Download or read book The Origins of the English Gentry written by Peter Coss and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-10-13 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although the gentry played a central role in medieval England, this study is the first sustained exploration of its origins and development between the mid-thirteenth and the mid-fourteenth century. Arguing against views which see the gentry as formed or created earlier, the text investigates as well the relationship between lesser landowners and the Angevin state; the transformation of knighthood; and the role of lesser landowners in society and politics.