The Squirearchy of Fifteenth-Century England

Abstract

Through this investigation I have attempted to trace the consolidation of the squirearchy in the fifteenth-century. My study has focused on the composition of the rank and its contribution to society. Long before the Tudors, these men formed the largest element of the conservative governing class. The squires became a recognized status group in the fourteenth-century. In the next one hundred years they defined and improved their position within the community.