Yeoman/ˈjoʊmən/ is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witnessed the rise of the yeoman longbow archers during the Hundred Years' War, and the yeoman outlaws celebrated in the Robin Hood ballads. Yeomen also joined the English Navy during the Hundred Years' War as seamen and archers. In the early 15th century, yeoman was the rank of chivalry between page and squire. By the late 17th century, yeoman became a rank in the Royal Navy for the common seamen who were in charge of ship's stores, such as foodstuffs, gunpowder, and sails.
References to the emerging social stratum of wealthy land-owning commoners began to appear after 1429. In that year, the Parliament of England re-organized the House of Commons into counties and boroughs, with voting rights granted to all freeholders. The Electors of Knights of the Shires Act 1429 restricted voting rights to those freeholders whose land value exceeded 40 shillings. These yeomen would eventually become a social stratum of commoners below the landed gentry, but above the husbandmen. This stratum later embodied the political and economic ideas of the English and Scottish enlightenments, and transplanted those ideas to British North America during the early modern era.
Numerous yeoman farmers in North America served as citizen soldiers during the American War of Independence. The 19th century saw a revival of interest in the medieval period with English Romantic literature. The yeoman outlaws of the ballads were refashioned into heroes fighting for justice under the law and the rights of freeborn Englishmen.
Yeoman /ˈjoʊmən/ is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble...
Owain Sebastian Yeoman is a Welsh actor, best known for playing CBI Agent Wayne Rigsby in the CBS series The Mentalist. His additional credits include...
Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary, popularly known as the Beefeaters, are ceremonial guardians...
Yeomans is an English surname meaning son of Yeoman. Guppy reported it from Derbyshire and Herefordshire. Notable people with the surname include: Solomon...
Robert David Yeoman, ASC (born March 10, 1951) is an American cinematographer, best known for his collaborations with directors Wes Anderson and Paul Feig...
first season, as well as three of the Star Trek films. She is the Captain's yeoman on board the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), and first appeared in the episode...
The Yeoman Archer is a term applied specifically to English and Welsh military longbow archers (either mounted or on foot) of the 14th-15th centuries....
forever. In their first official act on 1 October 1485, fifty members of the Yeoman of the Guard, led by John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, formally escorted...
A yeoman of signals is a signals petty officer in the British Royal Navy and other Commonwealth navies. The term has been in use since 1816. The designation...
William Frank Yeoman (December 26, 1927 – August 12, 2020) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the...
Moira Cameron (born 1964) is a retired Yeoman Warder of the Tower of London, United Kingdom. She is the first woman to ever hold the position. In 2007...
Brooks Yeomans (born 1957) is an American artist often classified as an outsider artist. His work is included in the collection of the Lille Métropole...
Ashley Scott Yeoman (born 25 February 1992) is an English footballer who plays as a striker. Born in Kingsbridge, Yeoman signed for Torquay United on...
The Yeoman Plotter was a plotter used on ships and boats to transfer GPS coordinates or RADAR echo locations onto a paper navigation chart and to read...
Cirrochroa thais, also known as the Tamil yeoman, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in forested areas of tropical Sri Lanka and India. It is the...
HMS Yeoman has been the name of more than one ship of the British Royal Navy, and may refer to: HMS Yeoman, a Modified W-class destroyer cancelled in March...
Foster Yeoman Limited, based near Frome, Somerset, England, was one of Europe's largest independent quarrying and asphalt companies. It was sold to Aggregate...
furnishings which travelled from palace to palace. The office was headed by the Yeoman of the Removing Wardrobe (a sinecure office), assisted by two grooms and...
Frederick Yeomans (11 November 1888 – 16 January 1965) was an Australian cricketer. He played one first-class cricket match for Victoria in 1915. In his...
Global Information