yeomanry

Independent farming class

Yeomanry refers collectively to yeomen—historically, small independent farmers who owned and worked their land, forming a class between gentry and laborers.

In British military history, the yeomanry were volunteer cavalry units raised from this class: He served in the local yeomanry.

The term evokes sturdy, self-reliant rural people: the backbone of English yeomanry.

cavalry

volunteers

Unpaid willing workers

reservistsPart-time armed forces members
regimentColonel-led military unit
territorialsPart-time military volunteers

squadron · mounted · troopers · horsemen · dragoons · hussars · lancers · sabers · cavalry · auxiliaries

freeholder

tenure

Protected employment status

freeholdPermanent property title
smallholderFarmer of limited land
landownerOne possessing real estate

estate · homestead · plot · farmland · parcel · property · ownership · allotment · holding · title

farming

tillage

Soil preparation for planting

plowingTurning earth for crops
harvestingGathering mature crops
sowingPlanting for cultivation

husbandry · cultivation · pastoral · agrarian · cropland · pasture · livestock · threshing · harrowing · reaping

feudal

medieval

Of the Middle Ages

manorialismMedieval estate labor system
feudalismLand-for-service social structure
serfsFeudal bound laborers

vassals · lords · fiefdoms · bailiffs · stewards · villeins · tenantry · demesne · manor · liege

class

gentry

Highborn but not noble

commonerNon-noble person
middlingOf moderate quality
freemenThose no longer enslaved

rustic · peasantry · squire · sturdy · respectable · industrious · honest · stalwart · backbone · commonfolk

yeomanry

volunteers

tenure

tillage

medieval

gentry

yeomanry

Opposites

Phrases

Categories

Family