Myth of the Month 18: Robin Hood -- pt. 1: The Master of the Forest
Historiansplaining: A historian tells you why everything you know is wrong
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What Is a Yeoman?
The word was used in late mediaeval english basically to mean a freeman of sort of middling status, not well or respectable enough quite to be a gentleman. Originally, at root, it just means a young man. And so it probably initially referred to people starting out in life who had enough of their own income or enough marketable skills to be independent and support themselves. In the 14 hundreds, when these stories were written, the mainmost common usage of the word yeoman was for a well paid servant in a noble or aristocratic household.
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