The Yeomanry

The history of the word "yeoman" is mysterious, but possibly comes from the Middle English or Germanic word for "young man."  The word originated in the 14th century, tied to the rise of the small, free-tenant farmers of the manor.  The Puritan historian Joseph Gardner Bartlett states that the term yeoman came to mean, "a man who farmed for his own benefit, by his own labor and that of hired laborers, lands which he held by copyhold leases of manorial lords."  These "copyhold leases" were basically rental agreements with the lord, designating the duties of the yeoman, as well as who would inherit his lease after he died.

Since yeomen weren't required to serve in the lord's army, their families did not have any coats-of-arms.  The yeoman class grew into a sizeable portion of the British peasantry, and by the end of the 14th century the Canon's Yeoman's Tale is included in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

The yeomanry continues to grow during the late middle ages as the free, land-owning commoner goes through the Protestant Reformation, and will become instrumental in the foundation of the United States.  Webster's 1828 American Heritage Dictionary defines "yeomanry" as "the collective body of yeomen or freeholders.  The common people in America are called the yeomanry."