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Article: The Gentry Context for Malory's 'Morte Darthur'.(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Modern Language Review
- Article date:
- January 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Modern Humanities Research Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Gentry Context for Malory's 'Morte Darthur'. By RALUCA L. RADULESCU. (Arthurian Studies, 55) Cambridge: Brewer. 2003. viii+165 pp. 45[pounds sterling]; $75. ISBN 0-85991-785-1.
The first attested use of gentleman as a termimplyingsocial status was in 1413, according to Raluca Radulescu, and gentry too first appeared as a term for the status of gentleman about this time, when 'a clearer distinction was increasingly being made between noblemen and gentlemen' (pp. 7-8).As Radulescupoints out, both Henry VI and Edward IV created many new knights from the ranks of the gentry in order to secure political support. Her useful book is 'an analysis of the connections ...