Today the term gentry in Britain evokes the introductory chat at an upper-middle-classdinner partyhow did you get here, who do you know, how is Aletheia? It suggests a cosy,genteel, exclusive and somewhat smug world in which background and family are deemedmore important than individual qualities. It is also often preceded by the word landed. Thelaunch of Burke s Landed Gentry, an encyclopedic tome first published in 1826, is partlyresponsible for this . But the principal reason is that the story of thegentry is all about Land.
如今在英国乡绅这个词让人想到的就是在一个上流社会的晚宴上开始闲聊的前奏你怎么过来的啊?你认识谁呢?阿莱西娅最近可好呀?这表明在这个亲切、高雅、排外,甚至几分自鸣得意的阶层里,一个人的背景和出身比他的品性更为重要。 乡绅 的前面也经常会加上有土地的这个词。这个词的普及有一部份原因归功于1826年初版的百科全书式大本书《伯克乡绅名录》。。但其主要原因在于所有关于乡绅的故事都和土地密不可分。
Mr Nicolson has taken 12 families who are scattered all over England , and, using letters, diaries and legal documents, told their stories at aparticular date and crisis in their existence. He has produced a wonderful portrait ofEngland and the families that were its bedrock. The tale begins 600 years ago with thePlumptons, caught up in the Wars of the Roses, and concludes with the Cliffords, who haveowned and farmed the same corner of Gloucestershire for almost 1,000 years. Whereas thecore values of grace, enterprise and chivalry were crucial to the gentry s idea ofthemselves, Mr Nicolson makes it clear that money and conflict were as important as bloodand family. The gentry were a flexible class and lived a life of struggle and competition.There was no certainty. Survival was what mattered and there was much hedging of bets.
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