the nobles. Some of them managed to climb up into nobility but some remained commoners and with the arrival of 'second serfdom' can hardly be called 'gentry' anymore as they were bound to the land and subject to their lord's jurisdiction, also obliged to provide labour to the manor. Many commoner families that grew in wealth and importance were soon officially peered and thus cannot be called 'gentry' either. The Partitions of the Commonwealth mark the re-emergence of Polish gentry as non-nobles were allowed to buy land-estates and, before this was later abolished, exercised manorial monopolies, electoral privileges and jurisdiction over their subjects. But they never grew in high numbers still suffering economic and social competition from the nobles. Many of those commoners who succeeded in becoming gentry integrated socially with the nobles camouflaging their humble origins and thus never developed their separate group identity. The lower nobility (Knights and lower) created in the Partition period may also be classified as 'gentry' although they were 'officially' nobles but these were rather honorary titles having little in common with the vast privileges of old Polish peerage. Stanisław Antoni Szczuka, a Polish nobleman Szlachta ( ) was the noble class in Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the two countries that later jointly formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ... The Partitions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Polish: Rozbiór Polski or Rozbiory Polski; Lithuanian: Lietuvos-Lenkijos padalijimai, Belarusian: Падзелы Рэчы Паспалітай) took place in the 18th century and ended the existence of the sovereign Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Partitions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Polish: Rozbiór Polski or Rozbiory Polski; Lithuanian: Lietuvos-Lenkijos padalijimai, Belarusian: Падзелы Рэчы Паспалітай) took place in the 18th century and ended the existence of the sovereign Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ...

Portugal

In Portugal the local gentry, the fidalgos, were also numerous. These gentries owned the land in small hereditary estates (“morgadios”) that would pass to the eldest son or daughter (in case there were no surviving sons to the late “morgado”). Still nowadays these gentries form a closed class associated with the bullfights and other equestrian sports. Fidalgo Island is an island in Skagit County, Washington, located about two hours north of Seattle by automobile. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

China

The Chinese gentry has a specific meaning and refers to the shen-shi or the class of landowners that had passed the bureaucratic examinations. They rose to power during the Tang dynasty when meritocracy triumphed over the nine-rank system which favored the Chinese nobility. The gentry were retired scholar-officials and their descendants who lived in large landed estates due to Confucianism's affinity to agriculture and hostility to commerce. In imperial China, gentry were the class of landowners who were retired mandarins or their descendents. ... The Imperial examinations (Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) in Imperial China determined who among the population would be permitted to enter the states bureaucracy. ... China under the Tang Dynasty (yellow) and its sphere of influence Capital Changan (618–904) Luoyang (904-907) Language(s) Chinese Religion Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism Government Monarchy Emperor  - 618-626 Emperor Gaozu  - 684, 705-710 Emperor Zhongzong  - 684, 710-712 Emperor Ruizong  - 904-907 Emperor Ai History  - Li Yuan... The Nine rank system (ch. ... // The King or Wang (Chinese: 王 or 國王; wáng) was the title of the Chinese head of state until the Qin dynasty. ... A Mandarin was a bureaucrat in imperial China. ... Wenmiao Temple, a Confucian Temple in Wuwei, Gansu, China Confucian temple in Kaohsiung, Republic of China (Taiwan). ...

India

India had a well established gentry system in the southern state of Kerala. Nairs were the gentry class, owned all land and often had tenants cultivate the land. Nairs were banned from bearing arms after British invaded India and eventually lost control of the land. Even to this day they are addressed thampran (owners) by local people.

United States of America

In American society, gentry is sometimes taken to refer loosely to a highly educated professional upper-middle class, though this is inaccurate sociological terminology as this group usually lacks the aristocratic roots and values of true gentry. This inaccurate sense of the term is what is often perjoratively referred to in the use of the term gentrification, a term that would more accurately be called bourgeoisification. The Antebellum Southern planters were often younger sons of landed British families and continued the high culture of the British gentry in rural Virginia and in such cities as Charleston, South Carolina, where, in addition to tenant farmers and indentured servants, they also employed chattel slavery. In the north, the gentry included those offshoots of British gentry families that provided the leadership for the establishment of such cities as Boston, Massachusetts, and such institutions as Harvard and Yale Universities. Attitudes stemming from the phenomenon of this historic American gentry inform the current use of the term in U.S. society, and it is still loosely applied to people from old-monied and landed families in the U.S. The epitome of this type of family in the United States is the Bush family, which is highly educated, well connected, with a high degree of wealth, and arguably the most powerful family in the United States. They are directly descended from British Gentry and are even direct distant relations of many of the British Peerage. Young people interacting within an ethnically diverse society. ... The gentry of the United States is a largely professional middle class, with wide variations of income and wealth, ranging anywhere from lower-middle and middle income (in academia and in some non-profit organizations) to upper-income. ... The Bush family:President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, former First Lady Barbara Bush, and former President George H. W. Bush sit surrounded by family in the Red Room (White House) on January 6, 2005, together to celebrate the senior couples 60th wedding anniversary. ...

See also

• manorialism
• feudalism
• aristocracy
• nobility

Generic plan of a mediaeval manor; open-field strip farming, some enclosures, triennial crop rotation, demesne and manse, common woodland, pasturage and meadow Manorialism or Seigneurialism is the organization of rural economy and society in medieval western and parts of central Europe, characterised by the vesting of legal and economic... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      The term aristocracy refers to a form of government where power is held by a small number of individuals from an elite or from noble families. ... Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ...

Notes

1. ^ "The History of Burke's Landed Gentry" (genealogy book), Burke's Peerage & Gentry, 2005, Scotland, United Kingdom, webpage: Burkes-Peerage-Scot15.

Genealogy is the study and tracing of family pedigrees. ... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Cha togar mfhearg gun dioladh (Scottish Gaelic) Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English (de facto) Recognised regional languages Gaelic, Scots1 Demonym Scot, Scots...

References

• Burke's Landed Gentry (genealogy book), John Burke family et al., 1826, 1898, United Kingdom.

External links

• Southern Gentry Mail