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.
The gentry were the 'new money' of medieval society—they proved you didn't need a royal bloodline to gain power, just land, wealth, and good connections! This class became the backbone of English local government and would later drive much of the English Civil War.
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