Home Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
yeoman
yeoman
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Related Questions
Read Next
Picking cotton on a Georgia plantation, 1858. Illustration published in Ballou's Pictorial, v. 14, 1858, p. 49. African Americans; Black Americans; cotton pickers; slavery; slaves; enslavement; Georgia
Pro and Con: Reparations for Slavery
John F. Kennedy as a boy with his family
What Did We Call America’s Elite Before the “1 Percent”?
Painting titled: "Washington as Statesman at the Constitutional Convention" oil on canvas by Junius Brutus Stearns, 1856; in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. (Note from museum) The painting represents George Washington's role as president of the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The normally reserved Washington urges passage of a new federal constitution, a draft of which he holds in his hands.
How Many of the Signers of the U.S. Constitution Were Enslavers?
Discover
Giorgione, Italian, 1477/1478-1510, The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1505/1510, oil on panel, overall: 90.8 x 110.5 cm (35 3/4 x 43 1/2 in.), Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.289, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
8 Must-See Paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Alexander the Great on his deathbed
How Did Alexander the Great Really Die?
Moonrise over Tucson, Arizona
Why Doesn’t Arizona Observe Daylight Saving Time?
Town of Sisimiut located on the coast of the Davis Strait on Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay, Greenland
The Largest Islands in the World
Chapter 4 pg 42 - Chapter header of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Published in 1884 by The American Publishing Company
Periods of American Literature
Alexandria, Egypt - September 12, 2014 - Wedding Bridesmaids Competition, reward for Best Bridesmaids for participation in competitions. Prize for victory
Who Votes for the Academy Awards?
Close up of a hand placing a ballot in a ballot box. Election vote voter voting
Have Any U.S. Presidents Decided Not to Run For a Second Term?
English social class
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/topic/yeoman
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/topic/yeoman
Also known as: yeomanry
Last Updated: • Article History
Category: History & Society
Related Topics:
social class
See all related content →

yeoman, in English history, a class intermediate between the gentry and the labourers; a yeoman was usually a landholder but could also be a retainer, guard, attendant, or subordinate official. The word appears in Middle English as yemen, or yoman, and is perhaps a contraction of yeng man or yong man, meaning young man, or attendant. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (late 14th century) depicts a yeoman who is a forester and a retainer. Most yeomen of the later Middle Ages were probably occupied in cultivating the land; Raphael Holinshed, in his Chronicles (1577), described them as having free land worth ...(100 of 113 words)

Access the full article
Help support true facts by becoming a member.