Vassals, heiresses, Crusaders and thugs: the gentry of Angevin Yorkshire, 1154-1216 (review)

Reviews 233 Thomas, Hugh M., Vassals, heiresses, Crusaders and thugs: the gentry of Angevin Yorkshire, 1154-1216, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993; cloth; pp. xiv, 237; 6 tables andfigures,1 map; R.R.P. US$34.95. Hugh Thomas has produced a detaUed study of what be chooses to call the 'gentry' in Yorkshire from 1154-1216, the fhst period for which enough information is available. His main focus is on the role of these persons within society. His objective is to: 'use tbe gentry as a lens through which to view a group of simultaneous and often interconnected changes that transformed local society and particularly local power structures in the Angevin period' (p. 4). Yorkshire is chosen because of the availabUity of large numbers of records, its activities regarding monastic expansion, and its role in important political events such as the Magna Carta revolt. The study deliberately excludes the magnates, who are often termed 'knights' in the texts, and it is for that reason that Thomas prefers 'gentry' instead. He has made a similar decision to refer to the system of landholding and patronage as 'the honorial' rather than the 'feudal' system. The first chapter deals primarily with the social system and the relationship between honorial lords and vassals, through which lack of funds led many lords totornto forms of patronage other than land grants to reward then followers. Considerable precise information appears on tbe holdings of individual families who appear to have granted away most of then lands withinfiftyyears or so of the Norman conquest. Thomas asserts that by 1216 the honorial system had changed radically, leading to what is often called bastard feudalism. Chapter T w o describes 'violence, lawlessness, and law in gentry society' (p. 59). Angevin reforms of the period aimed to cut down on lawless elements in society. Thomas discusses specific instances of extreme violence among the gentry and wonders whether the knighUyrolein warfare led to the general violence in society. He claims that another reason for such behaviour stemmed from the success of coercion in achieving goals such as the domination of peasants and tenants. He concludes that Angevin attempts at reform did succeed at least to some degree in curbing such behaviour, although it could not wipe it out completely. Local power structures enabled violence to continue since the royal courts were unable or unwilling to play a stronger role. 234 Reviews Chapter Three explores gentry landholding. During this period, a considerable expansion in the amount of arable land occurred and, by this time, the gentry was becoming more heavUy involved in animal husbandry in order to produce wealth. This development led to the creation of new villages. Some of the gentry enclosed parks for hunting, and owning such facilities increased a family's prestige. Thomas's reasearch leads to the conclusion that some gentry families were 'economically quite active' (p. 105). Chapter Four discusses the makeup of tbe family and the household, hi Yorkshhe there seems to have been an 'emphasis on lineage' and the 'nuclear family' (p. 107). The family was, not surprisingly, resolutely patriarchal in nature. What is perhaps more surprising is the way in which families assisted one another in tbe carrying out of violent activities. This chapter also explores the ways in which gentry families provided for younger sons and daughters in a variety of ways. 'Enfeoffments and gifts of property to younger sons and daughters were extremely common' (p. 121). This practice created a new group of free persons who came between the peasantry and the higher gentry in status. Chapter Five looks at the religious and pious activities of the gentry. The ways in which the gentry demonstrated its piety varied from gifts to monasteries, the choice of religious life for younger sons or daughters, participation in Crusade or pilgrimage, and some examples of mystical or miraculous happenings. The fact that so many of tbe gentry chose to have their own chapels is what Thomas refers to as 'the best evidence for widespread gentry piety' (p. 135). Chapter Six asks whether or not the gentry suffered a crisis at this time as alleged by Peter Coss, Rodney Hilton, and Michael Postan. Since evidence for...