Late Medieval English Aristocratic The Domestics World - A Sociological Perspective

This thesis explores the noble household servants in later Medieval England and takes them as a special group from a sociological perspective. Based on the foreign research and study in this field, it analyzes the preserved household books in the later Medieval England, and focuses on clarifying the basic structure of the noble household servants in this period, the inter-dependent and co-existing relations between the nobles and their servants as well as the vicissitudes of the noble household and the noble household servants in this period. The present thesis consists of four chapters.In the first chapter the thesis probes the role of the household servants in the ordinary life, social network, social display and political activities. It also analyzes those servants' hierarchy structure, functional structure, their origin and social circle, as well as their service cycle.The second chapter explores the acquirements of the servants in their belonged noble households. It is believed that such acquirements made such a servant position an honorable and dignified social position.The third chapter begins with an analysis of the inter-harm of the nobles and their servants, and it also carries out a deeper delving into how they joined in villainy and acted in collusion, as a result, this period is marked with the phenomenon of "evil master evil servant".The last chapter explores the vicissitude of the noble household and the noble household servants in later Medieval England, and then emphasizes the influence of each other that made by these vicissitudes.