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All of these languages are considered to be closely related to Old English at the time they were spoken. Nor are there any readily identifiable cognates of yeoman in Anglo-Norman, Old Frisian, Old Dutch, Old Saxon, or Middle Low German. There are no known Old English words which are considered acceptable parent words for yeoman. The earliest documented use occurs in Middle English. The etymology of yeoman is uncertain for several reasons.
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In that year, the Parliament of England re-organized the House of Commons into counties and boroughs, with voting rights granted to all freeholders. References to the emerging social stratum of wealthy land-owning commoners began to appear after 1429. By the late 17th century, yeoman became a rank in the new Royal Navy for the common seamen who were in charge of ship's stores, such as foodstuffs, gunpowder, and sails. In the early 15th century, yeoman was the rank of chivalry between page and squire. Yeomen also joined the English Navy during the Hundred Years' War as seamen and archers. The 14th century also witnessed the rise of the yeoman longbow archer during the Hundred Years' War, and the yeoman outlaws celebrated in the Robin Hood ballads. Yeomanry was the name applied to groups of freeborn commoners engaged as household guards, or raised as an army during times of war.
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Yeoman was first documented in mid-14th-century England, referring to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page. Please consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding. This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably.
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