FRANKLIN (CLASS)

The term 'franklin' denotes a member of a social class or rank in England in the 12th to 15th centuries.
In the period when Middle English was in use, a franklin was simply a 'freeman';
that is, a man who was ''not'' a serf, in the feudal system under which people were
tied to land which they did not own, in bondage to a member of the nobility who owned that land.
The meaning of the word "franklin" evolved to mean a ''freeholder''; that is,
one who holds title to real property in fee simple. In the 14th and 15th centuries, 'franklin' was
"the designation of a class of landowners ranking next below the gentry" ^[1].
A franklin is one of the characters in ''The Canterbury Tales'' by Geoffrey Chaucer.

Contents

Etymology

Significance

Modern usage

See also

References

Etymology

According to the OED, the term 'franklin' is derived from
Middle English ''francoleyn'', ''frankeleyn'', from
Anglo-Latin ''francalanus'' a person owning ''francalia'', "territory held without dues".
Collins mentions Anglo-French ''fraunclein'', from Old French ''franc'' free,
on the model of "chamberlain"; all these go back to
late Latin ''francus'' "free" or "a free man";
cognate is Old High German ''Franko'', which meant
a German from a confederation in Franconia
of which a branch conquered Gaul, from which event is also explained
the name of the country France.

Significance

The social class of franklin, meaning (latterly) a person not only free (not in feudal servitude) but also owning the freehold of land, and yet not even a member of the "gentry" (knights, esquires and gentlemen,
the lower grades of the upper class)
let alone of the nobility (barons, earls, dukes, royalty),
evidently represents the beginnings of a real-property-owning middle class
in England in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Note that the land and property owned by this English middle class
might well be in the country, one factor distinguishing it from
the mainland European bourgeoisie which term means "town-dwellers".

Modern usage

Unlike some other terms referring to social class or status in mediaeval England
such as esquire and gentleman, 'franklin' has no modern usage other than
historical reference to the mediaeval period.

See also

★ The Franklin's Prologue and Tale

★ Social class

★ Middle class

★ Bourgeoisie

★ Esquire

★ Gentleman

★ Knight

★ Nobility and British nobility

References

1. Oxford English Dictionary