The social class below the nobility but above the yeomanry and peasantry, consisting of landowners who did not hold noble titles but possessed significant property and social status. In England, this included knights, esquires, and gentlemen.
From Old French 'genterie,' derived from 'gent' (noble, well-born), ultimately from Latin 'gens' (clan, race). The term developed in the late medieval period to describe the growing class of non-noble landowners who gained prominence through wealth rather than ancient bloodlines.
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